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Egyptian ID OCR API in C#:
Step-by-Step Integration Guide

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Omar Ashraf · Apr 20, 2026 · 10 min read
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By the end of this tutorial you will have a working .NET console application that sends an Egyptian National ID image to the SignMe API, deserialises the response into typed C# model classes, and prints all extracted fields — including an automatic expiry check — in under 400 milliseconds. Every code block is copy-paste ready. No external NuGet packages required.

Prerequisites

  • .NET 6 SDK or later — download from dotnet.microsoft.com. The tutorial uses top-level statements and DateOnly, both available from .NET 6.
  • A SignMe API key — create a free account to get one. The free tier includes 100 calls, enough to complete this guide and build a full integration.
  • A test image — a JPEG or PNG photo of an Egyptian National ID front. Keep one at hand as national-id.jpg.

Step 1 — Create the Project

Create a new .NET console application. No NuGet packages are needed — System.Net.Http and System.Text.Json are both included in the .NET 6+ runtime.

BASH
dotnet new console -n SignMeDemo
cd SignMeDemo

Open Program.cs. Replace all generated content with the code in the steps below, or jump straight to the complete Program.cs at the end.

Step 2 — Send the API Request

The SignMe API accepts a multipart/form-data POST with the image file attached under the key file. The document type is controlled by the ID_type query parameter — 0 for National ID front. Authentication is a Bearer token in the Authorization header.

Store your API key in an environment variable, not in source code:

BASH
# Windows (PowerShell)
$env:SIGNME_API_KEY = "your_api_key_here"

# macOS / Linux
export SIGNME_API_KEY="your_api_key_here"

Now add the request logic to Program.cs:

C#
using System.Net.Http.Headers;
using System.Text.Json;
using System.Text.Json.Serialization;

var apiKey    = Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("SIGNME_API_KEY")
             ?? throw new InvalidOperationException("SIGNME_API_KEY environment variable is not set.");
var imagePath = args.Length > 0 ? args[0] : "national-id.jpg";

using var client = new HttpClient();
client.DefaultRequestHeaders.Authorization =
    new AuthenticationHeaderValue("Bearer", apiKey);

using var form  = new MultipartFormDataContent();
var stream      = File.OpenRead(imagePath);
var fileContent = new StreamContent(stream);
fileContent.Headers.ContentType = new MediaTypeHeaderValue("image/jpeg");
form.Add(fileContent, "file", Path.GetFileName(imagePath));

Console.WriteLine($"Scanning {imagePath}...");
var response = await client.PostAsync(
    "https://mobapi.signme.it/api/v2/SignMeAPI/uploadImage?ID_type=0",
    form
);
response.EnsureSuccessStatusCode();

var json = await response.Content.ReadAsStringAsync();

EnsureSuccessStatusCode() throws an HttpRequestException for any non-2xx response, so failed network calls surface immediately. Failed API calls — where the image was received but extraction did not succeed — return HTTP 200 with "status": "error" in the body, which is handled in Step 4.

Step 3 — Define the Response Models

Add these two classes at the bottom of Program.cs (after the top-level statements). The [JsonPropertyName] attributes map the API's snake_case JSON keys to PascalCase C# properties.

C#
public class SignMeResponse
{
    public string     Status     { get; set; } = "";
    public SignMeData Data       { get; set; } = new();
    public double     Confidence { get; set; }

    [JsonPropertyName("credits_used")]
    public int CreditsUsed { get; set; }

    [JsonPropertyName("response_time_ms")]
    public int ResponseTimeMs { get; set; }
}

public class SignMeData
{
    [JsonPropertyName("national_id")]  public string NationalId  { get; set; } = "";
    [JsonPropertyName("full_name")]    public string FullName    { get; set; } = "";
    [JsonPropertyName("full_name_en")] public string FullNameEn  { get; set; } = "";
    [JsonPropertyName("birth_date")]   public string BirthDate   { get; set; } = "";
    [JsonPropertyName("gender")]       public string Gender      { get; set; } = "";
    [JsonPropertyName("governorate")]  public string Governorate { get; set; } = "";
    [JsonPropertyName("address")]      public string Address     { get; set; } = "";
    [JsonPropertyName("issue_date")]   public string IssueDate   { get; set; } = "";
    [JsonPropertyName("expiry_date")]  public string ExpiryDate  { get; set; } = "";
}

All date fields are returned as ISO 8601 strings (YYYY-MM-DD), which means they parse cleanly with DateOnly.Parse() — no custom format strings needed.

