Page last updated: June 1, 2026

ID Proofing

The ID Proofing API allows you to create a session where a participant's identity is verified through ID scanning and Knowledge-Based Authentication (KBA) — without requiring a live notary session. This is useful when your workflow requires identity verification as a standalone step.

To create an ID proofing session, send a POST request to the /api/v3/id-proofing/create endpoint. Below is an example:

curl -X POST "https://notarylive.com/api/v3/id-proofing/create" \
    -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
    -u 'api_test_user:api_test_key' \
    -d $'{"internal_id": "((internal_order_id))", "participant_email": "john.doe@notarylive.com", "participant_first_name": "John", "participant_last_name": "Doe"}'

A successful request will generate the following response:

{
    "success": 1,
    "link_to_order": "https://notarylive.com/id-proofing/order/{unique_order_identifier}"
}

Send the link_to_order to your participant. They will be guided through the ID scanning and KBA steps at that URL.

Validation Failures

Invalid credentials will return a 401 response with the message: HTTP/1.0 401 Unauthorized

Invalid or missing payload data will return a 400 HTTP response with a JSON body containing success = 0 as well as an array of errors containing both a standardized error code, and a human-readable description of what caused the error:

If you continue having issues, please take a look at our troubleshooting guide.

curl -X POST "https://notarylive.com/api/v3/id-proofing/create" \
    -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
    -u 'api_test_user:api_test_key' \
    -d $'{"internal_id":"internal_order_id","participant_email":"john.doe@notarylive.com","participant_last_name":"Doe"}'

{
    "success": 0,
    "errors": [
        {
            "code": "validation_failed",
            "message": "The participant first name field is required."
        }
    ]
}

Validation Rules

The following are the validation rules for all arguments within the ID proofing creation API call:

Verification Steps

Each ID proofing session is made up of one or more verification steps. You can toggle which steps a participant must complete with the biometrics_enabled, id_scan_enabled, and kba_enabled parameters. By default an order requires the ID scan and KBA, with biometrics disabled.

The following rules govern which combinations are allowed. A request that violates either rule returns a 400 response with a validation_failed error:

• Biometrics requires the ID scan. biometrics_enabled can only be true when id_scan_enabled is also true.
• At least one of the ID scan or KBA is required. id_scan_enabled and kba_enabled cannot both be false in the same request.

Webhook Events

If you supply a webhook_url, NotaryLive will POST a JSON event to it as the participant moves through the ID proofing session. If you supply a company_email instead (and no webhook_url), the same event data is emailed to that address. All ID proofing webhook events are sent with Content-Type: application/json.

{
    "event": "identity_verified",
    "nl_id_proofing_order_id": "notarylive_order_id",
    "their_order_id": "your_company_order_id",
    "participant_email": "participant@domain.tld",
    "checks": {
        "biometrics": false,
        "id_scan": true,
        "kba": true
    },
    "verified_person": {
        "address": "123 Main St Springfield IL 62704 US",
        "date_of_birth": "1980-01-01",
        "first_name": "John",
        "id_expires_at": "2026-01-01",
        "id_issued_at": "2018-01-01",
        "id_type": "drivers_license",
        "last_name": "Doe",
        "middle_name": "A",
        "name": "John A Doe Jr",
        "suffix": "Jr"
    }
}

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