# MRZ Passport & ID Reader (`robin.geekydev/mrz-reader`) Actor

Reads ICAO Machine Readable Zones from passport and ID images. Extracts document number, names, nationality, dates, and validates check digits. No LLM API key required.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/robin.geekydev/mrz-reader.md
- **Developed by:** [Robin p](https://apify.com/robin.geekydev) (community)
- **Categories:** AI, Developer tools, Automation
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 80.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $5.00 / 1,000 parsed mrzs

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/platform/actors/running/actors-in-store#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

Actors are web data automations that power AI and operations. They run on the Apify platform to scrape websites, process data, connect APIs, and automate workflows.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.
Actors are written with capital "A".

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.
The best way to integrate Actors is as follows.

- **AI agents and MCP clients** — the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/integrations/mcp.md) at `https://mcp.apify.com` (remote, streamable HTTP, OAuth on first use).
- **Agentic workflows and local Actor development** — [Agent Skills](https://apify.com/.well-known/agent-skills/index.json) with the [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): `npm install -g apify-cli`, then `apify login`.
- **JavaScript/TypeScript projects** — the official [JS/TS client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md): `npm install apify-client`.
- **Python projects** — the official [Python client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md): `pip install apify-client`.
- **Any other language** — the [REST API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2.md).

For usage examples, see the [API](#api) section below.

For more details, see Apify documentation as [Markdown index](https://docs.apify.com/llms.txt) and [Markdown full-text](https://docs.apify.com/llms-full.txt).

# README

## MRZ Passport & ID Reader

Read ICAO **Machine Readable Zones** from passport and ID images (or paste raw MRZ text) and return structured identity fields with check-digit validation.

Uses **local OCR** (Tesseract) + the standard `mrz` parser — **no LLM / Google Vision API key**.

### What it extracts

| Field | Meaning |
|---|---|
| `format` | `TD3` (passport), `TD2`, or `TD1` (ID card) |
| `documentCode` / `documentNumber` | Document type and number |
| `issuingState` / `nationality` | ISO 3166-1 alpha-3 codes (as printed in MRZ) |
| `lastName` / `firstName` | Names (Latin transliteration per ICAO) |
| `sex` | `male` / `female` / unspecified |
| `birthDate` / `expirationDate` | Normalized `YYYY-MM-DD` |
| `personalNumber` | Optional personal number when present |
| `checkDigitsValid` | All MRZ check digits passed |
| `valid` | Parser’s full validation (includes known state-code checks) |
| `mrzLines` | Raw MRZ lines used for the parse |

MRZ is Latin-only by ICAO design (A–Z, 0–9, `<`). Non-Latin names are already transliterated on the document.

### Pricing

- **$0.01 per successfully parsed MRZ** (`$10.00 / 1,000 results`)
- Failed images and invalid/non-MRZ inputs go to the errors dataset and are **not** billed

### How to use

1. Paste passport/ID image URLs (MRZ must be visible), **or** paste raw MRZ lines in `mrzTexts`
2. Keep `onlyValidMrz` enabled unless you want partial OCR dumps billed
3. Start the Actor
4. Read structured records from the Dataset

#### Example input (raw text — great for testing)

```json
{
  "mrzTexts": [
    "P<UTOERIKSSON<<ANNA<MARIA<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<\nL898902C36UTO7408122F1204159ZE184226B<<<<<10"
  ],
  "onlyValidMrz": true,
  "maxConcurrency": 3
}
```

#### Example input (images)

```json
{
  "imageUrls": [
    "https://example.com/passport-mrz.jpg"
  ],
  "onlyValidMrz": true,
  "maxConcurrency": 3
}
```

#### Example dataset item

```json
{
  "imageId": "mrz-1",
  "hasMrz": true,
  "format": "TD3",
  "documentCode": "P",
  "documentNumber": "L898902C3",
  "issuingState": "UTO",
  "nationality": "UTO",
  "lastName": "ERIKSSON",
  "firstName": "ANNA MARIA",
  "sex": "female",
  "birthDate": "1974-08-12",
  "expirationDate": "2012-04-15",
  "checkDigitsValid": true,
  "confidence": 1,
  "error": null
}
```

### Notes

- Prefer sharp, well-lit photos of the MRZ band (bottom of the data page).
- Specimen country code `UTO` is used in ICAO examples; check digits pass, but `valid` may be `false` because `UTO` is not a real ISO state.
- Document images contain personal data — handle outputs according to your privacy obligations.

# Actor input Schema

## `imageUrls` (type: `array`):

Public URLs of passport or ID images showing the Machine Readable Zone (MRZ).

## `images` (type: `array`):

Optional structured image list. Each item can include url, base64, and an optional id.

## `mrzTexts` (type: `array`):

Optional. Paste raw MRZ lines (skip OCR). Each string should contain 2 or 3 MRZ lines separated by newlines.

## `onlyValidMrz` (type: `boolean`):

If true, images without a parseable MRZ go to the errors dataset and are not billed. Check-digit failures still succeed when an MRZ structure is found (see checkDigitsValid).

## `maxConcurrency` (type: `integer`):

How many documents to analyze in parallel.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "imageUrls": [
    "https://scanbot.io/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/mrz-example-id-card.jpg"
  ],
  "images": [],
  "mrzTexts": [],
  "onlyValidMrz": true,
  "maxConcurrency": 3
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `results` (type: `string`):

Successfully parsed passport/ID MRZ records.

## `summary` (type: `string`):

Totals for succeeded, failed, and valid checksum counts.

## `errors` (type: `string`):

Images that failed analysis or had no readable MRZ. These are not billed.

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "imageUrls": [
        "https://scanbot.io/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/mrz-example-id-card.jpg"
    ],
    "images": [],
    "mrzTexts": [],
    "onlyValidMrz": true,
    "maxConcurrency": 3
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("robin.geekydev/mrz-reader").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = {
    "imageUrls": ["https://scanbot.io/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/mrz-example-id-card.jpg"],
    "images": [],
    "mrzTexts": [],
    "onlyValidMrz": True,
    "maxConcurrency": 3,
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("robin.geekydev/mrz-reader").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "imageUrls": [
    "https://scanbot.io/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/mrz-example-id-card.jpg"
  ],
  "images": [],
  "mrzTexts": [],
  "onlyValidMrz": true,
  "maxConcurrency": 3
}' |
apify call robin.geekydev/mrz-reader --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,robin.geekydev/mrz-reader"
        }
    }
}

```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/hwBCkXuUtCvvW7ND6/builds/Sf4bDcYu1xoAp0rcE/openapi.json