Basics: Document & Batch Workflow

How are uploaded documents or batches processed in the Parashift Platform? What workflow steps (Separation, Classification, Extraction) exist, and how are they represented in our data model?

Every uploaded document and batch runs through the same workflow steps. Depending on the use case some steps can be turned off or be very extensive.

Below is a high-level diagram that explains the different workflow steps:

Inbound
This is a technical step that prepares incoming files for further processing. Files are converted into an internal working format and enhanced to remove skew, rotation, or background.
One key task here is Optical Character Recognition (OCR), which converts text on images into machine-readable text.
Separation
If you work only with already separated documents (e.g., single-page PDFs), you can skip this step. Otherwise, a batch (multiple documents uploaded together) is separated into individual documents.
- Separation can be purely manual or automated by various methods.
- You can also revisit separation later if a user notices a document is not properly separated.
Classification
If you already know which document type you’re processing, this step can be skipped. Otherwise, documents are classified into different document types. Users interact only with exceptions that aren’t classified automatically.
Extraction
This is the most important step for many users, though it can be skipped if you only need separated and classified documents. Data is extracted from the document based on configured fields. Users can capture fields manually or validate fields with low prediction confidence.
- Parashift offers many configuration options and standard document types/fields out of the box.

Three attributes describe a document’s current status and workflow step:

Attribute	Allowed Values	Description
status	pending, in_progress, done, failed	Overall document status, typically in_progress or done
workflow_step	inbound, inbound_processing, ocr, classification, classification_validation, extraction, extraction_validation, outbound_processing, done, qc	The current workflow step
workflow_status	started in_progress retry failed done	The current status of the workflow_step

status	workflow_step	workflow_status	Description
done	done	done	The document is completely processed. All data, including export files, document type, and field data, can be retrieved.
in_progress	classification_validation extraction_validation	in_progress	The document is waiting for user interaction. Data can be fetched but may change after validation.
failed	(any step)	(any)	Processing failed. Check the uploaded file for correctness or contact Parashift Support.

https://api.parashift.io/v2/documents?filter[status]=done

https://api.parashift.io/v2/documents?filter[exported_at_blank]=true&filter[status]=done

https://api.parashift.io/v2/documents/123456/?include=document_fields&extra_fields[document_fields]=extraction_candidates

https://api.parashift.io/v2/documents/123456/mark_as_exported

https://api.parashift.io/v2/documents?filter[workflow_step]=extraction_validation&filter[workflow_status]=in_progress&stats[total]=count