Intelligent Document Processing is increasingly consumed as an API — a service that applications call to extract structured data from documents. If you are building document processing into an application, workflow, or data pipeline, this guide covers the key concepts, API patterns, and integration considerations you need to know.
IDP API Architecture Patterns
Synchronous vs Asynchronous Processing
Simple documents (single-page invoices, short forms) can be processed synchronously — submit document, receive extracted data in the response. Complex documents (multi-page contracts, large batches) are better handled asynchronously — submit document, receive a job ID, poll or receive a webhook when extraction is complete.
Webhook-Based Notifications
For asynchronous processing, webhooks are more efficient than polling. Configure your application to receive a POST request when document processing completes, rather than repeatedly querying the job status endpoint. Include retry logic with exponential backoff for webhook delivery failures.
API Integration Checklist
| Step | Considerations |
|---|---|
| Authentication | API key vs OAuth2 — use OAuth for multi-tenant apps |
| File upload | Multipart form vs base64 — multipart for large files |
| Document type declaration | Declare type for faster processing, or use auto-detection |
| Response parsing | Map confidence scores alongside extracted values |
| Error handling | Handle 4xx (client errors) and 5xx (service errors) separately |
| Rate limiting | Implement backoff for 429 responses |
| Webhook verification | Verify webhook signatures to prevent spoofing |
Handling Confidence Scores in Production
Confidence Thresholds
IDP APIs return a confidence score for each extracted field (typically 0–1). Define thresholds appropriate for your use case: high-confidence fields (>0.95) proceed automatically; medium-confidence fields (0.80–0.95) are flagged for human review; low-confidence fields (<0.80) are routed to manual processing.
Building a Review Queue
Production integrations need a human-in-the-loop interface for low-confidence extractions. Build a simple review queue where operators see the original document alongside extracted values and can confirm or correct before downstream posting.
Papirus.ai provides a REST API with comprehensive documentation for developer integrations. Request API access. Related: Platform Features | Document Capture
