Create Case

Creates a new case in your account. You can include vehicles, occupants, and accident information in a single request.

POST /api/cases

Request Body

{
  "name": "string",
  "plaintiff_name": "string",
  "defendant_name": "string",
  "attorney_name": "string",
  "side": "plaintiff | defense",
  "analysis_type": "accident_only | accident_injury | delta_v_only | biomechanics_only",
  "organization_id": "string",

  "accident": {
    "description": "string",
    "date": "YYYY-MM-DD",
    "time": "HH:MM",
    "location": "string"
  },

  "vehicles": [
    {
      "role": "plaintiff | defendant",
      "vehicle_maker": "string",
      "vehicle_model": "string",
      "vehicle_year": "string",
      "vehicle_vin": "string",
      "vehicle_type": "string",
      "edr_file_id": "string",
      "image_file_ids": ["string"]
    }
  ],

  "occupants": [
    {
      "name": "string",
      "age": 0,
      "gender": "male | female | other",
      "height_inches": 0,
      "weight_lbs": 0,
      "position": "driver | front_passenger | rear_left | rear_center | rear_right",
      "alleged_injuries": ["string"],
      "seatbelt_worn": true,
      "airbag_deployed": "yes | no | partial | unknown",
      "injury_severity": "minor | moderate | serious | severe | critical",
      "pre_existing_conditions": "string"
    }
  ]
}

Parameters

Required Fields

• plaintiff_name string, required Plaintiff name (injured party). Used for auto-generating case name if not provided.

• defendant_name string, required Defendant name (at-fault party). Used for auto-generating case name if not provided.

• attorney_name string, required Attorney name handling the case

Optional Fields

• name string, optional Case name or title. If not provided, auto-generated as "PlaintiffLastName v. DefendantLastName" (e.g., "Smith v. Johnson")

• side string, optional Which party the attorney represents. One of: plaintiff or defense. Defaults to plaintiff.

• analysis_type string, optional Type of analysis to run on this case. Defaults to accident_only.

  Value	Description	Requires Occupants?
  accident_only	Crash analysis only (default)	No
  accident_injury	Crash analysis + biomechanics	Yes
  delta_v_only	Delta-V calculation only	No
  biomechanics_only	Biomechanics analysis only	Yes

  See Analysis Types Guide for detailed usage and examples.

• organization_id string, optional Organization ID to associate the case with

Accident Information

• accident object, optional Accident information

  • accident.description string - Narrative description of the accident
  • accident.date string - Date of accident in YYYY-MM-DD format
  • accident.time string - Time of accident in HH:MM format
  • accident.location string - Location where the accident occurred

Vehicles

• vehicles array of objects, optional List of vehicles involved in the accident

  • vehicles[].role string, required - Vehicle role: plaintiff or defendant
  • vehicles[].vehicle_maker string - Manufacturer (e.g., "Toyota")
  • vehicles[].vehicle_model string - Model (e.g., "Camry")
  • vehicles[].vehicle_year string - Year (e.g., "2020")
  • vehicles[].vehicle_vin string - Vehicle Identification Number
  • vehicles[].vehicle_type string - Type: sedan, suv, truck, motorcycle, etc.
  • vehicles[].edr_file_id string - File ID of uploaded EDR data
  • vehicles[].image_file_ids array of strings - File IDs of uploaded damage photos

Occupants

• occupants array of objects, optional List of vehicle occupants for biomechanics analysis

  • occupants[].name string - Occupant name
  • occupants[].age integer, required - Age in years
  • occupants[].gender string, required - One of: male, female, other
  • occupants[].height_inches integer - Height in inches
  • occupants[].weight_lbs integer - Weight in pounds
  • occupants[].position string, required - Seating position: driver, front_passenger, rear_left, rear_center, rear_right
  • occupants[].alleged_injuries array of strings - Injury types: head_brain, cervical_spine, thoracic_spine, lumbar_spine, shoulder, hip, knee, foot_ankle
  • occupants[].seatbelt_worn boolean - Whether seatbelt was worn
  • occupants[].airbag_deployed string - One of: yes, no, partial, unknown
  • occupants[].injury_severity string - One of: minor, moderate, serious, severe, critical
  • occupants[].pre_existing_conditions string - Description of pre-existing conditions

