Document Verification

This guide covers how to verify business documents using the Parcha API. We’ll use incorporation document verification as our canonical example to demonstrate the three main approaches.

Choosing the Right Approach

Parcha offers three ways to verify documents, each optimized for different use cases:

Quick Comparison

Approach	Endpoint	Speed	Use Case
1. Full Agent Job	`startKYBAgentJob`	Varies	Document verification as part of comprehensive KYB review with multiple checks
2. Prevalidation	`runCheck`	Fast	Quick document type validation before full review
3. Full Verification	`runCheck`	Thorough	Complete verification with visual analysis and fraud detection

Incorporation Document Example

We’ll demonstrate all three approaches using incorporation document verification. The same patterns apply to other document types (proof of address, EIN documents, etc.).

Sample Business Data

business_data = {
    "registered_business_name": "Example Business Inc.",
    "incorporation_date": "2023-01-01",
    "address_of_incorporation": {
        "street_1": "123 Main St",
        "city": "Wilmington",
        "state": "DE",
        "country_code": "US",
        "postal_code": "19801"
    }
}

Approach 1: Full Agent Job

Best for: Comprehensive compliance reviews

Use Agent Jobs when you need to run multiple checks together as part of a unified compliance workflow with custom pass/fail criteria.

When to use:

Running a full KYB review with multiple checks (web presence + sanctions + document verification)
You have an agent configured with specific pass/fail logic
You need unified case view and risk scoring across all checks

How it works:

curl -X POST 'https://api.parcha.ai/api/v1/startKYBAgentJob' \
-H 'Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY' \
-H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
-d '{
  "agent_key": "your-kyb-agent-key",
  "kyb_schema": {
    "id": "case-001",
    "self_attested_data": {
      "registered_business_name": "Example Business Inc.",
      "website": "https://example.com",
      "incorporation_date": "2023-01-01",
      "address_of_incorporation": {
        "street_1": "123 Main St",
        "city": "Wilmington",
        "state": "DE",
        "country_code": "US",
        "postal_code": "19801"
      },
      "incorporation_documents": [
        {
          "file_name": "certificate_of_incorporation.pdf",
          "b64_document": "BASE64_ENCODED_DOCUMENT"
        }
      ]
    }
  },
  "webhook_url": "https://your-webhook.com/callback"
}'

Agent configuration matters: Your agent key determines which checks run and the pass/fail criteria. Work with Parcha to configure agents that match your compliance policies.

Approach 2: Prevalidation (Quick Check)

Best for: Real-time document upload validation

Use Prevalidation for fast document type checking without running full verification. Perfect for inline validation during user uploads.

When to use:

Real-time document upload flows where users expect quick feedback
Pre-screening documents before committing to full verification
Validating document type before user submits their application

How it works: Set all verification flags to false to skip visual verification and fraud checks. The system will only validate that the document is a valid type. Use a webhook to receive the result quickly.

curl -X POST 'https://api.parcha.ai/api/v1/runCheck' \
-H 'Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY' \
-H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
-d '{
  "agent_key": "your-agent-key",
  "check_id": "kyb.incorporation_document_verification",
  "kyb_schema": {
    "id": "case-001",
    "self_attested_data": {
      "registered_business_name": "Example Business Inc.",
      "incorporation_date": "2023-01-01",
      "incorporation_documents": [
        {
          "file_name": "certificate_of_incorporation.pdf",
          "b64_document": "BASE64_ENCODED_DOCUMENT"
        }
      ]
    }
  },
  "check_args": {
    "enable_visual_verification": false,
    "enable_fraud_check": false,
    "verify_incorporation_date": false,
    "verify_registration_number": false,
    "verify_address": false,
    "verify_no_high_risk_fraud": false
  },
  "webhook_url": "https://your-webhook.com/prevalidation-callback"
}'

Webhook or Poll? Provide a webhook_url (recommended) to receive results automatically as soon as prevalidation completes, or poll the /getJobById endpoint if webhooks aren’t feasible for your setup.

Approach 3: Full Verification

Best for: Thorough document analysis

Use Full Verification for complete document analysis including visual verification, fraud detection, and data extraction.

