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Setting Up a Data Extraction Rule

An extraction rule is a configuration that tells the platform what to extract from a specific kind of document. You create one per document type — supplier invoices, receipts, application forms, ID documents — each with its own field map.

Extraction rule editor showing a PDF preview on the left with annotated bounding boxes; on the right, a list of fields with rules: 'Invoice Number = label_near

Step-by-Step

  1. Open Architect Panel → Data Extraction → Rules and click New Rule.
  2. Upload a sample document to anchor on.
  3. Name the rule (e.g. “Standard supplier invoice”) and pick the target datastore.
  4. For each target field, define how to find it:
    • Label nearby: Look for a label (“Invoice #”) and read the value to its right or below.
    • Regex: Match a regex against the document text.
    • Bounding box: Fixed coordinates (great for highly-standardised forms).
    • ML model: Use a pre-trained model for the document type.
  5. Set the confidence threshold (e.g. 85%).
  6. Test against more sample documents. Tune rules until extraction is reliable.
  7. Publish.

Auto-Selecting a Rule

When a new document arrives, the platform identifies which rule to use:

  • By upload context (e.g. uploads through the “supplier invoice” form always use the invoice rule).
  • By sender (emails from a specific supplier use a supplier-specific rule).
  • By document classification (ML classifier picks among defined rules).

Worked Examples

  • Supplier-specific invoice rule: One per major supplier (each has a different layout). Falls back to a generic rule for unknown senders.
  • Receipt rule: ML model trained on common receipt layouts; extracts merchant, date, total, line items.
  • ID document rule: Bounding-box rule for standard passports — MRZ zone parsed, photo cropped, expiry validated.
  • Form rule: Fixed bounding-box rule for an internal application form printed from your own template.