Solutions · Repository connectors

Laserfiche records in every public records and FOIA request

AccessPoint's Laserfiche connector lets records staff browse the repository's own folders, run Laserfiche searches and capture documents into a FOIA, FOI or public records request — from Laserfiche Cloud or a self-hosted Laserfiche API Server — with the entry id, path, template fields and a verified SHA-256 hash on every record.

Start Free Trial Request a Demo

For many city clerks and county and municipal records offices in the US and Canada, Laserfiche is the system of record: agendas and minutes, contracts, permits, personnel files. A public records request means searching Laserfiche in one window, exporting each hit, renaming it and uploading it into the request system in another — while the template fields that described each document, the meeting date or the contract number, stay behind in the repository.

AccessPoint's connector reaches Laserfiche through version 2 of the Repository API. Laserfiche has a real folder tree, so the Add from… picker shows the repository's own folders and record series from the root entries you choose, and a shortcut resolves to its target, so a document reached two ways is captured once. Each record carries its template, every field value, its extension, page count, whether it is electronic or scanned, whether it is a record, and its Laserfiche path. Search by name, template, field (equals or contains), entry type, modified date and folder; run a free-text search through the repository's own full-text and field index, which covers document text, fields, annotations and names; or paste a Laserfiche advanced search command, which is checked before it is sent and can only ever read. Electronic documents are captured as stored; scanned, image-only documents arrive as a PDF rendering with their annotations.

The connector reads Laserfiche as one identity — a Service Principal on Laserfiche Cloud, the trustee licence type Laserfiche designed for API use, or a repository, Directory Server or Windows service user on a self-hosted server — so what it may browse and read is what every permitted coordinator can browse. Grant it Browse and Read on exactly the folders the records office may collect from and make those folders the connector's roots: entries outside them answer not found, and search results outside them are dropped. Laserfiche's audit trail records that identity, so the connector logs every call with the AccessPoint user, the case and the purpose — and with an audit reason configured, every export carries the case and the user in its audit comment, so Laserfiche's own audit trail names them too. On Laserfiche Cloud, where API calls are limited to 100 a minute per account and counted against the plan's allocation, the connector keeps a shared call budget and caches definitions, so a listing costs one call per page and a capture two calls plus the download.

Laserfiche Cloud's US, Canadian and EU hosts are reachable from Azure directly, so the connector runs as an App Service or Container App in your own Azure subscription with no tunnel at all. A self-hosted Laserfiche API Server is reached from the same Azure host through an Azure Relay Hybrid Connection — with no inbound rule on your network — or the connector runs as a Windows service beside the API Server, reached the same way. The costs are in your own subscription: a small host (two vCPUs and 2 GB of memory are ample) and, for a self-hosted server, about USD $10 a month per Hybrid Connection listener at Azure list price, with 5 GB of relay traffic included. Laserfiche is a registered trademark of Compulink Management Center, Inc.; AccessPoint is not affiliated with or endorsed by Laserfiche.

Sound familiar?

Three moments every records office that runs on Laserfiche recognizes.

Two windows, forty exports

The request asks for every contract amendment with one vendor since 2022. The clerk searches Laserfiche, exports each hit, renames it and uploads it into the request system — forty times, hoping none was missed.

The fields stayed in the repository

The meeting date, the contract number and the department lived in the template. None of it reaches the request, so someone rebuilds the description of every record by hand for the response.

An export with no reason attached

Laserfiche's audit trail shows that a document was exported. It does not say for which request, or who asked — so the records office keeps a separate log, and the two never quite match.

What to look for in a Laserfiche connector for public records

Whatever you buy — including if it isn't AccessPoint — these are the questions to ask of any tool that pulls Laserfiche documents into a records request.

The repository's own folders and record series Browse the tree your records staff built, from the roots you choose, with shortcuts resolved so the same document is never captured twice.
Laserfiche search, not just a name filter Full text through the repository's own index, template and field searches, date ranges and folder scope — and the advanced search syntax for anything else.
Template fields as metadata Field values and the template should arrive with the document, so the record can be described without reopening Laserfiche.
Scanned documents handled Image-only documents should arrive as a reviewable PDF with their annotations, not be left behind as not retrievable.
An audit trail that names the request Laserfiche's export audit reason can carry the case and the person; a connector should stamp it on every export.
Built for Laserfiche Cloud's limits Laserfiche Cloud limits API calls per minute and counts them against the plan; a connector should budget and cache rather than spend the allocation on browsing.

How the Laserfiche connector works

Built on Laserfiche's Repository API — these are the pieces that matter to a records office.

The repository's own tree

Roots are the folders or record series you name, or the repository root. Folders open in name order, record series list as containers, and a shortcut stands for its target, so one document has one identity.

Laserfiche search, three ways

Structured search by name, template, field, entry type, modified date and folder; free text through the repository index across document text, fields, annotations and names; or a native advanced search command, checked before it reaches Laserfiche.

Templates and fields come along

The details flyout shows the template, every field value (multi-value fields included), the extension, page count, electronic or scanned, the record flag and the Laserfiche path.

Electronic and scanned documents

Electronic documents are captured as stored. Scanned, image-only documents are exported as a PDF rendering with their annotations, ready for review and redaction in the request.

Audit reasons that name the case

Choose one of your repository's audit reasons and every export carries the AccessPoint case and user in its audit comment, so Laserfiche's own audit trail shows why each document left the repository.

Budgeted for Laserfiche Cloud

A shared call budget under Laserfiche Cloud's per-minute limit, cached field and template definitions, and automatic re-issue of expired searches keep browsing and collection steady.

Chain of custody

Laserfiche's audit says why. AccessPoint's ledger proves what.

