Skip to content
Codossier
Start a Dossier
Developers

Create a case from files, text or a form

Send what you have about one matter — documents, a narrative, a form's fields — and collect the finished dossier. This is Drop Your Case, by API.

Two ways to send it

Both roads lead to the same intake and the same dossier. The work door (POST /v1/requests) is the general one and is what agents use; the intake door (POST /v1/intakes) is the simplest possible call for a system that only ever creates cases — any body, any encoding.

A. The work door: open_matter

JSON with pasted text and signed links, or multipart with the files inline. Options ride in options.

JSON: text plus links your system issued
curl -X POST https://api.codossier.com/v1/requests \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer cdk_live_<id>_<secret>" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Idempotency-Key: matter-2026-0412" \
  -d '{
    "intent": "open_matter",
    "text": "Client: Dana Reyes. Dismissed 2026-03-04, three weeks after reporting...",
    "documents": [
      { "url": "https://files.yourfirm.com/signed/termination-letter.pdf", "filename": "termination-letter.pdf" },
      { "text": "Timeline as told by the client...", "title": "Timeline" }
    ],
    "options": { "name": "Reyes v. Northwind", "external_id": "M-2026-0412", "language": "auto" }
  }'
Multipart: the files themselves
curl -X POST https://api.codossier.com/v1/requests \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer cdk_live_<id>_<secret>" \
  -F 'request={"intent":"open_matter","options":{"external_id":"M-2026-0412"}};type=application/json' \
  -F "[email protected]" \
  -F "[email protected]"
FieldWhereRequiredMeaning
intentbodyyes"open_matter". Omit it and the request is read from its shape (material → open_matter).
textbodynoThe material in words: a narrative, notes, an email thread pasted in.
documents[]bodynoEach entry is one of: part (the name of a multipart part), url (https, a public host; add sha256 to have it checked), text + title (pasted content), or dms (a linked document system — none linked yet).
options.namebodynoThe matter's name (≤200). Derived from the material when absent.
options.external_idbodynoYour own reference (≤128). Lets you find the matter later and stops duplicates.
options.languagebodyno"en", "es" or "auto" (default).
options.simulatebodynoSandbox keys only: "ready", "needs_input", "not_covered", "failed", "quota", "quote".
estimatebodynotrue: price and plan the request; run nothing.
Preferheaderno"wait=N" (≤60): hold the call up to N seconds for a result before answering 202.
Idempotency-KeyheadernoAny string ≤128. A retry with the same key returns the same request.

No material at all? Send open_matter with just a name and the request comes back needs_input with an upload link (questions[0].upload_url, valid 30 minutes, one use). Show it to the person; when they drop the files, the request continues on its own. This is how an agent in a chat window, which cannot attach files, opens a matter.

B. The intake door: POST /v1/intakes

Any body is valid: a multipart post with files, a plain form post (every field becomes a line of notes), a raw PDF, a text body, or JSON (with content_base64 entries for files). Options go in the query string or as form fields.

Files and a note
curl -X POST "https://api.codossier.com/v1/intakes?external_id=M-2026-0412&name=Reyes%20v.%20Northwind" \
  -u "cdk_<id>:<secret>" \
  -F "[email protected]" \
  -F "[email protected]" \
  -F "notes=Client dismissed 2026-03-04, three weeks after the billing complaint."
Just text
curl -X POST https://api.codossier.com/v1/intakes -u "cdk_<id>:<secret>" \
  -H "Content-Type: text/plain" --data-binary @narrative.txt
FieldWhereRequiredMeaning
external_idquery or formnoYour reference (≤128). Same content again → the original intake (200); new content after not_processable → the next attempt; otherwise 409.
namequery or formnoThe matter's name (≤200).
languagequery or formno"en", "es" or "auto" (default).
check_onlyquery or formno"true": read and validate the material, create nothing, charge nothing. Answers valid or not_processable with the missing list.
simulatequery or formno"ready", "not_processable", "not_covered" or "failed": a simulated outcome, no engine.
filesmultipartnoUp to 20 files, 10 MB each, 50 MB per request: PDF (≤50 pages), images, text, email exports. Office documents and archives are refused.
Answer: 202 Accepted
{
  "id": "0199…",
  "external_id": "M-2026-0412",
  "status": "received",
  "reason": null,
  "attempt": 1,
  "missing": [],
  "case_url": "https://codossier.com/dossier/case?id=0199…",
  "export_url": "https://api.codossier.com/v1/intakes/0199…/export",
  "status_url": "https://api.codossier.com/v1/intakes/0199…",
  "created_at": "2026-10-08T18:40:02Z",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-08T18:40:02Z"
}
statusMeaning
receivedStored; reading starts within a minute.
interpretingDocuments are being read and the interview written from them.
submittedSent to the engine; the dossier is building (20–30 minutes).
validcheck_only: the material makes a complete intake.
not_processableToo thin to proceed; missing lists the questions. Send more under the same external_id.
not_coveredNo practice-area engine covers this matter. Final for this intake.
failedreason says why; not billed.
deletedDeleted by you.

Follow it, then collect the dossier

  1. Poll status_url every minute or so (or follow the request through the work door's events feed). You also get an email when the dossier is ready.
  2. When the matter is ready, GET /v1/intakes/{id}/export or GET /v1/matters/{id}/dossier returns the whole dossier as JSON (codossier.case-export/1): the intake conversation, the lodes, crests, rifts and levies, with ids.
  3. case_url opens the same matter on the site, where the canvas, the PDF and the Lode CLI are.
Daily allowance

Each office can open a set number of matters a day through the API (default 20, UTC). The refusal is daily_cap_reached; ask us to raise it.

← Quickstart: keys and authExternal intake record →