Quickstart: Using client libraries

This page shows you how to get started with the Document AI API in your favorite programming language.

Before you begin

1. Sign in to your Google Cloud account. If you're new to Google Cloud, create an account to evaluate how our products perform in real-world scenarios. New customers also get $300 in free credits to run, test, and deploy workloads.

2. In the Google Cloud Console, on the project selector page, select or create a Google Cloud project.

   Note: If you don't plan to keep the resources that you create in this procedure, create a project instead of selecting an existing project. After you finish these steps, you can delete the project, removing all resources associated with the project.

   Go to project selector

3. Make sure that billing is enabled for your Cloud project. Learn how to confirm that billing is enabled for your project.

4. Enable the Document AI API.

   Enable the API

5. Create a service account:

   1. In the Cloud Console, go to the Create service account page.

      Go to Create service account
   2. Select a project.

   3. In the Service account name field, enter a name. The Cloud Console fills in the Service account ID field based on this name.

      In the Service account description field, enter a description. For example, Service account for quickstart.

   4. Click Create and continue.

   5. Click the Select a role field.

      Under Quick access, click Basic, then click Owner.

      Note: The Role field affects which resources your service account can access in your project. You can revoke these roles or grant additional roles later. In production environments, do not grant the Owner, Editor, or Viewer roles. Instead, grant a predefined role or custom role that meets your needs.
   6. Click Continue.

   7. Click Done to finish creating the service account.

      Do not close your browser window. You will use it in the next step.

6. Create a service account key:

   1. In the Cloud Console, click the email address for the service account that you created.
   2. Click Keys.
   3. Click Add key, then click Create new key.
   4. Click Create. A JSON key file is downloaded to your computer.
   5. Click Close.

7. Set the environment variable GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS to the path of the JSON file that contains your service account key. This variable only applies to your current shell session, so if you open a new session, set the variable again.

   Example: Linux or macOS

   export GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS="KEY_PATH"

   Replace KEY_PATH with the path of the JSON file that contains your service account key.

   For example:

   export GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS="/home/user/Downloads/service-account-file.json"

   Example: Windows

   For PowerShell:

   $env:GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS="KEY_PATH"

   Replace KEY_PATH with the path of the JSON file that contains your service account key.

   For example:

   $env:GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS="C:\Users\username\Downloads\service-account-file.json"

   For command prompt:

   set GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS=KEY_PATH

   Replace KEY_PATH with the path of the JSON file that contains your service account key.

8. In the Google Cloud Console, on the project selector page, select or create a Google Cloud project.

   Note: If you don't plan to keep the resources that you create in this procedure, create a project instead of selecting an existing project. After you finish these steps, you can delete the project, removing all resources associated with the project.

   Go to project selector

9. Make sure that billing is enabled for your Cloud project. Learn how to confirm that billing is enabled for your project.

10. Enable the Document AI API.

    Enable the API

11. Create a service account:

    1. In the Cloud Console, go to the Create service account page.

       Go to Create service account
    2. Select a project.

    3. In the Service account name field, enter a name. The Cloud Console fills in the Service account ID field based on this name.

       In the Service account description field, enter a description. For example, Service account for quickstart.

    4. Click Create and continue.

    5. Click the Select a role field.

       Under Quick access, click Basic, then click Owner.

       Note: The Role field affects which resources your service account can access in your project. You can revoke these roles or grant additional roles later. In production environments, do not grant the Owner, Editor, or Viewer roles. Instead, grant a predefined role or custom role that meets your needs.
    6. Click Continue.

    7. Click Done to finish creating the service account.

       Do not close your browser window. You will use it in the next step.

12. Create a service account key:

    1. In the Cloud Console, click the email address for the service account that you created.
    2. Click Keys.
    3. Click Add key, then click Create new key.
    4. Click Create. A JSON key file is downloaded to your computer.
    5. Click Close.

13. Set the environment variable GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS to the path of the JSON file that contains your service account key. This variable only applies to your current shell session, so if you open a new session, set the variable again.

    Example: Linux or macOS

    export GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS="KEY_PATH"

    Replace KEY_PATH with the path of the JSON file that contains your service account key.

    For example:

    export GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS="/home/user/Downloads/service-account-file.json"

    Example: Windows

    For PowerShell:

    $env:GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS="KEY_PATH"

    Replace KEY_PATH with the path of the JSON file that contains your service account key.

    For example:

    $env:GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS="C:\Users\username\Downloads\service-account-file.json"

    For command prompt:

    set GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS=KEY_PATH

    Replace KEY_PATH with the path of the JSON file that contains your service account key.

Install the client library

Java

For more on setting up your Java development environment, refer to the Java Development Environment Setup Guide.

If you are using Maven, add the following to your pom.xml file. For more information about BOMs, see The Google Cloud Platform Libraries BOM.

