> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.mindee.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.mindee.com/v1/utilities/extracting-and-parsing-multi-receipts-tutorial-nodejs.md).

# Extracting and Parsing Multi-Receipts Tutorial (Node.js)

## Overview

### When to use this?

It may be a common occurrence for you or your users that taking one picture of a bunch of receipts at once might be way faster than taking a bunch of different pictures. In one such case, you may find that it may be tough to split the ensuing picture into sub-files before sending them to the Receipt API. No worries, the **Multi-Receipts Detector API** takes care of that.

The underlying principle is simple, an AI scans the contents of a file and identifies the coordinates of the receipts it sees.

Those coordinates then can be used to extract those receipts from the initial picture into their own files.

{% hint style="info" %}
**Note:** for PDFs the principle applies at a page-level: i.e. each page will be treated as a separate picture. The results can be retrieved either all at once or on a page-by-page basis.
{% endhint %}

### Initial Setup

The goal of this tutorial is to use the Multi-Receipts Detector API to isolate receipts and then parse them on the Receipts OCR.

To do this, we'll be using the following dummy file:

<figure><img src="/files/i41IXNGM5osiG8QPxolx" alt="" width="563"><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

Before uploading, be sure that you have taken the following into account:

* Receipts are clear, unstained and properly unfolded
* Receipts don't overlap, and they are not spilling out of the picture
* Receipts are aligned in roughly the same direction
* No other type of documents are mixed in with the receipts

The Multi-Receipts Detector API is quite robust, but it will not distinguish between receipts and other similar pieces of paper if you mistakenly add some.

## Subscribing to the Multi-Receipts API

For this tutorial, you'll need to be in possession of a [valid and up-to-date API key(](/v1/get-started/create-api-key.md) and a valid subscription to the [Multi-Receipts API](https://platform.mindee.com/mindee/multi_receipts_detector) as well as the [Receipt OCR](https://platform.mindee.com/mindee/expense_receipts/live-interface).

If you aren't sure whether your subscription is enabled or not, go on the `API` page of the main interface, click on `Utilities`:

<figure><img src="/files/6neU25V3aRrpr5vQDNZq" alt="" width="563"><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

Then click on the `Multi Receipts Detector` button. That's it, your subscription to the API should be enabled.

To do the same for the receipts OCR, simply head to the `Document Catalog`:

<figure><img src="/files/V6jRf9ge0qaMMvLFbWhA" alt="" width="563"><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

Then, like in the previous step, click on our product of interest (`Expense Receipt`).

{% hint style="warning" %}
Be aware that you need to enable **both subscriptions** to get this whole tutorial working.
{% endhint %}

## Calling the API

Time to get coding!

For this tutorial, we'll be using the official Mindee client library for Node.js.

Other programming languages are supported, check [the list](https://github.com/mindee/legacy-docs/blob/main/libraries/librairies.md).

Let's create a directory to store our project and install the Mindee client:

```shell
mkdir multi_receipts_tutorial
cd multi_receipts_tutorial
npm install -s mindee
touch demo_multi_receipts.js
```

To get started with the code, we'll head on over to the `Documentation` page by using the link on the left of the interface.

From there we'll click on your language (`NODEJS`), then `Select an API key`, and finally use the copy code button:

<figure><img src="/files/KIUsUZVUB2ErZ9oo0zUG" alt="" width="563"><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

Using your IDE, open the `demo_multi_receipts` file we created, and paste this code. We'll use it as a base.

Make sure the API key is correctly filled in, if not, simply grab one from the Mindee interface.

Find the line:

```js
const inputSource = mindeeClient.docFromPath("/path/to/the/file.ext");
```

And put in a real file path on your drive. You should test this file in the [live interface](https://platform.mindee.com/mindee/multi_receipts_detector/live-interface) before checking.

Now run the code:

```shell
node demo_multi_receipts.js
```

The result should look something like this:

```rst
########
Document
########
:Mindee ID: d7c5b25f-e0d3-4491-af54-6183afa1aaab
:Filename: default_sample.jpg

Inference
#########
:Product: mindee/multi_receipts_detector v1.0
:Rotation applied: Yes

Prediction
==========
:List of Receipts: Polygon with 4 points.
                   Polygon with 4 points.
                   Polygon with 4 points.
                   Polygon with 4 points.
                   Polygon with 4 points.
                   Polygon with 4 points.

Page Predictions
================

Page 0
------
:List of Receipts: Polygon with 4 points.
                   Polygon with 4 points.
                   Polygon with 4 points.
                   Polygon with 4 points.
                   Polygon with 4 points.
                   Polygon with 4 points.

