Quickstart

Get started with Parse in just a few minutes. This guide will walk you through your first document extraction.

1. Get your API key

2. Extract data

Upload a file and extract structured data in a single call. The API accepts PDF, JPEG, PNG, GIF, WebP, TIFF, BMP, HEIC, and AVIF files.

curl -X POST https://api-parse.conversiontools.io/v1/extract \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -F "file=@invoice.pdf"

Response

{
  "success": true,
  "id": "ext_789...",
  "filename": "invoice.pdf",
  "status": "completed",
  "data": {
    "vendor_name": "Acme Corp",
    "invoice_number": "INV-2024-001",
    "date": "2024-01-15",
    "items": [
      {
        "description": "Consulting Services",
        "quantity": 10,
        "unit_price": 150.00,
        "amount": 1500.00
      }
    ],
    "subtotal": 1500.00,
    "tax": 150.00,
    "total": 1650.00
  },
  "pages_used": 1
}

3. Download as CSV or Excel (optional)

Need a spreadsheet instead of JSON? Start an export for any completed extraction, then download the file. Exports are free and nested data is flattened into rows, ready for a spreadsheet.

# Start the export (format: csv or xlsx)
curl -X POST https://api-parse.conversiontools.io/v1/extractions/ext_789.../export \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"format": "xlsx"}'

# Download once ready
curl -L -o invoice.xlsx \
  "https://api-parse.conversiontools.io/v1/extractions/ext_789.../export?format=xlsx" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"

You can also pass output_format on the extract request to have the spreadsheet ready automatically when the extraction completes.

Next steps

API Reference - full endpoint documentation with sync and async methods
Custom Schemas - define exactly which fields to extract
Examples - invoice, receipt, and form extraction examples