<dependencyManagement>
  <dependencies>
    <dependency>
      <groupId>com.google.cloud</groupId>
      <artifactId>libraries-bom</artifactId>
      <version>24.0.0</version>
      <type>pom</type>
      <scope>import</scope>
    </dependency>
  </dependencies>
</dependencyManagement>

<dependencies>
  <dependency>
    <groupId>com.google.cloud</groupId>
    <artifactId>google-cloud-document-ai</artifactId>
    <version>2.1.7</version>
  </dependency>

If you are using Gradle, add the following to your dependencies:

implementation platform('com.google.cloud:libraries-bom:24.0.0')

implementation 'com.google.cloud:google-cloud-document-ai'

If you are using sbt, add the following to your dependencies:

libraryDependencies += "com.google.cloud" % "google-cloud-document-ai" % "2.1.7"

If you're using Visual Studio Code, IntelliJ, or Eclipse, you can add client libraries to your project using the following IDE plugins:

• Cloud Code for VS Code
• Cloud Code for IntelliJ
• Cloud Tools for Eclipse

The plugins provide additional functionality, such as key management for service accounts. Refer to each plugin's documentation for details.

Note: Cloud Java client libraries do not currently support Android.

Node.js

For more on setting up your Node.js development environment, refer to the Node.js Development Environment Setup Guide.

npm install @google-cloud/documentai

Python

For more on setting up your Python development environment, refer to the Python Development Environment Setup Guide.

pip install --upgrade google-cloud-documentai

Document processing

Use Document AI API to request information from a local PDF document. To run the following samples you must first create a processor in the UI.

Console

1. In the Google Cloud Console, in the Document AI section, go to the Processors page.

   Go to the Processors page

2. Select Create processor.

3. Click on the processor type from the list you want to create.

   Note: Access is restricted to certain processors. If a processor is restricted access you must request access and be approved to be able to create the processor.

4. In the side Create processor window specify a processor name.

5. Select your Region from the list.

6. Click Create to create your processor.

After you have created a processor and have the processor ID, run the following code to request individual document processing:

Java

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import com.google.cloud.documentai.v1.Document;
import com.google.cloud.documentai.v1.DocumentProcessorServiceClient;
import com.google.cloud.documentai.v1.ProcessRequest;
import com.google.cloud.documentai.v1.ProcessResponse;
import com.google.cloud.documentai.v1.RawDocument;
import com.google.protobuf.ByteString;
import java.io.IOException;
import java.nio.file.Files;
import java.nio.file.Paths;
import java.util.List;
import java.util.concurrent.ExecutionException;
import java.util.concurrent.TimeoutException;

public class QuickStart {
  public static void main(String[] args)
      throws IOException, InterruptedException, ExecutionException, TimeoutException {
    // TODO(developer): Replace these variables before running the sample.
    String projectId = "your-project-id";
    String location = "your-project-location"; // Format is "us" or "eu".
    String processorId = "your-processor-id";
    String filePath = "path/to/input/file.pdf";
    quickStart(projectId, location, processorId, filePath);
  }

  public static void quickStart(
      String projectId, String location, String processorId, String filePath)
      throws IOException, InterruptedException, ExecutionException, TimeoutException {
    // Initialize client that will be used to send requests. This client only needs to be created
    // once, and can be reused for multiple requests. After completing all of your requests, call
    // the "close" method on the client to safely clean up any remaining background resources.
    try (DocumentProcessorServiceClient client = DocumentProcessorServiceClient.create()) {
      // The full resource name of the processor, e.g.:
      // projects/project-id/locations/location/processor/processor-id
      // You must create new processors in the Cloud Console first
      String name =
          String.format("projects/%s/locations/%s/processors/%s", projectId, location, processorId);

      // Read the file.
      byte[] imageFileData = Files.readAllBytes(Paths.get(filePath));

      // Convert the image data to a Buffer and base64 encode it.
      ByteString content = ByteString.copyFrom(imageFileData);

      RawDocument document =
          RawDocument.newBuilder().setContent(content).setMimeType("application/pdf").build();

      // Configure the process request.
      ProcessRequest request =
          ProcessRequest.newBuilder().setName(name).setRawDocument(document).build();

      // Recognizes text entities in the PDF document
      ProcessResponse result = client.processDocument(request);
      Document documentResponse = result.getDocument();

      // Get all of the document text as one big string
      String text = documentResponse.getText();

      // Read the text recognition output from the processor
      System.out.println("The document contains the following paragraphs:");
      Document.Page firstPage = documentResponse.getPages(0);
      List<Document.Page.Paragraph> paragraphs = firstPage.getParagraphsList();

      for (Document.Page.Paragraph paragraph : paragraphs) {
        String paragraphText = getText(paragraph.getLayout().getTextAnchor(), text);
        System.out.printf("Paragraph text:\n%s\n", paragraphText);
      }
    }
  }

  // Extract shards from the text field
  private static String getText(Document.TextAnchor textAnchor, String text) {
    if (textAnchor.getTextSegmentsList().size() > 0) {
      int startIdx = (int) textAnchor.getTextSegments(0).getStartIndex();
      int endIdx = (int) textAnchor.getTextSegments(0).getEndIndex();
      return text.substring(startIdx, endIdx);
    }
    return "[NO TEXT]";
  }
}