Every capture runs server-side: the connector asks Laserfiche to export the document and streams the download into the case's own storage in your Azure subscription, where AccessPoint computes a SHA-256 hash as it arrives and compares it with the hash the connector reports. Source details on each record show the Laserfiche path and entry id, the version taken — the entry's last-modified time, because Laserfiche's API exposes no version number — the hash with its Verified pill, and who captured it and when; the request's hash-chained audit ledger records the capture; and Open in source links back to the document for anyone with their own Laserfiche access, once you configure the link. On the Laserfiche side, the audit reason comment and the connector's own log line put the AccessPoint user, the case and the purpose beside every export.

Frozen copy, verified hash Never a live link that can change under the request.
Named on both sides The audit reason in Laserfiche; the ledger entry in AccessPoint.
Provenance in the export Source path, item id, version, hash and capture date travel with a tenant export.

From Laserfiche to the request file

The path for a records office adding Laserfiche to AccessPoint:

  1. On Laserfiche Cloud, create a Service Principal for AccessPoint, grant it Browse and Read on the folders the records office may collect from, create its key — 90-day expiry by default, with two keys allowed so you can rotate without downtime — and register a Service application with the repository.Read scope. On a self-hosted server, use Laserfiche Server 11 or 12 with the version 2 API Server and a service user with the same rights.
  2. Deploy the connector to an App Service or Container App in your Azure subscription, or beside a self-hosted API Server, and set the repository, the root folders and the audit reason, with keys held as Key Vault references.
  3. For a self-hosted API Server, add a Hybrid Connection and install the Hybrid Connection Manager inside your network; it connects outward and reads Connected.
  4. Run the connector's self-test, then register it under Settings → Connectors as a Remote connector, run Test connection and enable it.
  5. On a request, choose Add from… and the Laserfiche tile, browse or search, and add the documents — or collect a whole folder in the background, mirrored into the workspace.

Go deeper

All repository connectors Every system AccessPoint can capture records from, and how to choose between a built-in and a hosted connector. Connector set-up in the docs Registering, testing and monitoring a connector, identity modes, and Hybrid Connections. Municipal & local government FOI and public records for the whole organization, at one flat price. US state & local government Your state's public records law, configured in your agency's own tenant. Records & information managers Capture, retention and defensible destruction for the people who own the records. AccessPoint vs. JustFOIA JustFOIA, from Laserfiche solution provider MCCi, also integrates with Laserfiche, including archiving completed requests back to the repository. How the two compare.

Laserfiche Connector Questions

Do Laserfiche documents leave our tenant when AccessPoint captures them?
Captured documents travel from your Laserfiche repository, through the connector you host in your own Azure subscription, into the case's own storage there — nowhere else. The AccessPoint API does the fetching server-side; your browser never calls the connector, and the publisher never sees connector traffic. On Laserfiche Cloud, the connector signs in at your account's own regional host — US, Canada or EU.

Do we need a VPN or an inbound firewall rule to reach Laserfiche?
Not for Laserfiche Cloud: its regional hosts are reachable from Azure directly, and no tunnel is involved. For a self-hosted Laserfiche API Server, an Azure Relay Hybrid Connection carries the traffic, and the Hybrid Connection Manager inside your network makes only an outbound connection on port 443, so no inbound rule is needed.

Which Laserfiche editions does the connector support, and has it been validated against ours?
Laserfiche Cloud, and self-hosted Laserfiche Server 11 or 12 with the Laserfiche API Server and version 2 of the Repository API, which ships in the Laserfiche 12 installer; a server that offers only version 1 of the API is not supported. The connector is built on Laserfiche's published Repository API. Because every repository is configured differently — regional hosts, export links, search syntax details, page sizes, the web client's document address — those points are connector settings rather than code, and Realizer validates the connector against your repository during onboarding. Ask us about your setup.

Does AccessPoint copy the Laserfiche document or link to it?
It copies the document into the case once, as a frozen copy with a verified hash, and keeps a link back through Open in source once you configure your web client's address. The entry id and path are recorded; because Laserfiche's API exposes no version history, the version recorded is the entry's last-modified time, and a document already on the case at that version is skipped. The connector only reads — it never writes to Laserfiche, so closed requests are not archived back into the repository.

Can departments collect their own records from Laserfiche?
Yes. An administrator can widen the Laserfiche tile from coordinators to a role such as Custodian, and a custodian's task can carry a repository row bound to a Laserfiche folder, where Browse here and Search here open the picker at that folder. Because the connector reads as one Laserfiche identity, everyone who can see the tile sees what that identity sees — so the root folders and the identity's rights set the scope.

Is there a per-connector fee for the Laserfiche connector?
No. Repository connectors are a licensed module of AccessPoint, and every plan includes it: flat annual pricing by organization size ($2,990, $7,990, $14,990 or $29,990), no per-user fees, billed through the Microsoft commercial marketplace, with a 30-day free trial. Separately, Azure bills the connector's host in your own subscription, plus a Hybrid Connection for a self-hosted server. On Laserfiche Cloud, the connector's calls count against your plan's API allocation — each listing page, search check and export is one call.

Flat annual pricing, published in full. Every feature in every size — access requests, privacy impact assessments, breach response, complaints, video & audio redaction, the public portal, repository connectors, and AI Assist. No per-user or per-module fees.

  • Under 500 employees$2,990/yr
  • 500–1,999 employees$7,990/yr
  • 2,000–9,999 employees$14,990/yr
  • 10,000+ employees$29,990/yr

See full pricing Build the business case

Answer the Request From the Repository.

Try AccessPoint free for 30 days in your own Microsoft 365 tenant — repository connectors included, no per-connector fee.

Start Free Trial Request a Demo