Get Started with Unit API

Unit API lets you pick and call identity verification features one at a time, such as ID OCR, face comparison, and government record checks. You can add only the checks you need to your service, without going through the Liveform submission flow.

One call returns one result. No submission is created.
Every call is synchronous. You get the result in the response, and there are no webhooks.
Only calls that return a result are billed. Calls that end in an error are not billed.

Unit API Reference

Check the request and response specs for every API, copy call code for your language, and download the OpenAPI document.

To see results before writing any code, run a call from Unit API > API Test in the dashboard. The endpoint and a cURL example are shown before you run, so you can copy them and start integrating. Dashboard Unit API guide

Available APIs

Image and text analysis

API	Tx Code	What it does	Result
ID-OCR	`ID_OCR`	Recognizes the ID type and reads the printed fields	Recognized fields
ID-LIVE	`ID_LIVE`	Checks whether an ID image was taken of the physical card	0–100 score
FACE-COM	`FACE_COM`	Compares whether two faces belong to the same person	0–1 similarity
FACE-LIVE-PSV	`FACE_LIVE_PSV`	Checks whether a single selfie was taken of a live person	0–100 score
TXT-FZ-MAT	`TXT_FZ_MAT`	Compares how similar two names are	0–100 similarity

Government and bank record checks

API	Tx Code	What it does	Source
GC-KOR-NID	`GC_KOR_NID`	Korean resident registration card authenticity check	Ministry of the Interior and Safety
GC-KOR-DRV	`GC_KOR_DRV`	Korean driver’s license authenticity check	Korean National Police Agency
GC-KOR-PASS	`GC_KOR_PASS`	Korean passport authenticity check	Ministry of Foreign Affairs
GC-KOR-ARC	`GC_KOR_ARC`	Korean alien registration card authenticity check	Ministry of Justice
GC-KOR-FPS	`GC_KOR_FPS`	Foreign resident stay status check	Ministry of Justice
GC-KOR-BRS	`GC_KOR_BRS`	Korean business status lookup	National Tax Service
GC-KOR-BIV	`GC_KOR_BIV`	Korean business registration authenticity check	National Tax Service
GC-MEX-CURP	`GC_MEX_CURP`	Mexico CURP lookup	RENAPO
BANK-KOR-AON	`BANK_KOR_AON`	Korean account holder name lookup	Banks

Record checks summarize the source’s answer as verdict and verdictReason. See Reading verdicts.

Getting started

Copy your Unit API key

Copy the key from Unit API > Unit API Key in the dashboard. A key is issued automatically when a project is created, so there is nothing to request. Member role or higher is required.

Try it in the dashboard

In API Test, pick an API, enter values, and run it. Check the response, TX ID, endpoint, and cURL example.

Call from your server

Send the same request as the cURL example from your server. Use the key only on your server.

Store the result and TX ID

Store the result and txId in your system as soon as you receive the response. ARGOS does not store request or response bodies.

Endpoints

Every Unit API is a POST request. Call the host of the region your project belongs to.

Region	Host
US	`https://client-api.argosidentity.com`
KR	`https://kr.client-api.argosidentity.com`

POST https://client-api.argosidentity.com/v1/units/{api}

{api} is the path on each API page. Example: /v1/units/id-ocr
All 14 APIs are available in every region.
A key works only in its project’s region. Calling another region’s host returns 401. Check your project’s region in Regions.

Authentication

Put your project’s Unit API key in the x-api-key request header.

curl -X POST "https://client-api.argosidentity.com/v1/units/txt-fz-mat" \
  -H "x-api-key: {yourUnitApiKey}" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"text1": "Hong Gildong", "text2": "Gildong Hong", "referenceId": "order-20261103-0001"}'

curl -X POST "https://kr.client-api.argosidentity.com/v1/units/txt-fz-mat" \
  -H "x-api-key: {yourUnitApiKey}" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"text1": "Hong Gildong", "text2": "Gildong Hong", "referenceId": "order-20261103-0001"}'

The Unit API key is different from the Liveform API key and the add-on API key. Each project has one. Send the key only in the header, never in the query string.

