QR Code Reader API

QuickChart provides a QR code scanner/reader API that can extract text and data from QR code images. Simply send an image URL or base64-encoded image data to the API endpoint and receive the decoded QR code contents.

API Endpoint

The QR code reader is available at:

https://quickchart.io/qr-read

The endpoint supports both GET and POST requests.

Using GET Request

To scan a QR code from an image URL using GET:

https://quickchart.io/qr-read?url=https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0b/QR_code_Wikimedia_Commons_%28URL%29.png

The url parameter should be URL-encoded.

Example response:

{
  "result": "http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Main_Page"
}

Using POST Request

The POST endpoint accepts either an image URL or base64-encoded image data. Send a JSON body with Content-Type: application/json. If both url and image are provided, url takes precedence.

POST with URL

{
  "url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0b/QR_code_Wikimedia_Commons_%28URL%29.png"
}

POST with Base64 Image

Send the raw base64 string, without a data:image/png;base64, prefix. For example, this Python code creates a QR image and reads it back:

import base64
import requests

image = requests.get('https://quickchart.io/qr', params={
    'text': 'Hello World!',
    'size': 300,
    'format': 'png',
})
image.raise_for_status()

response = requests.post('https://quickchart.io/qr-read', json={
    'image': base64.b64encode(image.content).decode('ascii'),
})
response.raise_for_status()
print(response.json())

Example response:

{
  "result": "Hello World!"
}

Error Responses

Missing input returns HTTP 400. Fetch and decoding failures return HTTP 500, with an error string explaining what went wrong:

Error	Meaning
Could not fetch the image at that URL: ...	The URL could not be fetched. Check that it returns an image and is publicly accessible.
Could not decode that image. Supported formats are PNG, JPEG, BMP, TIFF, and GIF.	The downloaded or base64-decoded data is not a supported image.
No QR code was found in that image.	The image was loaded, but the reader could not find a readable QR code.

These failures use HTTP 500 for compatibility with existing clients. Check the message before retrying; sending the same unreadable image again will not help. Requests may also receive HTTP 429 when rate limited.

Example error response:

{
  "error": "Please provide either a URL or base64 encoded image"
}

Limitations

• Maximum image download size: 10 MB
• Image URL fetch timeout: 10 seconds
• Supported image formats: PNG, JPEG, BMP, TIFF, GIF
• URL must be publicly accessible

tip

For best results, ensure your QR code image is clear and well-lit. The API works best with high-contrast images where the QR code is clearly visible.