Text to PDF

Request and response details for converting plain text to PDF with /textToPdf

On this page

Use /textToPdf for logs, code snippets, Markdown, or other plain text whose whitespace and line breaks need to remain intact.

Endpoint

Plain text

POST /textToPdf

Authentication

Send a valid API key or OAuth token in the Authorization header:

Plain text

Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY

See Authentication for details.

Request body

Content-Type: application/json or multipart/form-data

Field	Type	Required	Description
`text`	string	Yes	Plain text content to convert to PDF
`font_size`	integer	No	Font size in points (default: `12`)
`filename`	string	No	Output filename (default: `document.pdf`)
`storage`	object	No	Storage options for the generated PDF (see below)
`return_binary`	boolean	No	Return PDF binary even when using storage (default: `false`)

Field details

text (required)

The plain text content to render as a PDF. The text is rendered with:

Monospace font (Courier New) for consistent character width
1.5 line height for readability
Whitespace preservation (white-space: pre-wrap)
2cm page margins
Automatic HTML entity escaping (<, >, &)

font_size (optional)

The font size in points for the text content. If not provided, defaults to 12. Common sizes:

10 - Compact, good for code or logs
12 - Standard (default)
14 - Larger, better readability

filename (optional)

The filename for the downloaded PDF. If not provided, defaults to document.pdf. The .pdf extension is automatically appended if not present.

Storage options

Control how the generated PDF is stored and returned.

Field	Type	Required	Default	Description
`storage.mode`	string	No	`memory`	Storage mode: `memory`, `default`, or `byob`
`storage.filename`	string	No	endpoint default	Custom filename (auto-suffixed with timestamp if duplicate)
`storage.expires_in`	integer	No	3600	Signed URL expiry in seconds (60-604800)
`storage.retention_days`	integer	No	14	Auto-delete document after N days (1-365)

Storage modes:

memory: Return PDF bytes directly in response (no persistence). This is the default for REST API calls.
default: Store in pdf-mcp S3 bucket, return JSON with document metadata and signed URL.
byob: Store in your own S3 bucket (requires BYOB configuration).

Request examples

Basic JSON conversion

Shell

curl -X POST https://api.pdf-mcp.io/textToPdf \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "text": "Hello, World!\n\nThis is a plain text document.\nLine breaks are preserved."
  }' \
  --output document.pdf

Code with a custom font size

Shell

curl -X POST https://api.pdf-mcp.io/textToPdf \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "text": "function greet(name) {\n    console.log(\"Hello, \" + name);\n}\n\ngreet(\"World\");",
    "font_size": 10,
    "filename": "code-snippet.pdf"
  }' \
  --output code-snippet.pdf

Log file export

Shell

curl -X POST https://api.pdf-mcp.io/textToPdf \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "text": "[2024-01-15 10:30:00] INFO  Server started\n[2024-01-15 10:30:01] INFO  Connected to database\n[2024-01-15 10:30:02] WARN  Cache miss for key: user_123",
    "font_size": 10,
    "filename": "server-logs.pdf"
  }' \
  --output server-logs.pdf

Form data

Shell

curl -X POST https://api.pdf-mcp.io/textToPdf \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -F "text=This is plain text content sent via form data." \
  -F "font_size=12" \
  -F "filename=form-output.pdf" \
  --output form-output.pdf

Persistent storage

Shell

curl -X POST https://api.pdf-mcp.io/textToPdf \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "text": "Server Log Export\n\n[2024-01-15 10:30:00] INFO  Server started\n[2024-01-15 10:30:01] INFO  Connected to database",
    "font_size": 10,
    "storage": {
      "mode": "default",
      "filename": "server-logs.pdf",
      "expires_in": 86400,
      "retention_days": 30
    }
  }'

Response

Success (memory mode)

When storage.mode is memory or not provided, returns the PDF as a binary file download.

Headers:

Plain text

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

Success (with storage)

When storage.mode is default or byob, returns JSON with document metadata and a signed download URL:

JSON

{
  "success": true,
  "document_id": "550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440000",
  "url": "https://s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/...",
  "filename": "server-logs.pdf",
  "file_size_bytes": 12345,
  "page_count": 1,
  "storage_mode": "default",
  "expires_at": "2024-02-15T10:30:00Z",
  "signed_url_expires_at": "2024-01-16T10:30:00Z"
}

Field	Type	Description
`success`	boolean	Always `true` on success
`document_id`	string	UUID of the stored document
`url`	string	Presigned URL for downloading the PDF
`filename`	string	Document filename
`file_size_bytes`	integer	Size of the PDF in bytes
`page_count`	integer	Number of pages in the PDF
`storage_mode`	string	Storage mode used (`default` or `byob`)
`expires_at`	string	Auto-deletion timestamp (ISO 8601), if retention is set
`signed_url_expires_at`	string	Expiration time of the signed URL (ISO 8601)

