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Document Understanding activities

Document Understanding coded automation APIs (preview)

Coded automation APIs for the Document Understanding activities package, covering document classification, data extraction, and validation artifacts.

UiPath.DocumentUnderstanding.Activities

Coded workflow API for classifying documents, extracting structured data, and creating and retrieving document validation artifacts. These APIs are available when designing coded automations. For an introduction to coded automations and how to design them using APIs, see Coded Automations.

  • Service accessor: du (type IDocumentUnderstandingService)
  • Required package: "UiPath.DocumentUnderstanding.Activities": "*" in the project.json dependencies.

Auto-imported namespaces​

The following namespaces are automatically available in coded workflows when the Document Understanding package is installed:

  • UiPath.DocumentUnderstanding.Activities.Api
  • UiPath.Platform.ResourceHandling
  • UiPath.DocumentProcessing.Contracts.Actions
  • UiPath.IntelligentOCR.StudioWeb.Activities.DataExtraction
  • UiPath.IntelligentOCR.StudioWeb.Activities.DocumentClassification

Service overview​

The du service exposes each Document Understanding operation as a direct method call. There is no connection or scope to open. Call methods on the service accessor directly:

var extracted = du.ExtractDocumentData(@"C:\invoices\invoice.pdf", "Invoices", "Production", "invoice");
var extracted = du.ExtractDocumentData(@"C:\invoices\invoice.pdf", "Invoices", "Production", "invoice");

The service mirrors the Studio Web Classify Document, Extract Document Data, Create Document Validation Artifacts, and Retrieve Document Validation Artifacts activities.

Project version or tag​

The projectVersionOrTag parameter maps to Studio's single Version dropdown. Pass either a version name (for example, v3) or a tag (for example, Production, Staging, live). The runtime resolves whichever kind matches the project. For the Predefined project, use Production.

Common parameters​

  • timeoutMs (Int) - Timeout in milliseconds for classification and extraction. Defaults to 3600000 (1 hour).
  • docType (String) - The document type id. Pass the document type name for projects with multiple document types, or an empty string for IXP-style projects that have a single extractor per version.

Classification​

DocumentData ClassifyDocument(string documentPath, string projectName, string projectVersionOrTag, int timeoutMs = 3600000)​

Classifies a document from a local file path against a Document Understanding project. Returns a DocumentData object, including the predicted document type.

DocumentData ClassifyDocument(IResource file, string projectName, string projectVersionOrTag, int timeoutMs = 3600000)​

Classifies the supplied document resource. Accepts any IResource, such as the output of the Path Exists or Get Local File or Folder activity.

Data extraction​

IDocumentData<DictionaryData> ExtractDocumentData(string documentPath, string projectName, string projectVersionOrTag, string docType, int timeoutMs = 3600000)​

Extracts structured data from a document at a local file path. Returns the extracted fields as IDocumentData<DictionaryData>.

IDocumentData<DictionaryData> ExtractDocumentData(IResource file, string projectName, string projectVersionOrTag, string docType, int timeoutMs = 3600000)​

Extracts structured data from the supplied document resource.

IDocumentData<DictionaryData> ExtractDocumentData(DocumentData classifiedDocument, string projectName, string projectVersionOrTag, string docType = null, int timeoutMs = 3600000)​

Extracts structured data from a document already classified with ClassifyDocument, which avoids re-digitizing the file. When docType is null, it is derived from the classified document's document type.

Validation artifacts​

ContentValidationData CreateDocumentValidationArtifacts(IDocumentData<DictionaryData> automaticExtractionResults, string orchestratorFolderName, string orchestratorBucketName = null)​

Uploads extraction results to Orchestrator storage and returns a ContentValidationData handle. Use the handle to create a validation action, or to retrieve the results later with RetrieveDocumentValidationArtifacts. When orchestratorBucketName is null, the default bucket is used.

IDocumentData<DictionaryData> RetrieveDocumentValidationArtifacts(ContentValidationData contentValidationData, object completedAppAction = null, bool removeDataFromStorage = false, bool returnAutomaticExtractionResults = false)​

Retrieves validated extraction results from storage. When removeDataFromStorage is true, the storage artifacts are deleted after retrieval. When returnAutomaticExtractionResults is true, the original automatic extraction results are returned instead of the validated ones.

Relationship to the activities​

The coded API and the Document Understanding XAML activities run on the same runtime, so a coded workflow reaches the same classification, extraction, and validation-artifact behavior as the Extract Document Data and Classify Document activities. The difference is the call shape: the service takes plain file paths or IResource inputs and returns Document Data objects directly, and you use ordinary try/catch instead of the activity Continue On Error option.

Common patterns​

Classify, then extract​

This pattern classifies a document and then reuses the classified result to extract data, which avoids digitizing the file a second time.

[Workflow]
public void Execute()
{
    var classified = du.ClassifyDocument(@"C:\docs\file.pdf", "MyProject", "Production");
    Log($"Document type: {classified.DocumentType.DisplayName}");

    // Reuses the classified document, so the file is not digitized again.
    var extracted = du.ExtractDocumentData(classified, "MyProject", "Production");
}
[Workflow]
public void Execute()
{
    var classified = du.ClassifyDocument(@"C:\docs\file.pdf", "MyProject", "Production");
    Log($"Document type: {classified.DocumentType.DisplayName}");

    // Reuses the classified document, so the file is not digitized again.
    var extracted = du.ExtractDocumentData(classified, "MyProject", "Production");
}

Extract and prepare data for app tasks containing the validation control​

This pattern extracts data, uploads it to storage as validation artifacts for review in an app task, and retrieves the validated results after the action completes.

[Workflow]
public void Execute()
{
    var extracted = du.ExtractDocumentData(@"C:\docs\invoice.pdf", "Invoices", "Production", "invoice");

    // Upload the results so they can be reviewed in Action Center.
    var artifacts = du.CreateDocumentValidationArtifacts(extracted, "Shared");

    // After the Action Center validation action completes, retrieve the validated results.
    var validated = du.RetrieveDocumentValidationArtifacts(artifacts, removeDataFromStorage: true);
}
[Workflow]
public void Execute()
{
    var extracted = du.ExtractDocumentData(@"C:\docs\invoice.pdf", "Invoices", "Production", "invoice");

    // Upload the results so they can be reviewed in Action Center.
    var artifacts = du.CreateDocumentValidationArtifacts(extracted, "Shared");

    // After the Action Center validation action completes, retrieve the validated results.
    var validated = du.RetrieveDocumentValidationArtifacts(artifacts, removeDataFromStorage: true);
}

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