Response

{
  "success": true,
  "data": {
    "case": {
      "id": "case_abc123def456",
      "name": "Smith v. Johnson",
      "plaintiff_name": "John Smith",
      "defendant_name": "Mike Johnson",
      "attorney_name": "Jane Attorney",
      "side": "plaintiff",
      "analysis_type": "accident_only",
      "has_edr": false,
      "account_id": "acc_xyz789",
      "organization_id": "org_abc123",
      "status": "active",
      "created_at": "2024-01-15T10:30:00Z",
      "updated_at": "2024-01-15T10:30:00Z"
    },
    "invoice": {
      "id": "inv_xyz789",
      "amount": 299.00,
      "status": "pending"
    }
  }
}

Examples

Basic case creation (auto-generated name)

Create a case with just the required fields. The case name will be auto-generated as "Smith v. Johnson":

curl -X POST "https://api.silentwitness.ai/api/cases" \
  -H "X-API-Key: $API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "plaintiff_name": "John Smith",
    "defendant_name": "Mike Johnson",
    "attorney_name": "Jane Attorney"
  }'

Basic case creation (custom name)

Create a case with a custom name:

curl -X POST "https://api.silentwitness.ai/api/cases" \
  -H "X-API-Key: $API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "name": "Smith v. Johnson - Car Accident 2024",
    "plaintiff_name": "John Smith",
    "defendant_name": "Mike Johnson",
    "attorney_name": "Jane Attorney"
  }'

Full case with all data

Create a case with vehicles, occupants, and accident information in a single request. The case name will be auto-generated as "Smith v. Johnson":

curl -X POST "https://api.silentwitness.ai/api/cases" \
  -H "X-API-Key: $API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "plaintiff_name": "John Smith",
    "defendant_name": "Mike Johnson",
    "attorney_name": "Jane Attorney",
    "organization_id": "org_abc123",

    "accident": {
      "description": "Rear-end collision at red light. Defendant struck plaintiff from behind while plaintiff was stopped.",
      "date": "2024-01-10",
      "time": "14:30",
      "location": "123 Main St, Los Angeles, CA"
    },

    "vehicles": [
      {
        "role": "plaintiff",
        "vehicle_maker": "Toyota",
        "vehicle_model": "Camry",
        "vehicle_year": "2020",
        "vehicle_vin": "4T1B11HK5LU123456",
        "vehicle_type": "sedan"
      },
      {
        "role": "defendant",
        "vehicle_maker": "Ford",
        "vehicle_model": "F-150",
        "vehicle_year": "2019",
        "vehicle_type": "truck"
      }
    ],

    "occupants": [
      {
        "name": "John Smith",
        "age": 45,
        "gender": "male",
        "height_inches": 70,
        "weight_lbs": 180,
        "position": "driver",
        "seatbelt_worn": true,
        "airbag_deployed": "yes",
        "alleged_injuries": ["cervical_spine", "lumbar_spine"],
        "injury_severity": "moderate"
      }
    ]
  }'

Errors

Code	Description
400	Invalid request body - missing required fields
401	Unauthorized - Invalid or missing API key
500	Internal server error

Recommended Workflow

After creating a case with all data:

1. POST /api/cases              → Create case with vehicles, occupants, accident info
2. POST /api/files/upload       → Upload plaintiff damage photos
3. PUT /api/cases/:id           → Link file IDs to plaintiff vehicle
4. POST /api/reports            → Create report (auto-triggers delta-v calculation)
5. GET /api/reports/:id         → Poll for completion

See Update Case for linking uploaded file IDs. See Create Report and Get Report for the Stripe-style reports API.