Node.js

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/**
 * TODO(developer): Uncomment these variables before running the sample.
 */
// const projectId = 'YOUR_PROJECT_ID';
// const location = 'YOUR_PROJECT_LOCATION'; // Format is 'us' or 'eu'
// const processorId = 'YOUR_PROCESSOR_ID'; // Create processor in Cloud Console
// const filePath = '/path/to/local/pdf';

const {DocumentProcessorServiceClient} =
  require('@google-cloud/documentai').v1;

// Instantiates a client
// apiEndpoint regions available: eu-documentai.googleapis.com, us-documentai.googleapis.com (Required if using eu based processor)
// const client = new DocumentProcessorServiceClient({apiEndpoint: 'eu-documentai.googleapis.com'});
const client = new DocumentProcessorServiceClient();

async function quickstart() {
  // The full resource name of the processor, e.g.:
  // projects/project-id/locations/location/processor/processor-id
  // You must create new processors in the Cloud Console first
  const name = `projects/${projectId}/locations/${location}/processors/${processorId}`;

  // Read the file into memory.
  const fs = require('fs').promises;
  const imageFile = await fs.readFile(filePath);

  // Convert the image data to a Buffer and base64 encode it.
  const encodedImage = Buffer.from(imageFile).toString('base64');

  const request = {
    name,
    rawDocument: {
      content: encodedImage,
      mimeType: 'application/pdf',
    },
  };

  // Recognizes text entities in the PDF document
  const [result] = await client.processDocument(request);
  const {document} = result;

  // Get all of the document text as one big string
  const {text} = document;

  // Extract shards from the text field
  const getText = textAnchor => {
    if (!textAnchor.textSegments || textAnchor.textSegments.length === 0) {
      return '';
    }

    // First shard in document doesn't have startIndex property
    const startIndex = textAnchor.textSegments[0].startIndex || 0;
    const endIndex = textAnchor.textSegments[0].endIndex;

    return text.substring(startIndex, endIndex);
  };

  // Read the text recognition output from the processor
  console.log('The document contains the following paragraphs:');
  const [page1] = document.pages;
  const {paragraphs} = page1;

  for (const paragraph of paragraphs) {
    const paragraphText = getText(paragraph.layout.textAnchor);
    console.log(`Paragraph text:\n${paragraphText}`);
  }
}

Python

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# TODO(developer): Uncomment these variables before running the sample.
# project_id= 'YOUR_PROJECT_ID'
# location = 'YOUR_PROJECT_LOCATION' # Format is 'us' or 'eu'
# processor_id = 'YOUR_PROCESSOR_ID' #  Create processor in Cloud Console
# file_path = '/path/to/local/pdf'


def quickstart(project_id: str, location: str, processor_id: str, file_path: str):

    from google.cloud import documentai_v1 as documentai

    # You must set the api_endpoint if you use a location other than 'us', e.g.:
    opts = {}
    if location == "eu":
        opts = {"api_endpoint": "eu-documentai.googleapis.com"}

    client = documentai.DocumentProcessorServiceClient(client_options=opts)

    # The full resource name of the processor, e.g.:
    # projects/project-id/locations/location/processor/processor-id
    # You must create new processors in the Cloud Console first
    name = f"projects/{project_id}/locations/{location}/processors/{processor_id}"

    # Read the file into memory
    with open(file_path, "rb") as image:
        image_content = image.read()

    document = {"content": image_content, "mime_type": "application/pdf"}

    # Configure the process request
    request = {"name": name, "raw_document": document}

    result = client.process_document(request=request)
    document = result.document

    document_pages = document.pages

    # For a full list of Document object attributes, please reference this page: https://googleapis.dev/python/documentai/latest/_modules/google/cloud/documentai_v1beta3/types/document.html#Document

    # Read the text recognition output from the processor
    print("The document contains the following paragraphs:")
    for page in document_pages:
        paragraphs = page.paragraphs
        for paragraph in paragraphs:
            print(paragraph)
            paragraph_text = get_text(paragraph.layout, document)
            print(f"Paragraph text: {paragraph_text}")


def get_text(doc_element: dict, document: dict):
    """
    Document AI identifies form fields by their offsets
    in document text. This function converts offsets
    to text snippets.
    """
    response = ""
    # If a text segment spans several lines, it will
    # be stored in different text segments.
    for segment in doc_element.text_anchor.text_segments:
        start_index = (
            int(segment.start_index)
            if segment in doc_element.text_anchor.text_segments
            else 0
        )
        end_index = int(segment.end_index)
        response += document.text[start_index:end_index]
    return response

Congratulations! You've sent your first request to Document AI.

How did it go?

It worked!

Great! What did you like about the quickstart? What could we have done better? Let us know!.

I got stuck.

We're sorry to hear that. Let us know what went wrong. We'll want to fix it.

Clean up

To avoid incurring charges to your Google Account for the resources used in this quickstart:

• Use the Cloud Console to delete your project if you do not need it.

What's next

Find out more about our Document AI API Client Libraries.