label-capture-cordova

Label Capture Cordova Skill

Critical: Do Not Trust Internal Knowledge

Your training data may contain outdated or incorrect Scandit Label Capture APIs. The Cordova plugin surface (global Scandit.* namespace, deviceready gating, plugin install, platform prepare) is distinct from the web, React Native, Flutter, 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, plugin names, or property names. If you cannot find an API in the provided references, fetch the relevant documentation page before responding.

Cordova-specific gotchas worth flagging:

• All Scandit code must run after deviceready. The Scandit.* global namespace is not populated until then. Wrap your initialization in document.addEventListener('deviceready', () => {...}, false);.
• Listener method names are iOS-style on Cordova. The Validation Flow listener uses didCaptureLabelWithFields(fields) and didSubmitManualInputForField(field, oldValue, newValue) — NOT the web equivalents onValidationFlowLabelCaptured / onManualInput.
• Class-based field API, same shape as RN/Capacitor (and opposite to Flutter). Use Scandit.CustomBarcode.initWithNameAndSymbologies(name, [...]), new Scandit.ExpiryDateText(name), field.optional = false, Scandit.LabelCaptureSettings.settingsFromLabelDefinitions([...], {}). There is no LabelCaptureSettingsBuilder / LabelDefinitionBuilder and no v8.5 factory-function sugar — those are web-only.
• After cordova plugin add / version bump, run cordova prepare ios (and cordova prepare android) to sync native dependencies. iOS additionally requires a fresh pod install inside platforms/ios/.
• Camera permission: iOS requires NSCameraUsageDescription in the app's Info.plist (or via <config-file> in config.xml); Android's CAMERA permission is declared by the plugin automatically and must be requested at runtime if your minSdkVersion targets API 23+.
• Scandit.DataCaptureContext.initialize(licenseKey) returns the singleton context; do not construct multiple contexts.

Product Guidance

Apply these rules whenever the user is making a design decision, not just an API question. They reflect how Scandit recommends Label Capture be integrated.

• Default to the Validation Flow. New integrations should use LabelCaptureValidationFlowOverlay, not LabelCaptureBasicOverlay. Recommend the basic/advanced overlay path only when the customer explicitly needs a live AR overlay or a UI that the Validation Flow's fixed layout cannot produce. See references/validation-flow.md.
• Validation Flow must be rendered full-screen. Do not place it inside a card, half-sheet, modal slice, or partial-height widget — the layout assumes full-screen height for the field checklist, manual-entry sheet, and keyboard.
• Prefer pre-made labels first, then pre-made fields, then custom. Try in this order: (1) does a pre-made label definition cover the use case? — Scandit.LabelDefinition.createVinLabelDefinition(name), Scandit.LabelDefinition.createPriceCaptureDefinition(name), Scandit.LabelDefinition.createSevenSegmentDisplayLabelDefinition(name). (2) Can the label be built from pre-made fields? — ExpiryDateText, PackingDateText, DateText, WeightText, UnitPriceText, TotalPriceText, SerialNumberBarcode, PartNumberBarcode, ImeiOneBarcode, ImeiTwoBarcode. (3) Only as a last resort, fall back to CustomText / CustomBarcode.
• Start from the sample app on greenfield integrations. If the user is starting from scratch, recommend cloning LabelCaptureSimpleSample (link in the References table) and adapting it.
• Hand off to the data-capture-sdk skill for non-Label-Capture questions. If the user asks about another Scandit product (Barcode Capture, SparkScan, MatrixScan, ID 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 Label Capture from scratch (e.g. "add Label Capture to my app", "scan a price tag with barcode and expiry date", "how do I use Smart Label Capture") → read references/integration.md. By default, integrate the Validation Flow (the integration guide leads with it).
• Validation Flow questions ("how do I customize it", "what can we change", "why is it implemented this way", "how do I react to manual edits", "can I change the colors") → read references/validation-flow.md.
• Visual customization beyond the Validation Flow ("live AR overlay", "draw a tag next to each captured field", "get the camera frame during scanning") → read references/customization.md.
• Adaptive Recognition Engine / cloud fallback / receipt scanning ("how do I enable ARE", "use cloud recognition", "scan a receipt", "AdaptiveRecognitionMode", "is ARE available in production") → read references/adaptive-recognition.md.
• Migrating or upgrading an existing Label Capture integration → read references/migration.md.

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 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.
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 this skill are written in plain JavaScript (ES6+) because that is the default for Cordova templates and the official LabelCaptureSimpleSample. If the target project uses TypeScript (some Cordova projects do), keep the same imports/structure and add type annotations as needed — do not change the global Scandit.* access pattern, do not switch to ES module imports, and do not assume bundler features.

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

Topic	Resource
Cordova integration	Get Started · Sample (LabelCaptureSimpleSample)
Label Definitions (fields, regex, presets)	Label Definitions
Advanced topics (Validation Flow customization, adaptive recognition, custom overlays)	Advanced Configurations
Full API reference	Label Capture API