Docs/Concepts/Extract
Reference

Extract

Extract pulls structured data out of a classified document — fields, tables, figures, and checkboxes — against a schema, or everything it can find when there is no schema.

What Extract answers

Extract reads the values out of a document: field values, tables, figures, and checkbox or radio selections. It runs on each classified document and produces the structured record that is delivered to your destination and returned from the API.

The Extract stage. A schema binds at the top; the four extraction sub-stages below it each handle one kind of content. With no schema bound, extraction returns free-form JSON.

Schema-bound and generic modes

How Extract runs depends on whether a schema is bound.

  • Schema-bound — Classify resolved a schema, so Extract knows exactly which fields to look for. Each field is routed to the sub-stage that handles its type, and the enabled sub-stages run together. This is the mode that gives validated, predictable output.
  • Generic — no schema is bound, so Extract returns free-form JSON: every key-value pair, table, and figure it can find, with no schema to validate against. This is the fallback for an unmatched class, and it never fails the job — a document the model cannot read cleanly comes back with empty results, not an error.

The extraction sub-stages

In schema-bound mode, four sub-stages divide the work by content type. A sub-stage runs only when it is enabled and the schema declares fields of its kind, so nothing is spent on content the schema never asks for.

Sub-stageHandles
Schema extractionScalar fields — the named values a schema defines.
Table extractionTables and repeating rows, column by column.
Graph / chart extractionFigures — charts, logos, diagrams, signatures, stamps.
Checkbox / radio extractionTick, cross, and filled-mark selections.

Every extracted value carries a confidence and, when Parse emitted them, coordinates on the page — normalized and snapped to the document geometry so a reviewer sees the value highlighted where it was read.

Confidence is advisory

Extract does not pause a document. Instead it emits signals — a low-confidence count, cross-field validation errors, and a needs-review flag — that downstream review keys off. Whether a low-confidence field becomes an exception is decided by the Reviews configuration, not by Extract halting.

Output

Both modes return one envelope with the same shape: fields, tables, figures, and selections, each present even when empty, plus an overall confidence and the review signals above. One shape for both modes means one renderer in the app and one contract on the API — see the API overview.

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Last updated 19 Aug 2026