Step 4 — Deserialise and Display

Add the deserialisation and output logic immediately after the ReadAsStringAsync() call from Step 2:

C#
var options = new JsonSerializerOptions { PropertyNameCaseInsensitive = true };
var result  = JsonSerializer.Deserialize<SignMeResponse>(json, options)
           ?? throw new InvalidOperationException("Empty response body.");

if (result.Status != "success")
{
    Console.Error.WriteLine($"Extraction failed — status: {result.Status}");
    return;
}

var d = result.Data;

Console.WriteLine();
Console.WriteLine($"Name (Arabic):  {d.FullName}");
Console.WriteLine($"Name (English): {d.FullNameEn}");
Console.WriteLine($"National ID:    {d.NationalId}");
Console.WriteLine($"Birth Date:     {d.BirthDate}");
Console.WriteLine($"Gender:         {d.Gender}");
Console.WriteLine($"Governorate:    {d.Governorate}");
Console.WriteLine($"Address:        {d.Address}");
Console.WriteLine($"Expiry Date:    {d.ExpiryDate}");

var isExpired = DateOnly.Parse(d.ExpiryDate) < DateOnly.FromDateTime(DateTime.Today);
Console.WriteLine($"ID Status:      {(isExpired ? "EXPIRED" : "VALID")}");

Console.WriteLine();
Console.WriteLine($"Confidence: {result.Confidence:P0}   Response: {result.ResponseTimeMs}ms   Credits used: {result.CreditsUsed}");

The expiry check is a single line comparison of two DateOnly values — no time-zone logic, no string parsing, no third-party date library.

Complete Program.cs

The full file, combining all four steps into a single copy-paste-ready Program.cs:

C# — Program.cs
using System.Net.Http.Headers;
using System.Text.Json;
using System.Text.Json.Serialization;

// ── Configuration ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
var apiKey    = Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("SIGNME_API_KEY")
             ?? throw new InvalidOperationException("SIGNME_API_KEY environment variable is not set.");
var imagePath = args.Length > 0 ? args[0] : "national-id.jpg";

// ── Build multipart request ───────────────────────────────────────────────────
using var client = new HttpClient();
client.DefaultRequestHeaders.Authorization =
    new AuthenticationHeaderValue("Bearer", apiKey);

using var form  = new MultipartFormDataContent();
var stream      = File.OpenRead(imagePath);
var fileContent = new StreamContent(stream);
fileContent.Headers.ContentType = new MediaTypeHeaderValue("image/jpeg");
form.Add(fileContent, "file", Path.GetFileName(imagePath));

// ── Call API ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Console.WriteLine($"Scanning {imagePath}...");
var response = await client.PostAsync(
    "https://mobapi.signme.it/api/v2/SignMeAPI/uploadImage?ID_type=0",
    form
);
response.EnsureSuccessStatusCode();

// ── Deserialise ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
var json    = await response.Content.ReadAsStringAsync();
var options = new JsonSerializerOptions { PropertyNameCaseInsensitive = true };
var result  = JsonSerializer.Deserialize<SignMeResponse>(json, options)
           ?? throw new InvalidOperationException("Empty response body.");

if (result.Status != "success")
{
    Console.Error.WriteLine($"Extraction failed — status: {result.Status}");
    return;
}

// ── Display ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
var d = result.Data;

Console.WriteLine();
Console.WriteLine($"Name (Arabic):  {d.FullName}");
Console.WriteLine($"Name (English): {d.FullNameEn}");
Console.WriteLine($"National ID:    {d.NationalId}");
Console.WriteLine($"Birth Date:     {d.BirthDate}");
Console.WriteLine($"Gender:         {d.Gender}");
Console.WriteLine($"Governorate:    {d.Governorate}");
Console.WriteLine($"Address:        {d.Address}");
Console.WriteLine($"Expiry Date:    {d.ExpiryDate}");

var isExpired = DateOnly.Parse(d.ExpiryDate) < DateOnly.FromDateTime(DateTime.Today);
Console.WriteLine($"ID Status:      {(isExpired ? "EXPIRED" : "VALID")}");

Console.WriteLine();
Console.WriteLine($"Confidence: {result.Confidence:P0}   Response: {result.ResponseTimeMs}ms   Credits used: {result.CreditsUsed}");

// ── Models ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────

public class SignMeResponse
{
    public string     Status     { get; set; } = "";
    public SignMeData Data       { get; set; } = new();
    public double     Confidence { get; set; }

    [JsonPropertyName("credits_used")]
    public int CreditsUsed { get; set; }

    [JsonPropertyName("response_time_ms")]
    public int ResponseTimeMs { get; set; }
}

public class SignMeData
{
    [JsonPropertyName("national_id")]  public string NationalId  { get; set; } = "";
    [JsonPropertyName("full_name")]    public string FullName    { get; set; } = "";
    [JsonPropertyName("full_name_en")] public string FullNameEn  { get; set; } = "";
    [JsonPropertyName("birth_date")]   public string BirthDate   { get; set; } = "";
    [JsonPropertyName("gender")]       public string Gender      { get; set; } = "";
    [JsonPropertyName("governorate")]  public string Governorate { get; set; } = "";
    [JsonPropertyName("address")]      public string Address     { get; set; } = "";
    [JsonPropertyName("issue_date")]   public string IssueDate   { get; set; } = "";
    [JsonPropertyName("expiry_date")]  public string ExpiryDate  { get; set; } = "";
}

Running the Application

Place national-id.jpg in the project folder, then:

BASH
# Run with default image path
dotnet run

# Or pass a custom path
dotnet run -- /path/to/id-scan.jpg

Example Output

A successful run prints:

OUTPUT
Scanning national-id.jpg...

