InvoiceXML Factur-X client for Python

Create, validate, embed and extract Factur-X e-invoices from Python with the InvoiceXML API. Build the invoice from typed EN 16931 dataclasses and get back a compliant Factur-X PDF/A-3, already validated against the official rule set and, on request, the French mandate's BR-FR rules.

• Python 3.10 or later, no dependencies outside the standard library
• Typed EN 16931 dataclasses generated from the API's OpenAPI schema
• All Factur-X profiles, from MINIMUM to EXTENDED
• Exact decimal amounts, never floats on the wire
• Rejected invoices surface the violated rules as typed findings
• Automatic retry on HTTP 429, honouring Retry-After

Installation

pip install invoicexml-facturx

Get an API key

Sign up at invoicexml.com/account/signup for a 30-day free trial with 100 credits. No credit card is needed. The client reads the key from the INVOICEXML_API_KEY environment variable, or you pass it as api_key.

Create a Factur-X invoice

from pathlib import Path
from invoicexml_facturx import *

client = FacturXClient()
invoice = InvoiceDocument(
    invoice_number="FA-2026-0042", issue_date="2026-09-01", currency="EUR",
    seller=SellerParty(name="Atelier Numerique SARL", vat_identifier="FR32123456789",
                       legal_registration=SellerLegalRegistration("123456789", "0002"),
                       postal_address=SellerPostalAddress(line1="18 Rue de la Republique", city="Lyon", post_code="69002", country="FR")),
    buyer=BuyerParty(name="Librairie Grand Siecle SAS",
                     postal_address=BuyerPostalAddress(line1="5 Boulevard Saint-Germain", city="Paris", post_code="75005", country="FR")),
    payment_details=PaymentDetails(payment_account_identifier="FR7630006000011234567890189"),
    lines=[InvoiceLine(quantity=12, item=ItemInformation(name="Maintenance applicative"),
                       price_details=PriceDetails(net_price="180.00"), vat_information=LineVatInformation(rate=20))],
)
Path("facture-facturx.pdf").write_bytes(client.create_facturx(invoice, InvoiceOptions(language=PdfLanguage.FR)))

Totals and the VAT breakdown are calculated from the lines. The PDF is a Factur-X PDF/A-3 with the EN 16931 profile and the CII XML embedded as factur-x.xml. Amounts accept Decimal, int, float or a numeric string, and are sent as exact JSON numbers.

API surface

Method	Endpoint	Returns
create_facturx(invoice, options=None)	POST /v1/create/facturx	Factur-X PDF/A-3 (bytes)
validate_facturx(pdf, *, rules=None)	POST /v1/validate/facturx	ValidationResult
embed_facturx(pdf, xml, *, skip_validation=False, rules=None)	POST /v1/embed/facturx	Factur-X PDF/A-3 (bytes)
extract_json(file)	POST /v1/extract/json	InvoiceDocument
extract_attachments(file)	POST /v1/extract/attachments	ZIP of embedded documents (bytes)

File parameters accept a path, the raw bytes of a PDF or XML document, or a FileUpload. The invoice and options also accept plain dicts in the API's JSON shape.

The French e-invoicing mandate

Receiving e-invoices is mandatory for every business in France from September 2026, and issuing follows in phases. Add the BR_FR rule set to check an invoice against the mandate's BR-FR rules on top of its profile. It works on create, validate and embed, and needs at least the BASIC profile:

invoice.business_process_type = "S1"                    # billing mode, here services
invoice.notes = [InvoiceNote("Indemnite forfaitaire pour frais de recouvrement : 40 EUR", "PMT")]
pdf = client.create_facturx(invoice, InvoiceOptions(rules=[RuleSet.BR_FR]))

result = client.validate_facturx("facture.pdf", rules=[RuleSet.BR_FR])

The BR-FR rules ask for the billing mode in business_process_type, for example B1 for goods, S1 for services or M1 for mixed invoices. French invoices also carry the legal mentions as notes with the subject codes PMT, PMD and AAB. Violations come back with the official rule identifiers and French messages.

Profiles

EN 16931 is the default. To create another profile, set its identifier from FacturXProfile as the invoice's specification_id:

invoice.specification_id = FacturXProfile.BASIC
pdf = client.create_facturx(invoice)

MINIMUM and BASIC_WL carry header data only and serve as booking aids. BASIC is the lowest profile the French mandate accepts, and EXTENDED adds data for complex invoicing.

Rejected invoices

Every create call validates the invoice before a document is produced. When rules are violated, the call raises InvoiceValidationError with the findings, so a non-compliant invoice never leaves your system:

try:
    client.create_facturx(invoice)
except InvoiceValidationError as e:
    for finding in e.errors:
        print(finding.rule, finding.fields, finding.message)

Each finding carries the rule id (for example BR-CO-10), the layer (xsd, en16931 or cius), a plain-language message, the field paths into your invoice, and the verbatim validator output.

Validate incoming invoices

Valid and invalid invoices both return a ValidationResult. Check result.valid:

result = client.validate_facturx("facture-fournisseur.pdf")
if not result.valid:
    for finding in result.errors:
        print(finding)

The result also carries the detected profile, the schema and Schematron verdicts, and a field report with one row per invoice field.

Errors, rate limits and retries

All exceptions extend InvoiceXmlError.

Exception	When
InvoiceValidationError	HTTP 400 with rule findings
AuthenticationError	HTTP 401, the API key is missing or inactive
PayloadTooLargeError	HTTP 413, a file exceeds 20 MB
RateLimitError	HTTP 429 after the automatic retries
InvoiceXmlApiError	Any other error response, with error_code from ErrorCode
InvoiceXmlConnectionError	The API could not be reached

On HTTP 429 the client waits for the Retry-After delay and retries, three times by default. Rate-limited requests consume no credits.

client = FacturXClient(api_key, max_retries=5, max_retry_wait=30, timeout=60)

The client holds no connection state and is safe to share between threads. To send requests through requests, httpx or your own tracing, pass any object with a send(request) method as transport; see invoicexml_facturx.transport.

Why InvoiceXML

• Rule sets updated on their legal effective dates. New Factur-X, BR-FR and EN 16931 rule versions go live on the API the day they take legal effect. The rules run on the server, so you never update this package or redeploy for a new rule version.
• Validated before delivery. Every document is checked against the official XSD and Schematron rules before it is returned.
• Zero data retention. Invoices are processed in memory and purged when the response is delivered. Nothing is stored or logged, and nothing is used for AI training.
• Processing in Frankfurt. All processing happens in the EU, in Frankfurt, Germany. See invoicexml.com/trust.
• Integration assistance. Questions about your integration go to support@invoicexml.com, from setup to your first production invoice.

Documentation

• API reference: api.invoicexml.com/v1/scalar
• OpenAPI 3.1 schema: api.invoicexml.com/v1/openapi
• ZUGFeRD and XRechnung: see the companion package invoicexml-zugferd-xrechnung

Development

pip install pytest
pytest

The unit tests run against a stubbed HTTP layer. A live suite against the real API runs only when you opt in, and it consumes about 13 credits per run:

INVOICEXML_API_KEY=your-key INVOICEXML_LIVE=1 pytest -m live

The module invoicexml_facturx/models.py is generated from the OpenAPI schema. To refresh it after a schema change, run python tools/generate_models.py --fetch and commit the result.

License

MIT. See LICENSE.