Quickstart

Get started with the DocLD API in three steps: upload a document, extract data, and ask questions.

Prerequisites

Create a DocLD account at docld.com
Get your API key — Go to Settings → API Keys and create a key
Set your key as an environment variable:


export DOCLD_API_KEY="docld_..."

Step 1 — Upload a document

Upload a file and DocLD will automatically parse, chunk, and index it.


curl https://docld.com/api/v1/documents \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $DOCLD_API_KEY" \
  -F file=@invoice.pdf


{
  "id": "f47ac10b-...",
  "object": "document",
  "name": "invoice.pdf",
  "status": "pending",
  "created": 1710000000
}

Processing takes a few seconds. Poll the document to check status:


curl https://docld.com/api/v1/documents/f47ac10b-... \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $DOCLD_API_KEY"

When status is "completed", the document is ready.

Step 2 — Extract structured data

Pull specific fields from the document:


curl https://docld.com/api/v1/extractions \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $DOCLD_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "document_id": "f47ac10b-...",
    "fields": [
      {"name": "vendor", "type": "string"},
      {"name": "total", "type": "number"},
      {"name": "date", "type": "string"}
    ]
  }'


{
  "id": "e1a2b3c4-...",
  "object": "extraction",
  "data": {
    "vendor": "Acme Corp",
    "total": 1500.00,
    "date": "2026-01-15"
  },
  "confidence": 0.95
}

For reusable extraction templates, create a schema first.

Step 3 — Ask questions

Create a collection, add your document, then ask questions:


# Create a collection
curl https://docld.com/api/v1/collections \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $DOCLD_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"name": "Invoices"}'
 
# Add the document to the collection
curl https://docld.com/api/v1/collections/COLLECTION_ID/documents \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $DOCLD_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"document_id": "f47ac10b-..."}'
 
# Ask a question
curl https://docld.com/api/v1/chat/completions \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $DOCLD_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "message": "What is the total on the invoice?",
    "collection_id": "COLLECTION_ID"
  }'


{
  "id": "chatcmpl_abc123",
  "object": "chat.completion",
  "message": "The total on the invoice is $1,500.00.",
  "citations": [
    {
      "document_id": "f47ac10b-...",
      "page": 1,
      "text": "Total: $1,500.00"
    }
  ]
}

Next Steps

API Reference — Full endpoint documentation
Authentication — API keys and rate limits
Search — Semantic search across documents
SDKs — JavaScript and Python client libraries
Document Parsing — Supported formats and OCR