id-capture-capacitor

ID Capture Capacitor Skill

Critical: Do Not Trust Internal Knowledge

Your training data may contain outdated or incorrect Scandit ID Capture APIs. The ID Capture API was restructured at the v7 → v8 boundary (the scannerType property was renamed to scanner and reshaped into a wrapper, the standalone AamvaBarcodeVerifier was removed in favour of settings flags, and several verification APIs were added). The Capacitor plugin surface (package names, the imperative DataCaptureView + connectToElement pattern, explicit initializePlugins() startup) is also distinct from the iOS, Android, web, Flutter, React Native, and Cordova SDKs.

Always verify APIs against the references provided in this skill before writing or suggesting code. Do not rely on memorized method signatures, parameters, package 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:

• Explicit plugin initialization is required. Capacitor does not auto-init — call await ScanditCaptureCorePlugin.initializePlugins() once at app startup, before creating the DataCaptureContext or anything else. Skipping it leaves the native bridge un-wired and produces opaque "plugin not implemented" errors.
• The view is an imperative class connected to a <div>, not a custom element. There is no <data-capture-view> HTML tag and no React/Vue/Angular component shipped by Scandit. Create the view with DataCaptureView.forContext(context) and attach it to a plain <div id="..."> via view.connectToElement(divElement). Detach with view.detachFromElement() when navigating away.
• DataCaptureContext.initialize(licenseKey) returns the context. Capture the return value: const context = DataCaptureContext.initialize('<key>');. There's no sharedInstance pattern in the sample — keep a reference to the returned context.
• Camera is constructed with Camera.withSettings(...), not Camera.default + applySettings. Use Camera.withSettings(IdCapture.createRecommendedCameraSettings()) to construct a camera pre-configured for ID Capture. The Flutter/RN-style Camera.default does not match the Capacitor sample's idiom.
• Enums use PascalCase member names with camelCase wire values (same TypeScript convention as RN). Write IdCaptureRegion.Us, IdImageType.CroppedDocument, IdSide.Front, RejectionReason.Timeout, IdAnonymizationMode.FieldsAndImages, IdFieldType.DocumentNumber, IdLayoutStyle.Rounded, FrameSourceState.On / .Off, AamvaBarcodeVerificationStatus.Authentic. Never use the lowercase Dart/Flutter form.
• CapturedId MRZ/VIZ getters are mrzResult / vizResult (not mrz / viz — that's Flutter). Other source-specific getters: barcode, mobileDocument, mobileDocumentOcr.
• Images come back as base64 strings. images.face, images.frame, images.getCroppedDocument(IdSide.Front), images.getFrame(IdSide.Front) each return a string | null. Render with <img src="data:image/png;base64,${face}"> (or set .src on an existing <img>). They are not URIs, files, or HTMLImageElements.
• Listener is a plain object literal. IdCaptureListener is a TypeScript interface with two optional methods — write const listener = { didCaptureId(_, captured) { … }, didRejectId(_, rejected, reason) { … } }. Do not create a class with implements IdCaptureListener — that's the Dart/Flutter style.
• addListener, removeListener, setMode, addMode, removeMode, applySettings, setFrameSource, switchToDesiredState all return Promises. Either await them or chain .then.
• There is no VisaLetter document class on Capacitor. Only VisaIcao ships. (On Flutter both exist; on Capacitor/RN only the ICAO visa is modelled.)
• Lifecycle uses the Capacitor App plugin (@capacitor/app), not AppState (that's RN) or WidgetsBindingObserver (that's Flutter). Subscribe with App.addListener('appStateChange', …) to pause/resume the camera and disable the mode.
• Camera permission is handled by the @capacitor/camera plugin: install it, add NSCameraUsageDescription to iOS Info.plist, and call Camera.requestPermissions() from @capacitor/camera (separate from the Scandit Camera class) before mounting the scan view.

Forbidden APIs (commonly hallucinated — do NOT emit these)

These compile-fail against the real Capacitor packages. Use the right-hand form:

