Generate a PDF — PDF API docs

Overview

To generate a PDF, send a POST request to the generate endpoint with the ID of the template you want to use and a JSON body containing the data to inject into the template.

Endpointbash

POST /api/v1/templates/{template_id}/generate

Request parameters

All parameters are optional. If you send an empty body, the PDF will be generated with the template's default values.

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
`data`	object	`{}`	Key-value pairs to inject into the template variables.
`output`	string	`"base64"`	Output format: `base64`, `url`, or `binary`.
`filename`	string	`"document.pdf"`	Filename for the generated PDF. Alphanumeric, dashes, underscores, and dots only.
`url_expiry`	integer	`60`	Expiry time in minutes for the temporary URL (1–1440). Only used when `output` is `"url"`.
`sign`	boolean	`false`	Reserved for an upcoming release. Currently ignored on every plan.

Output formats

Base64 (default)

Returns the PDF content as a base64-encoded string in a JSON response. Suitable for most integrations.

Requestbash

curl -X POST https://pdfstork.com/api/v1/templates/1/generate \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "data": { "name": "Jane Doe" },
    "output": "base64"
  }'

Responsejson

{
  "success": true,
  "pdf": "JVBERi0xLjQKJeLj...",
  "filename": "document.pdf",
  "size": 12345,
  "usage": {
    "current": 42,
    "limit": 5000,
    "percentage": 0.84
  }
}

Temporary URL

Returns a signed URL that allows downloading the PDF without authentication. The URL expires after the specified url_expiry (default: 60 minutes, max: 24 hours).

Requestbash

curl -X POST https://pdfstork.com/api/v1/templates/1/generate \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "data": { "name": "Jane Doe" },
    "output": "url",
    "url_expiry": 120
  }'

Responsejson

{
  "success": true,
  "url": "https://de-s3.storage.bunnycdn.com/pdfapi-pdfs/pdfs/abc123.pdf?X-Amz-Signature=...",
  "filename": "document.pdf",
  "expires_at": "2026-03-30T12:00:00Z",
  "size": 12345,
  "usage": {
    "current": 42,
    "limit": 5000,
    "percentage": 0.84
  }
}

Binary

Returns the raw PDF bytes directly. Use this if you want to pipe the response to a file or stream it to the user.

Requestbash

curl -X POST https://pdfstork.com/api/v1/templates/1/generate \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -o invoice.pdf \
  -d '{
    "data": { "name": "Jane Doe" },
    "output": "binary"
  }'

The response includes these headers:

Content-Type: application/pdf
Content-Disposition: attachment; filename="document.pdf"
Content-Length: 12345

Code examples

JavaScript (fetch)

Generate and download a PDFjavascript

const response = await fetch(
  'https://pdfstork.com/api/v1/templates/1/generate',
  {
    method: 'POST',
    headers: {
      'Authorization': 'Bearer YOUR_TOKEN',
      'Content-Type': 'application/json',
      'Accept': 'application/json',
    },
    body: JSON.stringify({
      data: { name: 'Jane Doe', amount: '€1,200.00' },
      output: 'url',
    }),
  }
);

const { url } = await response.json();
console.log('Download your PDF:', url);

PHP (cURL)

Generate a PDF in PHPphp

$ch = curl_init('https://pdfstork.com/api/v1/templates/1/generate');

curl_setopt_array($ch, [
    CURLOPT_POST => true,
    CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER => true,
    CURLOPT_HTTPHEADER => [
        'Authorization: Bearer YOUR_TOKEN',
        'Content-Type: application/json',
        'Accept: application/json',
    ],
    CURLOPT_POSTFIELDS => json_encode([
        'data' => ['name' => 'Jane Doe', 'amount' => '€1,200.00'],
        'output' => 'base64',
    ]),
]);

$response = json_decode(curl_exec($ch), true);
curl_close($ch);

file_put_contents('invoice.pdf', base64_decode($response['pdf']));

Usage tracking

Every successful response includes a usage object showing your current monthly consumption. You can also check your usage at any time via the dedicated endpoint:

Check usagebash

curl https://pdfstork.com/api/v1/usage \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_TOKEN"

See Rate Limits & Quotas for details on quotas per plan.

Error handling

Common error responses:

401 — Missing or invalid API token
403 — You don't have access to this template
404 — Template not found
422 — Validation error (check the errors object in the response)
429 — Rate limit exceeded (60 requests/minute)

Validation error examplejson

{
  "message": "The output field is invalid.",
  "errors": {
    "output": [
      "The output must be one of: base64, url, binary."
    ]
  }
}