Name (Arabic):  محمد أحمد السيد
Name (English): Mohamed Ahmed El-Sayed
National ID:    29901011234567
Birth Date:     1999-01-01
Gender:         Male
Governorate:    Cairo
Address:        12 شارع التحرير، القاهرة
Expiry Date:    2029-05-14
ID Status:      VALID

Confidence: 97%   Response: 312ms   Credits used: 1
Terminal showing successful dotnet run output with extracted Egyptian National ID fields printed to the console
The completed application prints all extracted ID fields — name, national ID number, address, expiry date, and a live validity check — in a single dotnet run command.

Common Mistakes

1. Sending JSON instead of multipart/form-data

The API expects multipart/form-data with the image attached under the key "file". Sending a JSON body with a base64-encoded image, or posting the raw bytes without a multipart wrapper, returns a 400 error. Always use MultipartFormDataContent as shown above.

2. Creating a new HttpClient per request

Wrapping HttpClient in a using block inside a loop or a web request handler exhausts the socket pool. In console apps, declare one static readonly HttpClient at the top level. In ASP.NET Core apps, register IHttpClientFactory via builder.Services.AddHttpClient() and inject it into your handlers — never instantiate HttpClient directly in a per-request scope.

3. Not checking result.Status before reading Data

A 200 response with "status": "error" means the image was received but extraction failed (blurred scan, wrong document type, etc.). The Data object will be null or empty in this case. Always check result.Status == "success" before accessing any Data fields.

4. Hardcoding the API key in source

API keys committed to source control are routinely scraped from public repositories. Use Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable() in development, and a secrets manager (Azure Key Vault, AWS Secrets Manager, or ASP.NET Core User Secrets) in production. The code in this guide already follows this pattern.

5. Ignoring the Confidence score

Accepting every response with Status == "success" regardless of confidence leads to low-quality data entering your database. Add a threshold check — e.g. result.Confidence < 0.85 — and route borderline scans to a manual review queue rather than accepting them automatically.

Use Cases

KYC and Customer Onboarding

Banks, fintechs, and insurance platforms built on .NET can drop this integration into their onboarding pipeline. The extracted NationalId, FullName, and BirthDate fields feed directly into AML lookups, credit bureau queries, and CRM records — eliminating the manual data-entry step that accounts for most onboarding drop-off. See all use cases for full KYC workflow examples.

HR and Employee Onboarding

HR systems built on ASP.NET Core can scan employee IDs at hire time and populate the HRMS record automatically. The Governorate and Address fields support payroll and social insurance registration flows that require verified address data.

Government and Enterprise Portals

Citizen-facing government portals and enterprise intranet applications on .NET can reduce form-fill friction by scanning the ID and pre-populating every identity field. The ExpiryDate check flags expired IDs at the point of entry without a secondary validation call. For high-volume deployments, see enterprise options.

SignMe API playground interface showing file upload form and JSON response for testing before writing code
Use the SignMe playground to verify your API key and inspect the full JSON response before writing any code — no setup required.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q
What .NET version is required?

.NET 6 or later. The tutorial uses top-level statements, DateOnly, and System.Text.Json — all available since .NET 6. No external NuGet packages are required.

Q
Can I use Newtonsoft.Json instead of System.Text.Json?

Yes. Install Newtonsoft.Json via NuGet, replace JsonSerializer.Deserialize<T> with JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<T>, and swap [JsonPropertyName] for [JsonProperty] on your model class properties. The HTTP request code is identical.

Q
How do I integrate this into an ASP.NET Core web application?

Register IHttpClientFactory in Program.cs with builder.Services.AddHttpClient(). Inject it into your controller or minimal API handler, call factory.CreateClient(), and use the same multipart/form-data request shown in this guide. Never instantiate HttpClient directly inside a request handler.

Q
What ID_type should I use for each document?

ID_type=0 for National ID front, driver license, or car license. ID_type=1 for National ID back side only. ID_type=2 for passport or resident permit. One endpoint, one model class, different ID_type values.

Q
How should I handle low-confidence responses?

Check result.Confidence after deserialisation. If it falls below your threshold (0.85 is a reasonable starting point for KYC), route to a manual review queue. The threshold depends on your use case — form pre-fill tolerates lower confidence than identity verification.

Q
Does the API support concurrent requests from .NET?

Yes. Use a single shared HttpClient instance and issue parallel calls with await Task.WhenAll(...). Concurrency limits depend on your plan — see pricing for details.

Related Articles

Tutorial Egyptian National ID OCR API: Extract Structured Data in Milliseconds 8 min read → Tutorial Egyptian Passport OCR API: MRZ Parsing + Visual Zone Extraction in One Call 9 min read → Tutorial Egyptian Car License OCR API: Extract Vehicle & Owner Data in One Request 8 min read →

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