```

You'll notice that receipts only have a description of a polygon here. That is because this is only a summary of what's going on, but fret not, our receipts coordinates are of course accessible!

## Image extraction code

The method to call to extract the images is called in the following way:

```
const { imageOperations } = require("mindee");

//...

const someResult = imageOperations.extractReceipts(myInputFile, myInferenceResult);
```

We'll add the method call to the response handling part of the script.\
You should have something like this:

```js

const { Client, imageOperations } = require("mindee");

const mindeeClient = new Client();
//... rest of the basic implementation

// Handle the response Promise
apiResponse.then((resp) => {
  
	const someResult = imageOperations.extractReceipts(myInputFile, resp.document.inference);
  someResult.then((extractionResp) => {
    //some code...
  });
});
```

This is not very pretty, though.

We can make this a bit more legible and usable by switching to something like this.

```js
const { Client, product, imageOperations } = require("./../dist/src");
const { setTimeout } = require("node:timers/promises");

async function parseReceipts() {
  // fill in your API key or add it as an environment variable
  const mindeeClient = new Client();

  const multiReceiptsFile = mindeeClient.docFromPath("path/to/your/file.ext");
  const resp = await mindeeClient.parse(product.MultiReceiptsDetectorV1, multiReceiptsFile);
  let receipts = await imageOperations.extractReceipts(multiReceiptsFile, resp.document.inference);
}
parseReceipts();
```

### Parsing the Extracted Files

Now one last piece is missing: what to do with our `receipts`? Well, parse them, of course!

The code for this part is mostly up to you, but for this tutorial we'll use a simple loop to parse the documents and then display the results:

```

for (const receipt of receipts) {
  const respReceipt = await mindeeClient.parse(product.ReceiptV5, receipt.asSource());
  console.log(respReceipt.document.toString());
  await setTimeout(1000); // wait some time between requests as to not overload the server
}
```