Do NOT write	Use instead
IdCapture.forContext(context, settings)	new IdCapture(settings) then await context.setMode(idCapture)
IdCaptureOverlay.withIdCapture(...) / .withIdCaptureForView(...)	new IdCaptureOverlay(idCapture) then view.addOverlay(overlay)
IdDocumentType enum / settings.supportedDocuments / settings.scannerType	settings.acceptedDocuments (document classes) + settings.scanner = new IdCaptureScanner(new FullDocumentScanner())
capturedId.documentType	capturedId.document?.documentType (IdCaptureDocumentType) or capturedId.isPassport() / isDriverLicense() / …
capturedId.isVisa() / capturedId.isVisaLetter()	capturedId.isVisaIcao() (Capacitor ships only the ICAO visa)
capturedId.mrz / capturedId.viz (Flutter names)	capturedId.mrzResult / capturedId.vizResult
IdCaptureRegion.us / IdSide.front / AamvaBarcodeVerificationStatus.authentic (lowercase Dart form)	IdCaptureRegion.Us / IdSide.Front / AamvaBarcodeVerificationStatus.Authentic — every Scandit enum member on Capacitor is PascalCase, including RejectionReason.*, IdImageType.*, IdAnonymizationMode.*, IdFieldType.*, FrameSourceState.*, IdLayoutStyle.*, and the verification status / reasons
capturedId.images.croppedDocument	capturedId.images.getCroppedDocument(IdSide.Front) (also .face, .frame, getFrame(IdSide.Front))
Treating images.face like a URI / file / HTMLImageElement	It's a base64 string — <img src="data:image/png;base64,${face}"> or imgEl.src = '...'
AamvaBarcodeVerifier (class)	settings.rejectForgedAamvaBarcodes = true + capturedId.verificationResult.aamvaBarcodeVerification
DrivingLicenseCategory.categoryCode	DrivingLicenseCategory.code (plus dateOfIssue / dateOfExpiry)
<data-capture-view> custom element or <IdCaptureView> React-style component	DataCaptureView.forContext(context) + view.connectToElement(document.getElementById('...'))
Camera.default (RN/Flutter idiom)	Camera.withSettings(IdCapture.createRecommendedCameraSettings())
Skipping ScanditCaptureCorePlugin.initializePlugins() at startup	always await ScanditCaptureCorePlugin.initializePlugins(); before any other Scandit API call
idCapture.addListener(...) without await (race at startup)	await idCapture.addListener(listener) — same for removeListener, setMode, applySettings, setFrameSource, switchToDesiredState

Product Guidance

Apply these rules whenever the user is making a design decision, not just an API question.

• Accept only the documents you actually need. A narrow acceptedDocuments list (e.g. just new DriverLicense(IdCaptureRegion.Us)) is faster and more accurate than IdCaptureRegion.Any across all document types. Ask the user which documents and regions they expect before defaulting to "everything".
• Pick the scanner that matches the data you need. new FullDocumentScanner() reads front and back automatically (best for most ID/DL use cases). new SingleSideScanner(barcode, machineReadableZone, visualInspectionZone) reads a single side from the zone(s) you enable — use it when you only need, say, the PDF417 barcode on the back of a US DL, or only the MRZ of a passport. Use MobileDocumentScanner for mobile driver's licenses / mDL.
• Handle didRejectId, not just didCaptureId. Rejections (RejectionReason.Timeout, NotAcceptedDocumentType, DocumentExpired, DocumentVoided, ForgedAamvaBarcode, …) are how the user learns why a scan didn't succeed. A production integration must surface a message for them.
• Anonymize by default if you don't need every field. IdCaptureSettings.anonymizationMode and per-field addAnonymizedField keep regulated data (e.g. document images, sensitive fields) out of the result unless you opt in. Recommend the minimum that satisfies the use case.
• Hand off to the data-capture-sdk skill for non-ID-Capture questions. If the user asks about another Scandit product (Barcode Capture, SparkScan, MatrixScan, Label Capture, etc.) or about choosing between products, defer to the data-capture-sdk skill instead of guessing.

Intent Routing

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

• Integrating ID Capture from scratch (e.g. "add ID scanning to my Capacitor app", "scan a passport / driver's license", "read the MRZ", "extract the holder's name and date of birth") → read references/integration.md and follow it.
• One of the three add-on capabilities ("reject voided / cancelled IDs", "detect punched-hole / voided licenses", "decode the back of a European driving license", "read vehicle categories", "verify the AAMVA barcode / detect forged US licenses") → read references/supplementary-modules.md.
• Migrating or upgrading an existing ID Capture integration ("upgrade ID Capture to the latest SDK", "migrate v7 to v8", "my scannerType code stopped compiling", "AamvaBarcodeVerifier is gone", "what changed in ID Capture between versions") → read references/migration.md.
• Wiring ID Capture into a host UI framework on top of Capacitor ("how do I do this in Ionic Angular?", "show me the Ionic React lifecycle", "I'm using Vue 3 / Composition API", "where does the camera start/stop go in ngAfterViewInit / useEffect / onMounted?", "page lifecycle on route transition", "@ViewChild for the data-capture-view div") → read references/framework-recipes.md. The Scandit code itself is unchanged from references/integration.md; this file shows only the lifecycle glue per framework.

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 compiler / 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 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 package paths and guessing will lead to 404s.

Framework variant policy

Examples in references/integration.md are in TypeScript / plain JS (no framework-specific bindings). The official IdCaptureSimpleSample is written in JS that runs after DOMContentLoaded. If the target project uses a framework on top of Capacitor (Ionic Angular, Ionic React, or Vue 3), see references/framework-recipes.md for the lifecycle skeleton — the Scandit calls are unchanged; only where they hook in differs. Do not introduce a new framework just for ID Capture.

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 · Sample (IdCaptureSimpleSample)
Advanced topics (anonymization, verification, scanners, overlay)	Advanced Configurations
Migration between major SDK versions	7 → 8
Full API reference	ID Capture API