> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.affinda.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Add and update candidate data without parsing

> Add and update candidate records in Affinda Search & Match directly via the API without parsing a resume, useful for syncing data from existing ATS systems.

For new customers of Affinda, you may want to search across candidates that you already have on structured data within your system. In addition, you may want to update candidates' details when you learn new information or their status changes.

Affinda's API allows you to easily add existing candidates to the Affinda platform, without having to re-parse the candidates' resumes, as well as update any candidates that have already been added.

### **Creating a new candidate record**

Customers should use the [Create a document from raw data](https://docs.affinda.com/api-reference/search-&-match/create-a-document-from-raw-data) API endpoint for uploading resumes to add an existing candidate record to the Affinda platform. However, instead of uploading a PDF, .docx or URL (or another file type), customers should create a resume with 'data'.

This requires that the data in your system be mapped to a JSON-encoded string of the ResumeData object.

Resumes added using this data method do not use any parsing credits.

### **Updating an existing candidate record**

The process for updating a candidate record is the same as above, in that the request requires JSON-encoded string of the ResumeData object. However, the endpoint should use the [<u>Update a document's data</u>](https://docs.affinda.com/api-reference/search-&-match/update-a-documents-data) endpoint.

<Info>
  For other document types, please use the PATCH /annotations/ endpoint or the POST /annotations/batch\_update endpoint.
</Info>