Invoice Parsing in Python — Extract Invoice & Receipt Data with One API Call

Skip the OCR pipeline. Add invoice parsing to your Python app with ten lines of code.

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✓ Free DocuParseAPI account✓ Python 3.10+✓ requests/httpx

The guide

Install the requests library

One dependency is all you need:

pip install requests

Set your API key as an environment variable

Never hardcode the key in your source code:

export DOCUPARSE_API_KEY="dex_your_key_here"

Send the file and read the response

Open the file in binary mode and POST it. The response is structured JSON with every field already named — no parsing required:

import os, requests

with open('invoice.pdf', 'rb') as f:
    r = requests.post(
        'https://docuparseapi.com/api/v1/extract',
        headers={'Authorization': f'Bearer {os.environ["DOCUPARSE_API_KEY"]}'},
        files={'file': f},
        timeout=30
    )

data = r.json()
print(data['merchant'], data['total'])

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Handle errors by error code

Check the error code to give specific feedback:

if not data['success']:
    code = data['error']['code']
    if code == 'LIMIT_EXCEEDED':
        print('Monthly limit reached')
    elif code == 'EXTRACTION_FAILED':
        print('Try a cleaner scan')
    elif code == 'UNSUPPORTED_FILE_TYPE':
        print('Use PDF, JPG, or PNG')

For async apps, use httpx

If you're using FastAPI or asyncio:

import httpx

async def parse_invoice(path: str) -> dict:
    async with httpx.AsyncClient(timeout=30) as client:
        with open(path, 'rb') as f:
            r = await client.post(
                'https://docuparseapi.com/api/v1/extract',
                headers={'Authorization': f'Bearer {os.environ["DOCUPARSE_API_KEY"]}'},
                files={'file': f.read()}
            )
    return r.json()

Full working example

python

import os
import requests

def parse_invoice(file_path: str) -> dict:
    with open(file_path, "rb") as f:
        response = requests.post(
            "https://docuparseapi.com/api/v1/extract",
            headers={"Authorization": f"Bearer {os.environ['DOCUPARSE_API_KEY']}"},
            files={"file": (os.path.basename(file_path), f)},
            timeout=30,
        )
    response.raise_for_status()
    data = response.json()
    if not data.get("success"):
        raise RuntimeError(f"[{data['error']['code']}] {data['error']['message']}")
    return data

# Usage
invoice = parse_invoice("invoice.pdf")
print(f"Vendor:  {invoice['merchant']}")
print(f"Total:   {invoice['currency']} {invoice['total']}")
print(f"Tax:     {invoice['tax']}")
print(f"Date:    {invoice['date']}")
for item in invoice.get("line_items", []):
    print(f"  {item['description']}: {item['quantity']} x {item['unit_price']}")

What gets extracted

merchantThe vendor or store name

totalThe final charged amount including tax

subtotalThe pre-tax amount

taxThe tax amount charged

dateInvoice or transaction date (ISO 8601)

due_datePayment due date, or null if not present

invoice_idInvoice number or receipt ID from the document

currencyISO 4217 currency code (USD, EUR, GBP, etc.)

payment_methodCard type, cash, or other payment method

line_itemsArray of items with description, quantity, unit_price, total

Common errors and fixes

MISSING_API_KEYAuthorization header missingAdd header: Authorization: Bearer YOUR_KEY

INVALID_API_KEYKey not recognisedCheck key in dashboard — regenerate if needed

LIMIT_EXCEEDEDMonthly document limit reachedUpgrade at docuparseapi.com/pricing

UNSUPPORTED_FILE_TYPEFile format not supportedUse PDF, JPG, or PNG only

FILE_TOO_LARGE_AUTHENTICATEDFile exceeds 10 MBCompress the file before sending

EXTRACTION_FAILEDDocument could not be parsedTry a cleaner scan or different file

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