> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.uptiq.ai/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.uptiq.ai/document-ai/api-reference/classification.md).

# Doc AI Classification

{% if false %}
Classification answers a narrower question than extraction: not *what does this document say* but *what kind of document is this*. It is what you reach for when a file arrives without a reliable label — an emailed attachment, a scanned packet, a customer upload — and you need to route it before you can extract from it.

The shape mirrors Extraction exactly. `/classify/sync` returns the answer in the response, `/classify` returns a job ID, and `/classify/bulk` handles a set. Feed the result into `documentType` on an extraction call and you have the routing pattern most integrations end up building.

### Generated endpoint reference

The generated reference is the source of truth for schemas and responses.

* [Synchronous document classification](/document-ai/developer-documentation/classification-1/synchronous-document-classification.md)
* [Get classification details](/document-ai/developer-documentation/classification-1/get-classification-details.md)

Use the generated reference navigation for asynchronous and bulk classification. This guide keeps routing behavior and ZIP-specific details.

{% hint style="info" %}
A ZIP upload is classified per member document, and those results carry `classificationGroupId`, `classificationGroupIndex` and `classificationGroupTotal` so you can reassemble the set. Plain PDF and Excel classifications do not carry those fields.
{% endhint %}

For the categories, confidence behaviour, and how classification is reviewed in the product, see [Document Classification](/document-ai/guides-1/document-classification.md).

### Get classification details

`GET /classifications/{classification_id}`

Requires the `X-Api-Key` header.

**Path and query parameters**

| Parameter           | In   | Type   | Required | Description |
| ------------------- | ---- | ------ | -------- | ----------- |
| `classification_id` | path | string | Yes      |             |

**Responses**

| Status | Description                                                             | Schema                         |
| ------ | ----------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------ |
| `200`  | OK                                                                      | `SingleClassificationResponse` |
| `400`  | Bad Request                                                             | `ValidationError`              |
| `401`  | Authentication required — the `X-Api-Key` header is missing or invalid. |                                |
| `404`  | No classification exists with that ID.                                  |                                |

**Example**

```bash
curl -X GET "https://<api-host>/classifications/{classification_id}" \
  -H "X-Api-Key: $DOCAI_API_KEY"
```

### Classify document type (Async)

`POST /classify`

Requires the `X-Api-Key` header.

**Request body** — `application/json`, required: `ClassifyRequest`

| Property                    | Type           | Description                                                                                                                                                                    |
| --------------------------- | -------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| `content`                   | string         | Base64-encoded file content                                                                                                                                                    |
| `context`                   | string         | Additional context to guide the classification                                                                                                                                 |
| `custom_document_types`     | array\<string> | Custom document types to classify against. If provided, classification is restricted to these types.                                                                           |
| `custom_document_types_url` | string         | URL to a JSON file containing custom document types. Merged with custom\_document\_types if both provided.                                                                     |
| `entities`                  | object         | Entity ID-to-name mapping for Excel workbook classification: {entityId: entityName, ...}                                                                                       |
| `file_url`                  | string         | Public URL to file                                                                                                                                                             |
| `metadata`                  | object         | Custom metadata                                                                                                                                                                |
| `model`                     | string         | LLM model for classification. Must be one of the supported models. One of: `gpt-4.1`, `gpt-5.1`, `gemini-3`, `openrouter/z-ai/glm-5.2`, `openrouter/deepseek/deepseek-v4-pro`. |
| `use_custom_types_only`     | boolean        | If true, only custom\_document\_types are valid classification results. Requires custom\_document\_types or custom\_document\_types\_url to be provided.                       |

**Responses**

| Status | Description                                                                              | Schema             |
| ------ | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------ |
| `200`  | OK                                                                                       | `ClassifyResponse` |
| `400`  | Bad Request                                                                              | `ValidationError`  |
| `401`  | Authentication required — the `X-Api-Key` header is missing or invalid.                  |                    |
| `500`  | Returned instead of `400` when the request body is missing or invalid. **Known defect.** |                    |

**Example**

```bash
curl -X POST "https://<api-host>/classify" \
  -H "X-Api-Key: $DOCAI_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
         "file_url": "https://example.com/unknown-document.pdf"
       }'
```

### Bulk document classification

`POST /classify/bulk`

Requires the `X-Api-Key` header.

**Request body** — `application/json`, required: `ClassifyBulkRequest`

| Property                    | Type                             | Description                                                                                                                                                                                             |
| --------------------------- | -------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `context`                   | array\<string> \| null           | Per-file classification context strings. Length must match files array.                                                                                                                                 |
| `custom_document_types`     | array\<string> \| null           | Custom document types applied to all files. If provided, classification is restricted to these types.                                                                                                   |
| `custom_document_types_url` | string \| null                   | URL to custom document types JSON file. Merged with custom\_document\_types for all files.                                                                                                              |
| `entities`                  | object \| null                   | Entity ID-to-name mapping for Excel workbook classification across all files: {entityId: entityName, ...}                                                                                               |
| `files`                     | array<`ClassifyBulkRequestFile`> | List of files to classify                                                                                                                                                                               |
| `metadata`                  | array\<object> \| null           | Per-file metadata dicts. Length must match files array.                                                                                                                                                 |
| `model`                     | string \| null                   | LLM model for classification (applies to all files). Defaults to gemini-3 if not specified. One of: `gpt-4.1`, `gpt-5.1`, `gemini-3`, `openrouter/z-ai/glm-5.2`, `openrouter/deepseek/deepseek-v4-pro`. |
| `use_custom_types_only`     | boolean \| null                  | If true, only custom\_document\_types are valid. Applied to all files.                                                                                                                                  |