Reissuing the key

If the key is exposed or misuse is suspected, an Owner or Leader reissues it in the dashboard.
Reissuing revokes the previous key immediately. Calls with the previous key are rejected with 401 INVALID_API_KEY and are not billed.
Who reissued the key and when is recorded in the key history and the Event Log.

The emergency stop in project settings does not apply to Unit API calls. To block Unit API calls, reissue the key.

Request rules

Send a JSON body with Content-Type: application/json. Other types are rejected with 415 UNSUPPORTED_MEDIA_TYPE.
Fields that are not in the contract are rejected with 400 UNKNOWN_PARAMETER. This prevents a typo from being silently ignored and billed with an unexpected result.
An empty string ("") or null is not treated as “not sent” and is rejected with 400 INVALID_PARAMETER_FORMAT. If an optional field has no value, leave the key out.
Dates use the YYYY-MM-DD format. Example: 2019-03-14

Images

Send images as Base64 strings. A prefix such as data:image/jpeg;base64, is optional.
Only JPEG and PNG are accepted. Convert iPhone HEIC, GIF, BMP, and other formats to JPEG before sending.
Each image can be up to about 3 MB in original size (4,000,064 Base64 characters without the prefix). Larger images return 400 PARAMETER_OUT_OF_RANGE. Most ID photos taken with a phone can be sent as is.

referenceId

Every API accepts an optional referenceId field.

Field	Type	Description
`referenceId`	string, 1–100 characters	Your own identifier (order number, member number, and so on). It is returned in the response and stored in the call record. Do not put personal information in it.

If you send a different value for each call, you can find a call later even if you never received its response. See Duplicate calls and retries.

Common response

A successful (200) response has the same shape for every API. Fields that describe the call are at the top level, and the result the API produced is inside data.

{
  "txId": "01a17c3a-646f-762e-bb38-fe0cae059282",
  "txCode": "FACE_LIVE_PSV",
  "createdAt": "2026-11-03T07:19:24.015Z",
  "latencyMs": 812,
  "billing": {
    "unit": "response",
    "count": 1,
    "unitPrice": 0.08,
    "credit": 0.08,
    "pricingVersion": "v4.0_KOR"
  },
  "referenceId": "order-20261103-0001",
  "data": {
    "livenessScore": 93
  }
}

string

required

The TX ID of this call. Use it to search the dashboard call history and when contacting support. Same value as the X-Tx-Id response header.

string

required

The code of the API you called. Examples: ID_OCR, GC_KOR_NID

string

required

When the request was received, in UTC (RFC 3339) with millisecond precision.

integer

required

Time from receiving the request to responding, in milliseconds.

object

required

Billing details for this call.

Show properties

string

required

What is counted: recognition (recognized sides), pipeline (checks), compare (comparisons), or response (responses).

integer

required

Number of units billed for this call.

number

required

Credits per unit, up to three decimal places.

number

required

Credits deducted for this call. For APIs with bundle pricing (ID-LIVE), this can differ from unitPrice × count.

string

required

The price table actually applied: v3.1_USA, v4.0_KOR, or Trial for trial projects.

string | null

required

The referenceId you sent, or null if you did not send one.

object

required

The result the API produced. See each API page for its structure.

Defined response fields are never omitted; they come as null when there is no value. On the other hand, new response fields and enum values can be added within v1, so make sure unknown fields or values do not break your code. Versioning policy

Reading verdicts

Record check APIs return the following fields inside data. GC-MEX-CURP is the only exception: it returns the registry status as is, without a verdict.

Field	Description
`verdict`	The verdict: `MATCH`, `MISMATCH`, or `REJECTED`. Which values are used and what they mean differ slightly by API, so check each page
`verdictReason`	The reason for the verdict. `null` for `MATCH`. Use it to decide whether retrying can change the result
`agency`	The source’s raw response. Not covered by the contract. It can change without notice when the source changes its fields, so branch on `verdict` and `verdictReason`

MATCH: Matches the source’s records.
MISMATCH: The source answered that it does not match. A lookup was made, so it is billed.
REJECTED: Genuine, but no longer valid (a passport that lost its validity, or a suspended or closed business).