When to use:

Final verification before approving a business application
When you need visual element analysis (seals, signatures)
When fraud detection is required
When you need to verify specific data fields (dates, addresses)

How it works: Enable the verification options you need. Each adds additional analysis capabilities:

curl -X POST 'https://api.parcha.ai/api/v1/runCheck' \
-H 'Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY' \
-H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
-d '{
  "agent_key": "your-agent-key",
  "check_id": "kyb.incorporation_document_verification",
  "kyb_schema": {
    "id": "case-001",
    "self_attested_data": {
      "registered_business_name": "Example Business Inc.",
      "incorporation_date": "2023-01-01",
      "address_of_incorporation": {
        "street_1": "123 Main St",
        "city": "Wilmington",
        "state": "DE",
        "country_code": "US",
        "postal_code": "19801"
      },
      "incorporation_documents": [
        {
          "file_name": "certificate_of_incorporation.pdf",
          "b64_document": "BASE64_ENCODED_DOCUMENT"
        }
      ]
    }
  },
  "check_args": {
    "enable_visual_verification": true,
    "enable_fraud_check": true,
    "verify_incorporation_date": true,
    "verify_registration_number": true,
    "verify_address": true,
    "verify_no_high_risk_fraud": true
  },
  "webhook_url": "https://your-webhook.com/callback"
}'

Verification Options Reference

Latency vs. Thoroughness Trade-off: Each verification option adds scrutiny but increases processing time. Choose based on your risk tolerance and UX requirements.

Option	Default	Description	Latency Impact
`enable_visual_verification`	`true`	Uses vision model to analyze seals, signatures, visual elements	+15-30 seconds
`enable_fraud_check`	`false`	Sophisticated fraud and tampering analysis on document metadata	+1-2 minutes
`verify_incorporation_date`	`true`	Fail if incorporation date has significant discrepancies	Minimal
`verify_registration_number`	`false`	Fail if registration number has significant discrepancies	Minimal
`verify_address`	`false`	Fail if address has significant discrepancies	Minimal
`verify_no_high_risk_fraud`	`false`	Fail if HIGH_RISK fraud indicators detected	Minimal

By default (without explicit options), the system performs OCR-based analysis using LLMs to extract and analyze text from the document.

Polling for Results

After starting a job, poll for completion:

curl 'https://api.parcha.ai/api/v1/getJobById?job_id=YOUR_JOB_ID&include_check_results=true' \
-H 'Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY'

Using Webhooks

Instead of polling, configure a webhook to receive results automatically:

const express = require('express');
const app = express();
app.use(express.json());

app.post('/callback', (req, res) => {
  const jobData = req.body;
  
  if (jobData.status === 'complete') {
    const incorpCheck = jobData.check_results.find(
      check => check.command_id === 'kyb.incorporation_document_verification'
    );
    
    if (incorpCheck) {
      if (incorpCheck.passed) {
        console.log('✓ Document verified');
        console.log('Company:', incorpCheck.payload.company_name);
      } else {
        console.log('✗ Verification failed:', incorpCheck.answer);
      }
    }
  }
  
  res.sendStatus(200);
});

app.listen(3000);

For more details, see the Webhooks documentation.

Decision Guide

I need to run a full compliance review with multiple checks

Use: Approach 1 - Full Agent Job (startKYBAgentJob)Include documents in your kyb_schema and let the agent handle document verification alongside web presence, sanctions screening, and other checks. You get unified pass/fail logic across all verification types.

I need quick validation during document upload

Use: Approach 2 - Prevalidation (runCheck with flags disabled)Set all verification flags to false for fast document type validation. Show users immediate feedback on whether their document is the right type before they submit.

I need thorough verification with fraud detection

Use: Approach 3 - Full Verification (runCheck with flags enabled)Enable enable_visual_verification and enable_fraud_check for comprehensive analysis. Use this for final verification before approving applications.

I want quick prevalidation followed by full verification

Combine Approaches 2 and 3

Run prevalidation during upload for quick feedback
Run full verification when user submits their complete application

This gives users fast feedback while ensuring thorough verification before approval.