This should print something like this:

```
########
Document
########
:Mindee ID: 8506a82c-bc1f-4d5b-abd1-174f60459091
:Filename: receipt_p0_0.pdf

Inference
#########
:Product: mindee/expense_receipts v5.1
:Rotation applied: Yes

Prediction
==========
:Expense Locale: fr-FR; fr; FR; EUR;
:Purchase Category: miscellaneous
:Purchase Subcategory:
:Document Type: CREDIT CARD RECEIPT
:Purchase Date: 2022-08-24
:Purchase Time: 12:45
:Total Amount: 16.50
:Total Net:
:Total Tax:
:Tip and Gratuity:
:Taxes:
  +---------------+--------+----------+---------------+
  | Base          | Code   | Rate (%) | Amount        |
  +===============+========+==========+===============+
:Supplier Name:
:Supplier Company Registrations: 81187803200010
:Supplier Address:
:Supplier Phone Number:
:Line Items:

Page Predictions
================

Page 0
------
:Expense Locale: fr-FR; fr; FR; EUR;
:Purchase Category: miscellaneous
:Purchase Subcategory:
:Document Type: CREDIT CARD RECEIPT
:Purchase Date: 2022-08-24
:Purchase Time: 12:45
:Total Amount: 16.50
:Total Net:
:Total Tax:
:Tip and Gratuity:
:Taxes:
  +---------------+--------+----------+---------------+
  | Base          | Code   | Rate (%) | Amount        |
  +===============+========+==========+===============+
:Supplier Name:
:Supplier Company Registrations: 81187803200010
:Supplier Address:
:Supplier Phone Number:
:Line Items:

########
Document
########
:Mindee ID: f8e5b080-533e-43b6-b4bb-ef77208a74a3
:Filename: receipt_p0_1.pdf

Inference
#########
:Product: mindee/expense_receipts v5.1
:Rotation applied: Yes

Prediction
==========
:Expense Locale: fr-FR; fr; FR; EUR;
:Purchase Category: food
:Purchase Subcategory: restaurant
:Document Type: EXPENSE RECEIPT
:Purchase Date: 2022-08-25
:Purchase Time: 12:43
:Total Amount: 21.50
:Total Net: 19.55
:Total Tax: 1.95
:Tip and Gratuity:
:Taxes:
  +---------------+--------+----------+---------------+
  | Base          | Code   | Rate (%) | Amount        |
  +===============+========+==========+===============+
  | 19.55         | TVA    | 10.00    | 1.95          |
  +---------------+--------+----------+---------------+
:Supplier Name: CHES
:Supplier Company Registrations: 87880027500017
:Supplier Address: 35 rue charlot 75003 paris
:Supplier Phone Number: 0100000000
:Line Items:
  +--------------------------------------+----------+--------------+------------+
  | Description                          | Quantity | Total Amount | Unit Price |
  +======================================+==========+==============+============+
  | Repas                                | 1.00     | 21.50        |            |
  +--------------------------------------+----------+--------------+------------+

Page Predictions
================

Page 0
------
:Expense Locale: fr-FR; fr; FR; EUR;
:Purchase Category: food
:Purchase Subcategory: restaurant
:Document Type: EXPENSE RECEIPT
:Purchase Date: 2022-08-25
:Purchase Time: 12:43
:Total Amount: 21.50
:Total Net: 19.55
:Total Tax: 1.95
:Tip and Gratuity:
:Taxes:
  +---------------+--------+----------+---------------+
  | Base          | Code   | Rate (%) | Amount        |
  +===============+========+==========+===============+
  | 19.55         | TVA    | 10.00    | 1.95          |
  +---------------+--------+----------+---------------+
:Supplier Name: CHES
:Supplier Company Registrations: 87880027500017
:Supplier Address: 35 rue charlot 75003 paris
:Supplier Phone Number: 0100000000
:Line Items:
  +--------------------------------------+----------+--------------+------------+
  | Description                          | Quantity | Total Amount | Unit Price |
  +======================================+==========+==============+============+
  | Repas                                | 1.00     | 21.50        |            |
  +--------------------------------------+----------+--------------+------------+

########
Document
########
:Mindee ID: 6812060a-b9e4-4e45-8492-00aef14de36d
:Filename: receipt_p0_2.pdf

Inference
#########
:Product: mindee/expense_receipts v5.1
:Rotation applied: Yes

Prediction
==========
:Expense Locale: fr-FR; fr; FR; EUR;
:Purchase Category: food
:Purchase Subcategory: restaurant
:Document Type: EXPENSE RECEIPT
:Purchase Date: 2022-08-22
:Purchase Time: 12:27
:Total Amount: 13.50
:Total Net:
:Total Tax:
:Tip and Gratuity:
:Taxes:
  +---------------+--------+----------+---------------+
  | Base          | Code   | Rate (%) | Amount        |
  +===============+========+==========+===============+
:Supplier Name: LA CERISE SUR LA PIZZA
:Supplier Company Registrations: 51092131500063
:Supplier Address: 14 rue froissart 75003 paris france
:Supplier Phone Number:
:Line Items:
  +--------------------------------------+----------+--------------+------------+
  | Description                          | Quantity | Total Amount | Unit Price |
  +======================================+==========+==============+============+
  | EMPORTER LA CASTE                    | 1.00     | 11.50        | 11.50      |
  +--------------------------------------+----------+--------------+------------+
  | CANETTE SODA                         | 1.00     | 2.00         | 2.00       |
  +--------------------------------------+----------+--------------+------------+

Page Predictions
================

Page 0
------
:Expense Locale: fr-FR; fr; FR; EUR;
:Purchase Category: food
:Purchase Subcategory: restaurant
:Document Type: EXPENSE RECEIPT
:Purchase Date: 2022-08-22
:Purchase Time: 12:27
:Total Amount: 13.50
:Total Net:
:Total Tax:
:Tip and Gratuity:
:Taxes:
  +---------------+--------+----------+---------------+
  | Base          | Code   | Rate (%) | Amount        |
  +===============+========+==========+===============+
:Supplier Name: LA CERISE SUR LA PIZZA
:Supplier Company Registrations: 51092131500063
:Supplier Address: 14 rue froissart 75003 paris france
:Supplier Phone Number:
:Line Items:
  +--------------------------------------+----------+--------------+------------+
  | Description                          | Quantity | Total Amount | Unit Price |
  +======================================+==========+==============+============+
  | EMPORTER LA CASTE                    | 1.00     | 11.50        | 11.50      |
  +--------------------------------------+----------+--------------+------------+
  | CANETTE SODA                         | 1.00     | 2.00         | 2.00       |
  +--------------------------------------+----------+--------------+------------+

########
Document
########
:Mindee ID: ac5a337b-7ca2-4acd-8a3f-a2cf54697ede
:Filename: receipt_p0_3.pdf

Inference
#########
:Product: mindee/expense_receipts v5.1
:Rotation applied: Yes

Prediction
==========
:Expense Locale: fr-FR; fr; FR; EUR;
:Purchase Category: food
:Purchase Subcategory: restaurant
:Document Type: EXPENSE RECEIPT
:Purchase Date: 2022-08-24
:Purchase Time: 12:45
:Total Amount: 16.50
:Total Net: 15.00
:Total Tax: 1.50
:Tip and Gratuity:
:Taxes:
  +---------------+--------+----------+---------------+
