barcode-capture-capacitor

BarcodeCapture Capacitor Skill

Critical: Do Not Trust Internal Knowledge

Your training data may contain outdated or incorrect Scandit SDK APIs. The BarcodeCapture API changes between major SDK versions — properties get renamed, removed, or restructured, and the Capacitor plugin surface (imports, plugin initialization, native sync steps) has also evolved.

Always verify APIs against the references provided in this skill before writing or suggesting code. Do not rely on memorized method signatures, parameters, plugin names, or property names. If you cannot find an API in the provided references, fetch the relevant documentation page before responding.

Capacitor-specific gotchas worth flagging:

• ScanditCaptureCorePlugin.initializePlugins() must be called (and awaited) before any other Scandit API — including DataCaptureContext construction. Forgetting this produces runtime errors that look unrelated to initialization.
• npx cap sync must be run after every plugin version change to propagate native artifacts into iOS/Android. Skipping it yields a web/native version mismatch at runtime.
• BarcodeCapture renders into a DataCaptureView that is connected to a DOM element via view.connectToElement(...). The view itself is a native overlay, but the DOM container determines its size and position. A BarcodeCaptureOverlay must be created and added to the view to visualize recognized barcodes.
• The camera is a separate component: Camera.default (or Camera.withSettings(BarcodeCapture.createRecommendedCameraSettings())), set via context.setFrameSource(camera), then started via camera.switchToDesiredState(FrameSourceState.On).
• Disable the mode while handling a scan: the didScan callback blocks further frame processing on Capacitor. If you do any meaningful work (database lookup, navigation, network) inside didScan, set barcodeCapture.isEnabled = false first, perform the work, then re-enable. This is documented behavior on Capacitor specifically.
• BarcodeCapture only renders on native platforms (iOS, Android). If your app also targets the web build of Capacitor, guard initialization with Capacitor.isNativePlatform().

Intent Routing

Based on the user's request, load the appropriate reference file before responding:

• Integrating BarcodeCapture from scratch (e.g. "add BarcodeCapture to my app", "set up barcode scanning", "how do I use BarcodeCapture in Capacitor", "wire up the overlay", "handle the camera lifecycle") → read references/integration.md and follow the instructions there.
• Migrating or upgrading an existing BarcodeCapture integration (e.g. "upgrade from v6 to v7", "migrate my BarcodeCapture", "bump the Scandit plugins to v8", "what changed between SDK versions") → read references/migration.md and follow the instructions there.
• Replacing a third-party scanner (e.g. "switch from @capacitor-mlkit/barcode-scanning / ML Kit to Scandit", "replace BarcodeScanner.startScan and barcodesScanned with BarcodeCapture") → read references/third-party-migration.md and follow the instructions there.

API Usage Policy

Only use APIs that are explicitly documented in the Scandit references below. Do not invent or guess method signatures, parameters, property names, or imports. If unsure whether an API exists or how it is called — or if a TypeScript / runtime error occurs — fetch the relevant reference page before responding. Do not tell the user to check the docs themselves. After answering, always include the relevant link so the user can explore further.

Never construct or guess documentation URLs. When you need a specific class or property's API page:

1. First check whether the page you already fetched (e.g. the Advanced Configurations page) contains a direct hyperlink to it — topic pages link directly to relevant API symbols. Always request links alongside content in your fetch prompt.
2. If no direct link was found, fetch the API index (see Full API reference in the table below), extract the actual link from it, and follow that.

URL structures vary across SDK versions and plugin paths (e.g. api/ui/ subdirectory) and guessing will lead to 404s.

Framework variant policy

Capacitor is a WebView-based framework. Examples in this skill use plain JavaScript (ES modules). TypeScript projects can use the same imports and APIs verbatim — just add types — but this skill does not assume a TypeScript project by default. If the target project is clearly TypeScript (.ts files, tsconfig.json), adapt the final output to TypeScript syntax; otherwise stay in plain JS.

Licence key

Scanning needs a Scandit licence key. For this skill the licence product is native and the licence platforms are ios and android.

Work through these in order — never block the user on MCP:

1. The Scandit MCP server is connected — call ensure_scanner_setup with product native and platforms ios and android, app_identifier (the app's bundle or application id; for web, its production domain, never localhost) and env_var SCANDIT_LICENSE_KEY. Do not run the command it returns. Then call get_license_key with the key's id, from that result or from list_license_keys; if list_license_keys shows the key is not a trial, ask the user before fetching it. Show at most a masked preview in chat; never print a full key.

2. It is not connected — tell the user once that they can connect the remote Scandit MCP server, https://ssl.scandit.com/mcp, in their MCP client, then continue from step 1. Do not edit MCP client configuration yourself.

   Authentication is browser-based, so it is not supported headless or in CI. The server provisions trial keys only; it never creates, revokes, or modifies production licences.

3. The user declines, or has no MCP client — they generate a key themselves at https://ssl.scandit.com (no account yet: https://ssl.scandit.com/dashboard/sign-up?p=test) and paste it in.

Then put the key into the code: write it into the licence-key call in place of the placeholder — the key get_license_key returned, or the one the user pastes or gives you — still showing only a masked preview in chat. Do not search the project, its files or the environment for a key.

References

Direct users to the right resource based on their question:

Topic	Resource
Capacitor integration	Get Started · Samples
Advanced topics (custom feedback, viewfinders, location selection, scan intention)	Advanced Configurations
Migration between major SDK versions	6 → 7 · 7 → 8
Full API reference	BarcodeCapture API