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

# Raw Data

> See the original payload Bindbee received from a third-party system, why it is there and when to use it instead of the unified fields.

Bindbee normalizes every record it syncs into a unified model, so an employee from Workday and an employee from BambooHR arrive in your application in exactly the same shape.

**Raw data is the layer underneath.** It is the payload Bindbee received from the third-party system before normalization, returned alongside the normalized fields on request.

**You need it in three situations:**

* Confirming how a value was normalized
* Discovering a provider field the unified schema does not cover
* Debugging a discrepancy a customer has reported

It is a diagnostic and discovery tool, not a data source to build on — [Using raw data safely](#using-raw-data-safely) explains why.

***

## Requesting raw data

Add `include_raw_data=true` to any list or retrieve request. It defaults to `false`.

```bash theme={null}
curl -G https://api.bindbee.dev/api/hris/v1/employees \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer <BINDBEE_API_KEY>" \
  -H "X-Connector-Token: <CONNECTOR_TOKEN>" \
  -d include_raw_data=true
```

The `raw_data` object appears on each record:

```json theme={null}
{
  "id": "018b18ef-c487-703c-afd9-0ca478ccd9d6",
  "remote_id": "123321",
  "first_name": "Jane",
  "employment_status": "ACTIVE",
  "marital_status": "SINGLE",
  "raw_data": {
    "employeeNumber": "000000168",
    "firstName": "Jane",
    "employmentStatus": "Active",
    "maritalStatus": "S",
    "customFields": {
      "badgeId": "B-4417"
    }
  }
}
```

Reading it against the normalized fields shows exactly what happened: `Active` became `ACTIVE`, `S` became `SINGLE`, and `badgeId` has no unified equivalent. The first two are [enum normalization](/guides/reading-writing/enum-values); the third is what custom fields exist for.

<Note>
  Raw data is available on the **88 data endpoints** across HRIS, ATS and LMS. It is not returned by the connector, integration, webhook, custom field or meta endpoints, since those describe Bindbee's own resources rather than synced third-party records.
</Note>

## Related

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Custom fields" icon="puzzle" href="/guides/extending/custom-fields">
    Map a raw value onto a stable key using JMESPath.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Get Raw Data" icon="search" href="/api-reference/custom-fields/get-raw-data">
    API reference for inspecting a connector's upstream payload.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Preview" icon="flask-conical" href="/api-reference/custom-fields/preview">
    Test a JMESPath expression against a connector before saving it.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Enum values" icon="list" href="/guides/reading-writing/enum-values">
    Why a source value became the normalized one you see.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>