  | Base          | Code   | Rate (%) | Amount        |
  +===============+========+==========+===============+
  | 15.00         | TVA    | 10.00    | 1.50          |
  +---------------+--------+----------+---------------+
:Supplier Name: BUR
:Supplier Company Registrations: FR95811878032
                                 81187803200010
:Supplier Address: 22 rue rambuteau 75003 paris france
:Supplier Phone Number:
:Line Items:
  +--------------------------------------+----------+--------------+------------+
  | Description                          | Quantity | Total Amount | Unit Price |
  +======================================+==========+==============+============+
  | Repas                                | 1.00     | 16.50        | 16.50      |
  +--------------------------------------+----------+--------------+------------+

Page Predictions
================

Page 0
------
:Expense Locale: fr-FR; fr; FR; EUR;
:Purchase Category: food
:Purchase Subcategory: restaurant
:Document Type: EXPENSE RECEIPT
:Purchase Date: 2022-08-24
:Purchase Time: 12:45
:Total Amount: 16.50
:Total Net: 15.00
:Total Tax: 1.50
:Tip and Gratuity:
:Taxes:
  +---------------+--------+----------+---------------+
  | Base          | Code   | Rate (%) | Amount        |
  +===============+========+==========+===============+
  | 15.00         | TVA    | 10.00    | 1.50          |
  +---------------+--------+----------+---------------+
:Supplier Name: BUR
:Supplier Company Registrations: FR95811878032
                                 81187803200010
:Supplier Address: 22 rue rambuteau 75003 paris france
:Supplier Phone Number:
:Line Items:
  +--------------------------------------+----------+--------------+------------+
  | Description                          | Quantity | Total Amount | Unit Price |
  +======================================+==========+==============+============+
  | Repas                                | 1.00     | 16.50        | 16.50      |
  +--------------------------------------+----------+--------------+------------+

########
Document
########
:Mindee ID: 2fc54836-61eb-4c0f-b3f3-35717505f7aa
:Filename: receipt_p0_4.pdf

Inference
#########
:Product: mindee/expense_receipts v5.1
:Rotation applied: Yes

Prediction
==========
:Expense Locale: fr-FR; fr; FR; EUR;
:Purchase Category: food
:Purchase Subcategory: restaurant
:Document Type: EXPENSE RECEIPT
:Purchase Date: 2022-08-23
:Purchase Time: 12:52
:Total Amount: 14.50
:Total Net:
:Total Tax: 0.21
:Tip and Gratuity:
:Taxes:
  +---------------+--------+----------+---------------+
  | Base          | Code   | Rate (%) | Amount        |
  +===============+========+==========+===============+
  |               | TVA    | 5.50     | 0.21          |
  +---------------+--------+----------+---------------+
:Supplier Name: CHEZ ALAIN MIAM MIAM
:Supplier Company Registrations: 83833640200014
:Supplier Address: 26 rue char lot 75003 paris france
:Supplier Phone Number:
:Line Items:
  +--------------------------------------+----------+--------------+------------+
  | Description                          | Quantity | Total Amount | Unit Price |
  +======================================+==========+==============+============+
  | MIAM MIAM                            | 1.00     | 10.50        | 10.50      |
  +--------------------------------------+----------+--------------+------------+
  | Limonade                             | 1.00     | 4.00         | 4.00       |
  +--------------------------------------+----------+--------------+------------+

Page Predictions
================

Page 0
------
:Expense Locale: fr-FR; fr; FR; EUR;
:Purchase Category: food
:Purchase Subcategory: restaurant
:Document Type: EXPENSE RECEIPT
:Purchase Date: 2022-08-23
:Purchase Time: 12:52
:Total Amount: 14.50
:Total Net:
:Total Tax: 0.21
:Tip and Gratuity:
:Taxes:
  +---------------+--------+----------+---------------+
  | Base          | Code   | Rate (%) | Amount        |
  +===============+========+==========+===============+
  |               | TVA    | 5.50     | 0.21          |
  +---------------+--------+----------+---------------+
:Supplier Name: CHEZ ALAIN MIAM MIAM
:Supplier Company Registrations: 83833640200014
:Supplier Address: 26 rue char lot 75003 paris france
:Supplier Phone Number:
:Line Items:
  +--------------------------------------+----------+--------------+------------+
  | Description                          | Quantity | Total Amount | Unit Price |
  +======================================+==========+==============+============+
  | MIAM MIAM                            | 1.00     | 10.50        | 10.50      |
  +--------------------------------------+----------+--------------+------------+
  | Limonade                             | 1.00     | 4.00         | 4.00       |
  +--------------------------------------+----------+--------------+------------+

########
Document
########
:Mindee ID: dfb53ec3-7f05-4e6a-a26a-c727a52b8984
:Filename: receipt_p0_5.pdf

Inference
#########
:Product: mindee/expense_receipts v5.1
:Rotation applied: Yes

Prediction
==========
:Expense Locale: fr-FR; fr; FR; EUR;
:Purchase Category: miscellaneous
:Purchase Subcategory:
:Document Type: CREDIT CARD RECEIPT
:Purchase Date: 2022-08-23
:Purchase Time: 12:52
:Total Amount: 14.50
:Total Net:
:Total Tax:
:Tip and Gratuity:
:Taxes:
  +---------------+--------+----------+---------------+
  | Base          | Code   | Rate (%) | Amount        |
  +===============+========+==========+===============+
:Supplier Name:
:Supplier Company Registrations: 83833640200022
:Supplier Address:
:Supplier Phone Number:
:Line Items:
  +--------------------------------------+----------+--------------+------------+
  | Description                          | Quantity | Total Amount | Unit Price |
  +======================================+==========+==============+============+
  | NO AUTO: MONTANT                     |          | 14.50        |            |
  +--------------------------------------+----------+--------------+------------+

Page Predictions
================

Page 0
------
:Expense Locale: fr-FR; fr; FR; EUR;
:Purchase Category: miscellaneous
:Purchase Subcategory:
:Document Type: CREDIT CARD RECEIPT
:Purchase Date: 2022-08-23
:Purchase Time: 12:52
:Total Amount: 14.50
:Total Net:
:Total Tax:
:Tip and Gratuity:
:Taxes:
  +---------------+--------+----------+---------------+
  | Base          | Code   | Rate (%) | Amount        |
  +===============+========+==========+===============+
:Supplier Name:
:Supplier Company Registrations: 83833640200022
:Supplier Address:
:Supplier Phone Number:
:Line Items:
  +--------------------------------------+----------+--------------+------------+
  | Description                          | Quantity | Total Amount | Unit Price |
  +======================================+==========+==============+============+
  | NO AUTO: MONTANT                     |          | 14.50        |            |
  +--------------------------------------+----------+--------------+------------+