Error

JSON

{
  "error": "Failed to convert text to PDF",
  "message": "Error description"
}

Status codes:

Code	Description
200	Success - PDF returned or stored
400	Bad Request - Invalid input or BYOB not configured
401	Unauthorized - Missing or invalid Authorization header
402	Payment Required - Insufficient credits
403	Forbidden - Invalid API key or OAuth token
500	Internal Server Error - PDF generation failed
502	Bad Gateway - Storage operation failed (S3 upload or URL generation)

Output formatting

The generated PDF uses the following default styling:

CSS

body {
    font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;
    font-size: 12pt;  /* or your specified font_size */
    line-height: 1.5;
    white-space: pre-wrap;
    margin: 2cm;
}

Whitespace handling

Line breaks: Preserved (\n creates new lines)
Spaces: Multiple spaces are preserved
Tabs: Rendered as spaces
Long lines: Wrap to fit page width

Character escaping

HTML special characters are automatically escaped:

< becomes <
> becomes >
& becomes &

Escaping prevents HTML-like content from being interpreted as markup, so it appears as provided.

Examples

Code documentation

Shell

curl -X POST https://api.pdf-mcp.io/textToPdf \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "text": "# API Reference\n\n## Endpoints\n\nGET  /users\nPOST /users\nGET  /users/:id\nPUT  /users/:id",
    "font_size": 11,
    "filename": "api-reference.pdf"
  }' \
  --output api-reference.pdf

Data export

Shell

curl -X POST https://api.pdf-mcp.io/textToPdf \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "text": "Name          Email                  Status\n--------------------------------------------------\nJohn Doe      john@example.com       Active\nJane Smith    jane@example.com       Pending",
    "font_size": 10,
    "filename": "users-export.pdf"
  }' \
  --output users-export.pdf

Python example

Python

import requests

API_KEY = "YOUR_API_KEY"
API_URL = "https://api.pdf-mcp.io/textToPdf"

response = requests.post(
    API_URL,
    headers={
        "Authorization": f"Bearer {API_KEY}",
        "Content-Type": "application/json"
    },
    json={
        "text": "Hello from Python!\n\nThis text document was generated via the API.",
        "font_size": 12,
        "filename": "python-output.pdf"
    }
)

if response.status_code == 200:
    with open("output.pdf", "wb") as f:
        f.write(response.content)
    print("PDF saved successfully!")
else:
    print(f"Error: {response.status_code}")

Node.js example

JavaScript

const fs = require('fs');

const API_KEY = 'YOUR_API_KEY';
const API_URL = 'https://api.pdf-mcp.io/textToPdf';

async function generatePdf() {
  const response = await fetch(API_URL, {
    method: 'POST',
    headers: {
      'Authorization': `Bearer ${API_KEY}`,
      'Content-Type': 'application/json'
    },
    body: JSON.stringify({
      text: 'Hello from Node.js!\n\nThis text document was generated via the API.',
      font_size: 12,
      filename: 'nodejs-output.pdf'
    })
  });

  if (response.ok) {
    const buffer = await response.arrayBuffer();
    fs.writeFileSync('output.pdf', Buffer.from(buffer));
    console.log('PDF saved successfully!');
  } else {
    console.error('Error:', response.status);
  }
}

generatePdf();

Implementation notes

Prepare the content

Use \n for line breaks in your text
For multi-line strings in programming languages, use raw strings or template literals
Escape JSON special characters properly when embedding in curl commands

Choose a font size

Use smaller fonts (10pt) for dense content like logs or code
Use larger fonts (14pt) for documents meant to be printed or read on paper
Test with a sample to find the right balance for your content

Page layout

Text wraps automatically at page margins
Very long single lines will wrap to fit
Consider breaking long content into logical sections with blank lines

HTML to PDF: convert styled HTML
Image to PDF: convert images to PDF
Merge PDFs: combine multiple PDFs

Credit usage

Each request costs 0.01 credits, regardless of page count.

Endpoint

Authentication

Request body

Field details

Storage options

Request examples

Basic JSON conversion

Code with a custom font size

Log file export

Form data

Persistent storage

Response

Success (memory mode)

Success (with storage)

Error

Output formatting

Whitespace handling

Character escaping

Examples

Code documentation

Data export

Python example

Node.js example

Implementation notes

Prepare the content

Choose a font size

Page layout

Related endpoints

Credit usage