--- title: "Extract Structured Data from Documents with One API Call" description: "Turn PDFs, DOCX files, spreadsheets, scans and web pages into typed JSON with confidence scores and source citations. Free tier: 100 credits a month." url: https://thedrive.ai/blog/extract-structured-data-from-documents-api published: 2026-06-03 updated: 2026-06-03 tags: ["api", "developer-tools", "data-extraction", "pdf", "document-processing", "ai"] author: "Bigyan Karki" publisher: The Drive AI --- # Extract Structured Data from Documents with One API Call ## The Real Cost of Unstructured Documents Every business runs on documents — invoices, contracts, receipts, medical forms, property listings. The data inside them is structured, but the format is not. Extracting that data means regex, templates, manual entry, or expensive platforms that charge per page and still break when the layout changes. Traditional extraction tools rely on template matching. They work until a vendor sends an invoice in a slightly different format. Then they fail silently, returning wrong data with high confidence — the worst kind of bug. (How to [automate invoice processing](https://thedrive.ai/blog/automate-invoice-processing-ai-no-templates) without templates covers the invoice case in depth.) LLM-grounded extraction solves this. Instead of matching templates, it reads the document the way a human would, understands context, and adapts to layout variations. Studies show template-based extractors drop 12-28 F1 points on new document formats. LLM-based tools drop 2-6. We built an extraction API around this approach. ## How It Works The [Drive AI Extract API](https://dev.thedrive.ai) takes a document and a schema, and returns typed JSON with confidence scores and source citations. ``` POST https://dev.thedrive.ai/api/v1/extract ``` ### Define What You Want Send a schema describing the fields you need. Each field has a type, a description, and an optional `required` flag: ```json { "url": "https://example.com/invoice-2024-003.pdf", "schema": { "vendor_name": { "type": "string", "description": "Company or person who issued the invoice", "required": true }, "invoice_date": { "type": "string", "description": "Date the invoice was issued (ISO 8601)" }, "total_amount": { "type": "number", "description": "Total amount due including tax" }, "line_items": { "type": "array", "description": "List of items with description, quantity, and unit price" }, "payment_terms": { "type": "enum", "description": "Payment terms", "options": ["net_15", "net_30", "net_60", "due_on_receipt"] } } } ``` ### Get Structured Data Back The response includes the extracted data, a confidence score for each field, and citations pointing to the exact text the data was pulled from: ```json { "data": { "vendor_name": "Acme Corp", "invoice_date": "2024-11-15", "total_amount": 4750.00, "line_items": [ { "description": "Consulting — November", "quantity": 40, "unit_price": 100 }, { "description": "Travel expenses", "quantity": 1, "unit_price": 750 } ], "payment_terms": "net_30" }, "confidence": { "vendor_name": "high", "invoice_date": "high", "total_amount": "high", "line_items": "high", "payment_terms": "medium" }, "citations": { "vendor_name": "Acme Corp, Inc. — 123 Business Ave, Suite 400", "invoice_date": "Invoice Date: November 15, 2024", "total_amount": "Total Due: $4,750.00", "payment_terms": "Terms: Net 30 days from invoice date" } } ``` Every field is traceable. If the confidence is `medium` or `low`, you can inspect the citation to understand why and decide how to handle it in your pipeline. ### Authentication ```bash curl -X POST https://dev.thedrive.ai/api/v1/extract \ -H "X-API-Key: tda_live_..." \ -H "Content-Type: application/json" \ -d '{ "url": "...", "schema": { ... } }' ``` ## What You Can Extract From The API handles documents, images, and websites through the same endpoint. | Source Type | Examples | Credits | |-------------|----------|---------| | **Documents** | PDF, DOCX, DOC, ODT, RTF, EPUB, TXT | 1 credit/page | | **Spreadsheets** | XLSX, XLS, ODS, CSV, TSV | 1 credit/page | | **Presentations** | PPTX, PPT, ODP, KEY | 1 credit/page | | **Images** | JPG, PNG, TIFF, HEIC (via OCR) | 1 credit/page | | **Websites** | Any public URL | 5 credits/site | Scanned documents and images go through OCR with vision model proofreading — so even a photo of a handwritten form or a stamped receipt gets extracted accurately. OCR plus reading plus structured output is what the industry calls [intelligent document processing](https://thedrive.ai/blog/what-is-intelligent-document-processing). ## Real-World Extraction Patterns ### Invoice Processing Automate accounts payable by extracting vendor, amounts, dates, and line items from invoices in any format: ```python from thedriveai import TheDriveAI client = TheDriveAI(api_key="tda_live_...") result = client.extract( url="https://storage.example.com/invoices/INV-2024-003.pdf", schema={ "vendor": {"type": "string", "required": True}, "invoice_number": {"type": "string", "required": True}, "date": {"type": "string", "description": "ISO 8601 date"}, "total": {"type": "number"}, "line_items": {"type": "array", "description": "description, qty, unit_price, amount"}, "tax_amount": {"type": "number"}, } ) # Route based on confidence if all(c == "high" for c in result.confidence.values()): auto_process(result.data) else: flag_for_review(result.data, result.confidence) ``` ### Contract Review Extract key terms from legal documents — parties, dates, obligations, and risk clauses: ```javascript import { TheDriveAI } from '@thedriveai/sdk'; const client = new TheDriveAI({ apiKey: 'tda_live_...' }); const result = await client.extract({ url: 'https://storage.example.com/contracts/vendor-agreement.pdf', schema: { parties: { type: 'array', description: 'Names of all parties to the agreement' }, effective_date: { type: 'string', description: 'When the contract takes effect' }, termination_date: { type: 'string', description: 'When the contract expires' }, liability_cap: { type: 'number', description: 'Maximum liability amount in USD' }, governing_law: { type: 'string', description: 'Jurisdiction governing the contract' }, auto_renewal: { type: 'boolean', description: 'Whether the contract auto-renews' }, notice_period_days: { type: 'number', description: 'Days of notice required for termination' }, }, }); ``` ### Lead Enrichment from Websites Extract company details from any website — no scraping logic needed: ```python result = client.extract( url="https://stripe.com", schema={ "company_name": {"type": "string"}, "tagline": {"type": "string", "description": "Main value proposition or tagline"}, "industry": {"type": "string"}, "products": {"type": "array", "description": "Main products or services"}, "social_links": {"type": "array", "description": "Twitter, LinkedIn, GitHub URLs"}, "pricing_model": {"type": "enum", "options": ["free", "freemium", "paid", "enterprise", "usage_based"]}, } ) ``` The API renders JavaScript, parses the DOM, follows links — it reads websites the way a person would, not the way a scraper does. ### Receipt and Expense Processing Process expense receipts from photos or scans: ```python result = client.extract( url="https://storage.example.com/receipts/IMG_4521.jpg", schema={ "merchant": {"type": "string", "required": True}, "date": {"type": "string"}, "total": {"type": "number", "required": True}, "tax": {"type": "number"}, "payment_method": {"type": "enum", "options": ["cash", "credit", "debit", "other"]}, "category": {"type": "enum", "options": ["meals", "travel", "supplies", "software", "other"]}, } ) ``` ## How It Compares to Alternatives | Feature | Drive AI Extract | Adobe PDF Extract | AWS Textract | Google Document AI | |---------|-----------------|-------------------|--------------|-------------------| | Schema-based extraction | Yes | No (fixed output) | Limited | Yes (custom processors) | | Confidence scores | Per-field | Per-element | Per-word | Per-entity | | Source citations | Yes | No | No | No | | Website extraction | Yes | No | No | No | | OCR with AI proofreading | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | | File formats | 107+ | PDF only | PDF, images | PDF, images | | Free tier | 100 credits/month | 500 tx/month | 1,000 pages/month | 1,000 pages/month | | Setup | One API call | SDK + credentials | AWS IAM + SDK | GCP project + SDK | The key difference: you define what you want with a schema, and the API adapts to any document format. No template training, no processor configuration, no format-specific handling. The same schema works on an invoice PDF, a photo of a receipt, and a pricing page on a website. ## Pricing | Plan | Credits | Cost | |------|---------|------| | Free | 100/month | $0 | | Pro | Pay as you go | $0.01/credit | | Enterprise | Custom volume | Contact us | Documents cost **1 credit per page**. Websites cost **5 credits per site**. A 10-page contract costs 10 credits. The free tier lets you process roughly 100 pages per month — enough to build and validate your pipeline. ## Get Started Install the SDK: ```bash npm install @thedriveai/sdk ``` ```bash pip install thedriveai ``` Or use cURL directly: ```bash curl -X POST https://dev.thedrive.ai/api/v1/extract \ -H "X-API-Key: tda_live_..." \ -H "Content-Type: application/json" \ -d '{ "url": "https://example.com/document.pdf", "schema": { "title": { "type": "string" }, "date": { "type": "string" }, "amount": { "type": "number" } } }' ``` Get your API key at [dev.thedrive.ai](https://dev.thedrive.ai) and start extracting structured data in minutes. --- Have questions or need help with a specific extraction use case? Reach out at [contact@thedrive.ai](mailto:contact@thedrive.ai). The Drive AI API, free for 100 credits a month: [get an API key](https://dev.thedrive.ai/login) · [quickstart](https://docs.thedrive.ai/developer/quickstart)