> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://developer.onecodex.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Pre-Uploading Samples For situations where you'd like to create Samples on the One Codex Platform, but your NGS data is not yet available, we support a "pre-upload" workflow. Simply POST to the `/preupload` route to receive a unique sample ID. That sample ID may be then passed when uploading your data (see [Starting an Upload](/api-reference/samples-resource-upload-file)) to upload data for the pre-uploaded sample instead of creating a new sample. Samples created via the `/preupload` route will have a visibility property with a value awaiting data. These samples and their metadata will be `private`, though they may be shared with other accounts if associated with a project at creation time (see [Sharing & Projects](https://docs.onecodex.com/en/articles/3764345-sharing-projects) for more details on sharing data via projects). ## OpenAPI ````yaml POST /api/v1/samples/preupload openapi: 3.1.0 info: description: >- The One Codex API (v1) -- programmatic access to One Codex's suite of microbial genomics data storage, analysis, and query tools. title: One Codex API (v1) version: v1 servers: - url: https://app.onecodex.com security: - apiKeyAuth: [] paths: /api/v1/samples/preupload: post: summary: POST samples instances_preupload operationId: post_samples_instances_preupload requestBody: content: application/json: schema: properties: metadata: anyOf: - properties: custom: anyOf: - additionalProperties: true type: object - type: 'null' description: >- Arbitrary metadata is supported as part of a custom object. custom has two constraints: (1) it must have a depth of one (i.e., no nested records); and (2) only strings, numbers, boolean, and null values are supported as values. Example: `{"lab_tech": "Linus Pauling", "amplicon_scheme": "V3-V4"}` title: Custom date_collected: anyOf: - format: date-time type: string - type: 'null' default: null description: Timestamp for when the sample was collected. title: Date Collected date_sequenced: anyOf: - format: date-time type: string - type: 'null' default: null description: Timestamp for when the sample was sequenced. title: Date Sequenced description: anyOf: - type: string - type: 'null' default: null title: Description external_sample_id: anyOf: - type: string - type: 'null' default: null description: >- An arbitrary external sample ID, e.g., an ID in a LIMS. Up to 60 characters. example: LIMS-2024-00123 title: External Sample Id library_type: anyOf: - description: >- Allowed types of SampleMetadata.library_type. Also used to populate form dropdown in the front-end enum: - WGS - Targeted/16S - Other title: SequencingLibraryType type: string - type: 'null' default: null description: An enum with the sample library type. location_lat: anyOf: - maximum: 90 minimum: -90 type: number - type: 'null' default: null description: >- The latitude `(-90.0-90.0)` of the sample location. By convention, we recommend using this for the location in which the physical specimen was collected. title: Location Lat location_lon: anyOf: - maximum: 180 minimum: -180 type: number - type: 'null' default: null description: >- The longitude `(-180.0-180.0)` of the sample location. title: Location Lon location_string: anyOf: - maxLength: 255 type: string - type: 'null' default: null title: Location String name: anyOf: - maxLength: 255 type: string - type: 'null' default: null title: Name platform: anyOf: - description: Allowed values of SampleMetadata.platform. enum: - 454 sequencing - 454 GS FLX - 454 GS FLX Titanium - Illumina - Illumina Genome Analyzer II - Illumina HiSeq - Illumina HiSeq 1500 - Illumina HiSeq 2000 - Illumina HiSeq 2500 - Illumina HiSeq 3000 - Illumina HiSeq 4000 - Illumina HiSeq X - Illumina iSeq 100 - Illumina MiniSeq - Illumina MiSeq - Illumina NextSeq - Illumina NextSeq 500 - Illumina NextSeq 550 - Illumina NovaSeq - Illumina NovaSeq 5000 - Illumina NovaSeq 6000 - BGISEQ - BGISEQ 50 - Element - Element AVITI - Ion - Ion S5 - Ion S5 XL - Ion PGM - Ion Proton - Ion Torrent - Oxford Nanopore - Oxford Nanopore GridION X5 - Oxford Nanopore MinION - Oxford Nanopore PromethION - PacBio - PacBio RS II - PacBio Sequel - PacBio Sequel II System - PacBio Revio - PacBio Onso - SOLiD - Solexa Genome Analyzer - Sanger - Other title: SequencingPlatform type: string - type: 'null' default: null description: An enum with the name of the sequencing platform. sample_type: anyOf: - description: >- Allowed values for SampleMetadata.sample_type. Used to populate values in the front-end dropdown enum: - Isolate - Metagenomic - Other title: SequencingSampleType type: string - type: 'null' default: null description: An enum with the sample type. starred: anyOf: - type: boolean - type: 'null' default: false description: >- Whether the sample has been starred by the user within the One Codex web application. title: Starred title: InlineMetadata type: object - type: 'null' default: null project: anyOf: - properties: __DOLLAR_REF__: example: /api/v1/projects/a1b2c3d4e5f67890 format: uri pattern: ^/api/v1/projects/[a-f0-9]{16}$ type: string type: object - type: 'null' default: null description: An optional project. tags: default: [] items: properties: name: description: >- The tag label or name. Name must be 30 characters or fewer. maxLength: 30 title: Name type: string required: - name title: InlineTag type: object title: Tags type: array title: SampleInitPreuploadSchema type: object required: true responses: '200': content: application/json: schema: properties: sample_id: description: The sample ID. Use to confirm the upload. title: Sample Id type: string required: - sample_id title: SampleInitPreuploadResponse type: object description: OK components: securitySchemes: apiKeyAuth: in: header name: X-API-Key type: apiKey ````