**Nested objects**

`ClassifyBulkRequestFile`

| Property   | Type   | Description                 |
| ---------- | ------ | --------------------------- |
| `content`  | string | Base64-encoded file content |
| `file_url` | string | Public URL to file          |

**Responses**

| Status | Description                                                             | Schema                 |
| ------ | ----------------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------- |
| `200`  | OK                                                                      | `ClassifyBulkResponse` |
| `400`  | Bad Request                                                             | `ValidationError`      |
| `401`  | Authentication required — the `X-Api-Key` header is missing or invalid. |                        |

**Example**

```bash
curl -X POST "https://<api-host>/classify/bulk" \
  -H "X-Api-Key: $DOCAI_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
         "files": [
           {
             "file_url": "https://example.com/doc-1.pdf"
           },
           {
             "file_url": "https://example.com/doc-2.pdf"
           }
         ]
       }'
```

### Synchronous document classification

`POST /classify/sync`

Requires the `X-Api-Key` header.

**Request body** — `application/json`, required: `ClassifySyncRequest`

| Property                    | Type           | Description                                                                                                                                                                    |
| --------------------------- | -------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| `content`                   | string         | Base64-encoded file content                                                                                                                                                    |
| `context`                   | string         | Additional context to guide the classification                                                                                                                                 |
| `custom_document_types`     | array\<string> | Custom document types to classify against. If provided, classification is restricted to these types.                                                                           |
| `custom_document_types_url` | string         | URL to a JSON file containing custom document types. Merged with custom\_document\_types if both provided.                                                                     |
| `entities`                  | object         | Entity ID-to-name mapping for Excel workbook classification: {entityId: entityName, ...}                                                                                       |
| `file_url`                  | string         | Public URL to file                                                                                                                                                             |
| `metadata`                  | object         | Custom metadata                                                                                                                                                                |
| `model`                     | string         | LLM model for classification. Must be one of the supported models. One of: `gpt-4.1`, `gpt-5.1`, `gemini-3`, `openrouter/z-ai/glm-5.2`, `openrouter/deepseek/deepseek-v4-pro`. |
| `use_custom_types_only`     | boolean        | If true, only custom\_document\_types are valid classification results. Requires custom\_document\_types or custom\_document\_types\_url to be provided.                       |

**Responses**

| Status | Description                                                                              | Schema                 |
| ------ | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------- |
| `200`  | OK                                                                                       | `ClassifySyncResponse` |
| `400`  | Bad Request                                                                              | `ValidationError`      |
| `401`  | Authentication required — the `X-Api-Key` header is missing or invalid.                  |                        |
| `500`  | Returned instead of `400` when the request body is missing or invalid. **Known defect.** |                        |

**Example**

```bash
curl -X POST "https://<api-host>/classify/sync" \
  -H "X-Api-Key: $DOCAI_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
         "file_url": "https://example.com/unknown-document.pdf"
       }'
```

### Related pages

* [Document Classification](/document-ai/guides-1/document-classification.md) — the same capability through the UI.
* [Document Types](/document-ai/guides-1/document-types.md) — the registry the classifier draws from.
* [Classify, then extract](/document-ai/cookbooks/classify-then-extract.md) — the routing recipe.
* [Extraction API](broken://pages/vSGQzOYgGEf7RDcpwe08) — where a classification result usually goes next.
  {% endif %}

Classification identifies a document type before routing it for extraction. Use it when a file arrives without a reliable label.

`/classify/sync` returns the result in the response. `/classify` returns a job ID. `/classify/bulk` processes a set of files.

Use the resulting type as `documentType` in an extraction request.

### Endpoint reference

Use the generated endpoint reference for complete schemas and responses:

* [Synchronous document classification](/document-ai/developer-documentation/classification-1/synchronous-document-classification.md)
* [Get classification details](/document-ai/developer-documentation/classification-1/get-classification-details.md)

Use the generated reference navigation for asynchronous and bulk classification.

{% hint style="info" %}
A ZIP upload is classified per member document. Results include `classificationGroupId`, `classificationGroupIndex`, and `classificationGroupTotal`. Use these fields to reassemble the set. PDF and Excel classifications do not include them.
{% endhint %}

For categories, confidence behavior, and product review workflows, see [Document Classification](/document-ai/guides-1/document-classification.md).

### Related pages

* [Document Classification](/document-ai/guides-1/document-classification.md) — classify documents in the UI.
* [Document Types](/document-ai/guides-1/document-types.md) — the classifier’s document-type registry.
* [Classify, then extract](/document-ai/cookbooks/classify-then-extract.md) — a routing recipe.
* [Extraction API](broken://spaces/mwA6l7LmuazHsFgRVEq8/pages/vSGQzOYgGEf7RDcpwe08) — submit classified documents for extraction.


---

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Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter, and the optional `goal` query parameter:

```
GET https://docs.uptiq.ai/document-ai/api-reference/classification.md?ask=<question>&goal=<endgoal>
```

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