Document Upload Options

When submitting documents for verification, you have two options for how to include the document data:

Option A: Inline Base64 (Single Request)

Include the base64-encoded document directly in your verification request. This is the simplest approach for most use cases. How it works: When to use:

Most common approach
Documents under 10MB
When you want simplicity

import base64

with open('document.pdf', 'rb') as file:
    b64_document = base64.b64encode(file.read()).decode('utf-8')

data = {
    "agent_key": "your-agent-key",
    "check_id": "kyb.incorporation_document_verification",
    "kyb_schema": {
        "id": "case-001",
        "self_attested_data": {
            "registered_business_name": "Example Business Inc.",
            "incorporation_documents": [
                {
                    "file_name": "certificate.pdf",
                    "b64_document": b64_document  # Document included inline
                }
            ]
        }
    },
    "check_args": {...}
}

Option B: Pre-upload (Two-Step)

Upload the document first to get a URL, then reference that URL in your verification request. Useful when you need to manage documents separately. How it works: When to use:

Large documents
When you need to reuse the same document across multiple checks
When you want to manage document storage separately

Step 1: Upload the document

curl -X POST 'https://api.parcha.ai/api/v1/uploadB64Document' \
-H 'Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY' \
-H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
-d '{
  "b64_document": "BASE64_ENCODED_CONTENT",
  "document_name": "certificate_of_incorporation.pdf"
}'

Step 2: Run verification with the URL

data = {
    "agent_key": "your-agent-key",
    "check_id": "kyb.incorporation_document_verification",
    "kyb_schema": {
        "id": "case-001",
        "self_attested_data": {
            "registered_business_name": "Example Business Inc.",
            "incorporation_documents": [
                {
                    "file_name": "certificate_of_incorporation.pdf",
                    "url": document_url  # Reference the uploaded document
                }
            ]
        }
    },
    "check_args": {...}
}

response = requests.post(
    'https://api.parcha.ai/api/v1/runCheck',
    headers={'Authorization': f'Bearer {api_key}', 'Content-Type': 'application/json'},
    json=data
)

Comparison

Option	Requests	Best For
A: Inline Base64	1	Simple integration, most use cases
B: Pre-upload	2	Large files, document reuse, separate storage management

Document Type	Check ID	Document Field
Incorporation Certificate	`kyb.incorporation_document_verification`	`incorporation_documents`
Proof of Address	`kyb.proof_of_address_verification`	`proof_of_address_documents`
EIN Document	`kyb.ein_document_verification`	`ein_documents`
Business Ownership	`kyb.business_ownership_document_verification`	`business_ownership_documents`
Source of Funds	`kyb.source_of_funds_document_verification`	`source_of_funds_documents`

Get Started

Concepts

Use Cases

Know Your Business (KYB)

Know Your Customer (KYC)

Choosing the Right Approach

Quick Comparison

Incorporation Document Example

Sample Business Data

Approach 1: Full Agent Job

Best for: Comprehensive compliance reviews

Approach 2: Prevalidation (Quick Check)

Best for: Real-time document upload validation

Approach 3: Full Verification

Best for: Thorough document analysis

Verification Options Reference

Polling for Results

Using Webhooks

Decision Guide

Document Upload Options

Option A: Inline Base64 (Single Request)

Option B: Pre-upload (Two-Step)

Comparison

Other Document Types

Get Started

Concepts

Use Cases

Know Your Business (KYB)

Know Your Customer (KYC)

​Choosing the Right Approach

​Quick Comparison

​Incorporation Document Example

​Sample Business Data

​Approach 1: Full Agent Job

Best for: Comprehensive compliance reviews

​Approach 2: Prevalidation (Quick Check)

Best for: Real-time document upload validation

​Approach 3: Full Verification

Best for: Thorough document analysis

​Verification Options Reference

​Polling for Results

​Using Webhooks

​Decision Guide

​Document Upload Options

​Option A: Inline Base64 (Single Request)

​Option B: Pre-upload (Two-Step)

​Comparison

​Other Document Types

Choosing the Right Approach

Quick Comparison

Incorporation Document Example

Sample Business Data

Approach 1: Full Agent Job

Approach 2: Prevalidation (Quick Check)

Approach 3: Full Verification

Verification Options Reference

Polling for Results

Using Webhooks

Decision Guide

Document Upload Options

Option A: Inline Base64 (Single Request)

Option B: Pre-upload (Two-Step)

Comparison

Other Document Types