Image recognition — 2 operations (recognizePlate, vinOcr) that read a license plate or a VIN out of a supplied image URL or base64 payload, returning detected text, confidence scores and bounding boxes for mobile capture and inspection workflows.
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openapi: 3.1.0
info:
title: CarsXE Recognition API
description: 'CarsXE is a B2B vehicle data API by PiWaves, LLC. It provides vehicle
specifications (VIN decoding), market values, vehicle history, recalls,
license plate decoding, vehicle images, plate/VIN image recognition,
Year Make Model data and OBD code decoding.
## Authentication
Most requests use a CarsXE API key in the `key` query parameter, e.g.
`https://api.carsxe.com/specs?key=YOUR_API_KEY&vin=...`. Supported endpoints
also accept x402 payment without a CarsXE key. Recalls Batch x402 follow-up
requests use the scoped `X-CarsXE-Batch-Token` returned at submission.
## Caching
Many endpoints cache upstream results. A cached response may include the
message "The response is from the cache".
'
version: 1.0.0
contact:
name: CarsXE
url: https://api.carsxe.com
servers:
- url: https://api.carsxe.com
security:
- ApiKeyQuery: []
tags:
- name: Recognition
description: Plate and VIN recognition from images
paths:
/platerecognition:
post:
operationId: recognizePlate
security:
- ApiKeyQuery: []
- X402Payment: []
- {}
tags:
- Recognition
summary: Plate Image Recognition
description: Extract a license plate number from an image of a vehicle. Send a JSON body containing
an `image_url` field with a URL to the image.
requestBody:
required: true
content:
application/json:
schema:
type: object
required:
- image_url
properties:
image_url:
type: string
description: URL to an image of a vehicle's license plate.
example:
image_url: https://example.com/car-photo.jpg
responses:
'200':
description: Plate recognized.
content:
application/json:
schema:
type: object
properties:
success:
type: boolean
message:
type: string
results:
type: array
items:
type: object
properties:
plate:
type: string
box:
type: object
additionalProperties: true
region:
type: object
additionalProperties: true
additionalProperties: true
processing_time:
type: number
additionalProperties: true
example:
success: true
message: ''
results:
- box:
xmin: 2045
ymin: 1400
xmax: 2732
plate: 9djc652
region:
code: us-ca
score: 0.849
processing_time: 117.822
'400':
description: Missing image URL in the request body.
content:
application/json:
schema:
$ref: '#/components/schemas/Error'
example:
success: false
message: Missing upload URL
'401':
$ref: '#/components/responses/Unauthorized'
'404':
description: No plate could be recognized in the image.
content:
application/json:
schema:
$ref: '#/components/schemas/Error'
example:
success: false
message: No plates detected in image
'429':
$ref: '#/components/responses/UsageLimitExceeded'
'500':
description: Plate recognition service error.
content:
application/json:
schema:
$ref: '#/components/schemas/Error'
example:
success: false
message: Could not get information at this time
/v1/vinocr:
post:
operationId: vinOcr
security:
- ApiKeyQuery: []
- X402Payment: []
- {}
tags:
- Recognition
summary: VIN OCR
description: Extract a VIN from a photo. Send a JSON body containing an `image_url` field with either
a URL to an image or a base64-encoded image string.
requestBody:
required: true
content:
application/json:
schema:
type: object
required:
- image_url
properties:
image_url:
type: string
description: URL to an image, or the base64 string of the image.
example:
image_url: https://example.com/vin-plate.jpg
responses:
'200':
description: VIN extracted from the image.
content:
application/json:
schema:
type: object
properties:
success:
type: boolean
vin:
type: string
box:
type: object
additionalProperties: true
confidence:
type: number
candidates:
type: array
items:
type: object
additionalProperties: true
additionalProperties: true
example:
success: true
vin: JHLRD77874C026456
box:
xmin: 257
xmax: 1673
ymin: 635
ymax: 793
confidence: 0.9834251403808594
candidates:
- vin: JHLRD77874C026456
confidence: 0.9834251403808594
'400':
description: Missing API key, missing image, invalid image data, image processing failure, or
no text detected.
content:
application/json:
schema:
$ref: '#/components/schemas/Error'
examples:
missingKey:
value:
success: false
message: Missing API key
missingImage:
value:
success: false
message: Missing image data
invalidImage:
value:
success: false
message: Invalid image data format. Must be a valid URL or base64 encoded string.
noText:
value:
success: false
message: No text detected in the image
'401':
description: User with this API key is not active.
content:
application/json:
schema:
$ref: '#/components/schemas/Error'
example:
success: false
message: User with this API key is not active. To activate update your billing on https://carsxe.com/dashboard/billing
'404':
description: API key not found, or no valid VIN found in the image.
content:
application/json:
schema:
$ref: '#/components/schemas/Error'
examples:
userNotFound:
value:
success: false
message: User with this API key was not found or the API key is disabled
noVin:
value:
success: false
message: No valid VIN candidates found in the image
'429':
$ref: '#/components/responses/UsageLimitExceeded'
components:
responses:
Unauthorized:
description: Missing API key, unknown/disabled API key, or inactive account.
content:
application/json:
schema:
$ref: '#/components/schemas/Error'
examples:
missingKey:
value:
success: false
message: Missing API key
userNotFound:
value:
success: false
message: User with this API key was not found or the API key is disabled
userNotActive:
value:
success: false
message: User with this API key is not active. To activate update your billing on https://carsxe.com/dashboard/billing
UsageLimitExceeded:
description: API usage limit exceeded for the current billing period.
content:
application/json:
schema:
$ref: '#/components/schemas/UsageLimitError'
example:
success: false
message: API usage limit exceeded
usage:
current: 1000
limit: 1000
remaining: 0
schemas:
Error:
type: object
properties:
success:
type: boolean
const: false
message:
type: string
required:
- success
- message
additionalProperties: true
UsageLimitError:
allOf:
- $ref: '#/components/schemas/Error'
- type: object
properties:
usage:
type: object
properties:
current:
type: number
description: Current usage in the billing period.
limit:
type: number
description: Included quota for the billing period.
remaining:
type: number
description: Remaining included quota.
securitySchemes:
ApiKeyQuery:
type: apiKey
in: query
name: key
description: Your CarsXE API key, passed as the `key` query parameter.
X402Payment:
type: apiKey
in: header
name: PAYMENT-SIGNATURE
description: x402 payment proof for supported operations. Start without a CarsXE key to receive
HTTP 402 payment requirements, then retry the identical request with the payment header produced
by your x402 client. CarsXE also accepts the legacy X-PAYMENT header.