Image and text analysis APIs return only scores and measurements. You decide the pass threshold.

Billing

Credits are deducted only for calls that return a result. You can see the deducted credits in billing.credit and in the dashboard call history.

Calls that return a result are billed. A low face similarity or a MISMATCH from the source is still a result, so it is billed.
Calls that end in an error are not billed. This covers every response whose HTTP status is not 200.
Calls run from the dashboard API Test are billed the same way.
Trial projects are not billed. Instead, the number of calls per month is limited. Usage by project status
Sending the same request twice is processed and billed as two calls.

Prices by API

Projects on the v3.1_USA plan use USA prices; all other plans use KOR prices. Prices are in credits.

API	Billing unit (`count`)	KOR price	USA price
ID-OCR	Recognized sides (1–2)	0.24 per side	0.32 per side · 0.36 per side for `universal` when the issuing country is not KOR
ID-LIVE	Checks that returned a score (1–3)	1: 0.07 · 2–3: 0.14	1: 0.09 · 2–3: 0.18
FACE-COM	1	0.01	0.06
FACE-LIVE-PSV	1	0.08	0.12
TXT-FZ-MAT	1	0.01	0.012
GC-KOR-NID	1	0.04	0.12
GC-KOR-DRV	1	0.04	0.12
GC-KOR-PASS	1	0.04	0.12
GC-KOR-ARC	1	0.04	0.12
GC-KOR-FPS	1	0.04	0.058
GC-KOR-BRS	1	0.01	0.012
GC-KOR-BIV	1	0.01	0.012
GC-MEX-CURP	1	0.09	0.09
BANK-KOR-AON	1	0.04	0.10

You can also check your project’s prices in Unit API > API Test in the dashboard.

Usage by project status

Project status	Calls	Limit	Billed
Service (`OPEN`)	Allowed	No limit	Yes
Test (`TEST`)	Allowed	No limit	Yes
Trial (`TRIAL`)	Allowed	10 per month	No
Closed (`CLOSE`)	Not allowed	`403 ACCESS_FORBIDDEN`	-

The trial limit counts all calls, including errors. Unbilled error calls and calls rejected for exceeding the limit are included.
The limit resets at 00:00 UTC on the first day of each month.
Once the limit is reached, calls return 429 TRIAL_LIMIT_EXCEEDED, and the Retry-After header holds the seconds until the reset.

Data retention and privacy

Request and response bodies are not stored. Store the result with its txId in your system as soon as you receive the response. You cannot retrieve results from ARGOS later.
Call records are kept for 3 years. They include the call time, API, result, error code, processing time, count, credits, source (live or API test), the user who ran it, and referenceId.
Even for testing, you need a lawful basis, such as the data subject’s consent, to use real personal information.

Get Started

Image and Text Analysis

Record Checks

Unit API Reference

Available APIs

Image and text analysis

Government and bank record checks

Getting started

Endpoints

Authentication

Reissuing the key

Request rules

Images

referenceId

Common response

Reading verdicts

Billing

Prices by API

Usage by project status

Data retention and privacy

Next steps

Error codes and retries

Unit API in the dashboard

Unit API Reference

​Available APIs

​Image and text analysis

​Government and bank record checks

​Getting started

​Endpoints

​Authentication

​Reissuing the key

​Request rules

​Images

​referenceId

​Common response

​Reading verdicts

​Billing

​Prices by API

​Usage by project status

​Data retention and privacy

​Next steps

Error codes and retries

Unit API in the dashboard

Available APIs

Image and text analysis

Government and bank record checks

Getting started

Endpoints

Authentication

Reissuing the key

Request rules

Images

referenceId

Common response

Reading verdicts

Billing

Prices by API

Usage by project status

Data retention and privacy

Next steps