```

Despite showing a filename, the results shouldn't needlessly create temporary files, as everything is managed through file buffers.

A working implementation of this code can be found in the `example/multiReceiptsTutorial.js` file on the [Node.js repo](https://github.com/mindee/mindee-api-nodejs/blob/main/example/multiReceiptsTutorial.js).

## Custom Implementation

If you are using a non-supported language, or simply want to implement things your own way, here's a gist of how things work under the hood...

But first, if you are not familiar with other products yet, know that a response from the API will contain a `document` field, which in turns contains the following attributes of interest: `inference` > `prediction` and `inference` > `pages`. `pages` being a list of objects, all containing their own `prediction` attributes. Think of the `inference`'s `prediction` as an aggregate of these.

> **Note** implementation might change depending on the language you use, but the structure will always follow that of the raw json response, which you can find the scheme of in [this page](https://platform.mindee.com/mindee/multi_receipts_detector/documentation#section=%22response-scheme%22).

Why are these `prediction`s relevant? Because they contain our `receipts`' coordinates. Which in turn contains a bounding box, which is simply a series of 4 coordinates. The coordinates have a very simple structure: a list of four points, which are each a list of two elements (x position and y position).

Those coordinates represent an offset to the top-left origin, displayed in percentage (`float` or equivalent between 0.0 and 1.0). Which means that in order to get a receipt's coordinates, you need to multiply its x coordinate by the width of the file, and its y coordinate by the height of the file.

{% hint style="warning" %}
Be aware that some libraries flip the y side and consider the bottom-right point to be the origin, which will result in upside-down images if you aren't careful!
{% endhint %}

The next step is pretty straightforward: use the bounding boxes of each receipts to cut out a piece of the original file, and then either save those file or send them to the Receipt OCR for parsing!


---

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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.mindee.com/v1/utilities/extracting-and-parsing-multi-receipts-tutorial-nodejs.md?ask=<question>&goal=<endgoal>
```

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