Preflight
USPS mail compliance

USPS mail compliance & IMb validation

Catch USPS barcode, presort, and addressing problems before a mailing ships. A property the document can't determine is reported not evaluable — never an invented pass.

Runs on PDF and AFP / MO:DCA · rulesets are versioned + pinnable (USPS-2026-Q3 / Q4).

IMb integrity
The Intelligent Mail barcode’s 65-bar pattern is decoded and its constant-weight bar integrity verified — a corrupt barcode fires critical, an unreadable one is reported not-evaluable (never an invented pass). The 11-bit FCS (CRC) round-trip is verified too — the payload’s 102-bit binary is reconstructed from the bars and its check sequence recomputed, so a bar or payload error that still preserves constant weight is caught. Field-level cross-checks — routing-code length class and STID plausibility — plus presort validation run on AFP, where the barcode’s digit string is available; the mailer ID (MID) and serial are decoded but not independently validated (only compared against a client expectation profile when one is configured). On PDF, where only the bars are decodable, these are reported not-evaluable rather than assumed.
IMpb parcels (roadmap)
Intelligent Mail package barcode structural validation — PIC, MID, service-type code. The engine is built, but parcel-barcode extraction is not yet wired into the parsers, so IMpb is not run on uploads today; it is reported as not-evaluated rather than passed.
Presort & Move-Update
Presort tier support (5-digit / AADC / Mixed-AADC) and Move-Update currency advisories.
Address geometry
Placement and dimension validation needs the address block’s width and height, which Preflight does not extract from PDF or AFP today — so address-block geometry is reported not-evaluable and never affirmed as a pass (Art. I). A dimension / #10-window-clip rule against the mailpiece spec is on the roadmap.
Mail.dat consistency (roadmap)
Job-file consistency — field widths, IMb compatibility, Job ID match, missing files — runs against an uploaded Mail.dat bundle. The engine is built; the bundle-upload path is on the near-term roadmap (not yet available in the app).
Scorecard & Informed Delivery
A Mailer Scorecard barcode-error-rate proxy and Informed Delivery readiness — advisory (≤ warn).

Every finding maps to a named USPS rule (the DMM; USPS-B-3200 for the Intelligent Mail barcode), so results are reproducible and defensible in an audit. The compliance modules run in a workspace — the free analyzer parses structure only.

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Frequently asked questions

What is IMb validation?

The Intelligent Mail barcode (IMb) encodes routing and tracking data for USPS automation mail. Preflight decodes the barcode and verifies its bar-pattern integrity — the 65-bar constant-weight invariant — so a malformed or unscannable barcode is caught before the mailing ships. Field-level decode (routing code, service-type and mailer IDs) and presort validation run on AFP today; on PDF, where only the bars are decodable, they are reported not-evaluable, never assumed.

Which USPS rules does Preflight check?

IMb barcode structure and integrity, presort tier support, and Move-Update currency, plus advisory Mailer Scorecard and Informed Delivery readiness signals. Rulesets are versioned (e.g., USPS-2026-Q4) and pinnable so results are reproducible. IMpb parcel validation, address-block dimension / window geometry, and Mail.dat bundle checks are on the roadmap — reported not-evaluable, not yet run on uploads.

Does it run on AFP as well as PDF?

Yes. The USPS module runs on both PDF and AFP / MO:DCA — the two formats most transactional and direct-mail pipelines ship.

Is this an official USPS tool?

No. Preflight is independent document QC. Findings map to named USPS specifications (the DMM, and USPS-B-3200 for the Intelligent Mail barcode) so they are traceable, but final acceptance is always USPS’s. Values flagged as representative vs confirmed are disclosed in the rule attestation.

What happens if a barcode can’t be read?

It is reported as not-evaluable rather than passed. Preflight never invents a result — if the barcode can’t be decoded from the document, it says so.

USPS mail compliance & IMb validation · Preflight