id-capture-rn

ID Capture React Native 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Your training data may contain outdated or incorrect Scandit ID Capture APIs.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 React Native plugin surface (package names, enum casing, view component, AppState lifecycle) is also distinct from the iOS, Android, web, Flutter, Cordova, and Capacitor 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.

React Native–specific gotchas worth flagging:

• No plugin init call. Unlike Flutter, you do not call ScanditDataCaptureId.initialize(). The core auto-initializes at import time. The only "initialize" call is DataCaptureContext.initialize(licenseKey) followed by using DataCaptureContext.sharedInstance — that is the RN convention.
• Enums use PascalCase member names with camelCase wire values. Write IdCaptureRegion.Us, IdImageType.CroppedDocument, IdSide.Front, RejectionReason.Timeout, IdAnonymizationMode.FieldsAndImages, IdFieldType.DocumentNumber, IdLayoutStyle.Rounded, FrameSourceState.On / .Off. Never write the lowercase Dart/Flutter form (IdCaptureRegion.us) on RN.
• 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 <Image source={{ uri: 'data:image/png;base64,' + face }} />. They are not URIs, files, or Image components.
• 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 — forgetting the await is a common cause of races at startup.
• Two view patterns ship. The official sample wires <DataCaptureView> from scandit-react-native-datacapture-core + manually adds an IdCaptureOverlay through a ref. The id package also ships a higher-level <IdCaptureView> component that bundles mode + camera + overlay + callbacks behind props. Both are valid; lead with <DataCaptureView> (matches the public sample) and offer <IdCaptureView> as a shorthand. See references/integration.md.
• There is no VisaLetter document class on React Native. Only VisaIcao ships. (On Flutter both exist; on RN only the ICAO visa is modelled.)
• Camera lifecycle uses AppState, not focus props. Subscribe with AppState.addEventListener('change', …), stop the camera on background/inactive, restart on active, and gate the resume on navigation.isFocused() if the screen is part of a stack navigator.
• Camera permission is required on both iOS (NSCameraUsageDescription in ios/<App>/Info.plist) and Android (use RN's built-in PermissionsAndroid API to request CAMERA at runtime). The native manifest permission is declared by the plugin.

Forbidden APIs (commonly hallucinated — do NOT emit these)

These compile-fail against the real RN 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() (RN 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 RN is PascalCase, including RejectionReason.*, IdImageType.*, IdAnonymizationMode.*, IdFieldType.*, FrameSourceState.*, IdLayoutStyle.*, and the verification-status / -reason values
capturedId.images.croppedDocument	capturedId.images.getCroppedDocument(IdSide.Front) (also .face, .frame, getFrame(IdSide.Front))
Treating images.face like a URI / file / Image component	It's a base64 string — <Image source={{ uri: 'data:image/png;base64,' + face }} />
AamvaBarcodeVerifier (class)	settings.rejectForgedAamvaBarcodes = true + capturedId.verificationResult.aamvaBarcodeVerification
DrivingLicenseCategory.categoryCode	DrivingLicenseCategory.code (plus dateOfIssue / dateOfExpiry)
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 RN 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 add-on / advanced 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", "reject inconsistent data / data-consistency verification", "scan a mobile driver's license / mDL / ISO 18013-5 mobile document") → 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.
• React Navigation route lifecycle, Expo / dev-client setup, or where to keep the SDK handles ("camera doesn't stop when I navigate away", "pause the camera on focus/blur", "useFocusEffect", "I'm using Expo / Expo Go / Expo Router", "do I need a custom dev client?", "permission with expo-camera", "should I put IdCapture in Redux / Zustand?") → read references/framework-recipes.md. The Scandit code itself is unchanged from references/integration.md; this file covers the React Navigation / Expo / state-management glue.

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 use functional components + React hooks (useEffect, useRef, AppState) because the official IdCaptureSimpleSample is written that way. If the project also uses React Navigation, Expo, or wants to share the context across screens, see references/framework-recipes.md — the Scandit calls are unchanged; only the navigation lifecycle, Expo build flow, and ref-vs-store guidance differ. Do not introduce a new state-management library just for ID Capture.

Examples are in TypeScript (the official sample is .tsx). React Native >=0.74 is recommended.

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
React Native 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