Zapier Integration | pdf-mcp Documentation

Integrate pdf-mcp with Zapier to automate PDF generation in your Zaps. This guide covers setting up Webhooks by Zapier to generate invoices, reports, certificates, and any HTML-based documents.

What is Zapier?

Zapier is a popular automation platform that connects 5,000+ apps without code. With pdf-mcp integration, you can:

Generate PDFs when form responses are submitted
Create invoices automatically from payment events
Produce reports when spreadsheet rows are added
Convert HTML templates to PDFs in any Zap

Prerequisites

Before you begin:

A Zapier account (Free or paid plan)
A pdf-mcp account with an API key (Get your API key)
Basic familiarity with Zapier Zaps

Quick Setup

Step 1: Create a New Zap

Log into zapier.com and click Create Zap
Set up your trigger (the event that starts the Zap)
Add an action step and search for Webhooks by Zapier

Step 2: Configure Webhook Action

Select Webhooks by Zapier as your action app
Choose POST as the action event
Click Continue to configure the webhook

Step 3: Set Up the Request

Configure the webhook with these settings:

Field	Value
URL	`https://api.pdf-mcp.io/htmlToPdf`
Payload Type	`json`
Data	Your HTML content (see below)
Headers	`Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY`
Headers	`Content-Type: application/json`

Replace YOUR_API_KEY with your actual API key from the dashboard.

Webhook Configuration

Basic Settings

Setting	Value
URL	`https://api.pdf-mcp.io/htmlToPdf`
Payload Type	`json`

Headers

Add these headers to authenticate and specify content type:

Header	Value
Authorization	`Bearer YOUR_API_KEY`
Content-Type	`application/json`

Data Fields

Configure the JSON payload with these fields:

Field	Value
html	Your HTML content or mapped field from trigger
filename	`document.pdf` or dynamic filename
css	Optional CSS styles

Step-by-Step Webhook Setup

1. Add Webhook Action

After your trigger, click the + button and search for “Webhooks by Zapier”:

Select Webhooks by Zapier
Choose POST as the event
Click Continue

2. Configure URL

Enter the pdf-mcp API endpoint:

https://api.pdf-mcp.io/htmlToPdf

3. Set Payload Type

Select json from the dropdown.

4. Add Data Fields

Add the required fields:

Field 1:

Key: html
Value: Your HTML content (can be static or dynamic from trigger)

Field 2 (optional):

Key: filename
Value: document.pdf (or use dynamic data)

Field 3 (optional):

Key: css
Value: @page { size: A4; margin: 2cm; }

5. Configure Headers

Add two headers:

Header 1:

Key: Authorization
Value: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY

Header 2:

Key: Content-Type
Value: application/json

6. Test the Webhook

Click Test step to generate a test PDF. If successful, you’ll see a response with the PDF data.

Dynamic HTML with Zapier Fields

Use Zapier’s field mapping to create dynamic PDFs from your trigger data.

Example: Form Response to PDF

If your trigger is a form submission (Google Forms, Typeform, etc.), map the fields:

Data field html:

<h1>Form Submission</h1>
<p><strong>Name:</strong> {{Name}}</p>
<p><strong>Email:</strong> {{Email}}</p>
<p><strong>Message:</strong> {{Message}}</p>
<p><em>Submitted on {{Date}}</em></p>

Replace {{Name}}, {{Email}}, etc. with the actual field mappings from your trigger by clicking in the value field and selecting from the dropdown.

Example: Invoice from Payment

If your trigger is Stripe or PayPal:

Data field html:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head><title>Invoice</title></head>
<body>
  <h1>Invoice #{{Invoice Number}}</h1>
  <p>Customer: {{Customer Name}}</p>
  <p>Email: {{Customer Email}}</p>
  <table style="width:100%; border-collapse:collapse;">
    <tr style="background:#f0f0f0;">
      <th style="border:1px solid #ddd; padding:8px;">Description</th>
      <th style="border:1px solid #ddd; padding:8px;">Amount</th>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td style="border:1px solid #ddd; padding:8px;">{{Product Name}}</td>
      <td style="border:1px solid #ddd; padding:8px;">${{Amount}}</td>
    </tr>
  </table>
  <p><strong>Total: ${{Amount}}</strong></p>
</body>
</html>

Data field filename:

invoice-{{Invoice Number}}.pdf

Common Use Cases

1. Google Form to PDF Receipt

[Google Forms: New Response] → [Webhooks: POST to pdf-mcp] → [Gmail: Send Email with Attachment]

Trigger: Google Forms - New Form Response Action 1: Webhooks by Zapier - POST with form data as HTML Action 2: Gmail - Send Email, attach the PDF from webhook response

2. Stripe Payment to Invoice PDF

[Stripe: New Payment] → [Webhooks: POST to pdf-mcp] → [Dropbox: Upload File]

Trigger: Stripe - New Payment Action 1: Webhooks by Zapier - POST with invoice HTML Action 2: Dropbox - Upload File with PDF data

3. Google Sheets to Certificate

[Google Sheets: New Row] → [Webhooks: POST to pdf-mcp] → [Email: Send Certificate]

Trigger: Google Sheets - New Spreadsheet Row Action 1: Webhooks by Zapier - Generate certificate PDF Action 2: Send certificate via email

4. Airtable Record to Report

[Airtable: New Record] → [Webhooks: POST to pdf-mcp] → [Google Drive: Upload File]

Trigger: Airtable - New Record Action 1: Webhooks by Zapier - Generate report PDF Action 2: Google Drive - Upload to specific folder

All API Endpoints

Configure your webhook with these endpoints:

Endpoint	Method	Description
`/htmlToPdf`	POST	Convert HTML to PDF
`/textToPdf`	POST	Convert plain text to PDF
`/imageToPdf`	POST	Convert images to PDF
`/pdfToImage`	POST	Convert PDF pages to images
`/extractText`	POST	Extract text from PDF
`/extractPages`	POST	Extract specific pages
`/mergePdfs`	POST	Combine multiple PDFs
`/pageCount`	POST	Get PDF page count

See the API Reference for detailed documentation on each endpoint.

cURL Examples

Test the API directly before configuring Zapier:

Basic HTML to PDF

curl -X POST https://api.pdf-mcp.io/htmlToPdf \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "html": "<h1>Hello, World!</h1><p>Generated from Zapier workflow.</p>"
  }' \
  --output document.pdf

Styled Invoice

curl -X POST https://api.pdf-mcp.io/htmlToPdf \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "html": "<!DOCTYPE html><html><head><title>Invoice</title></head><body><h1>Invoice #12345</h1><table><tr><th>Item</th><th>Amount</th></tr><tr><td>Service Fee</td><td>$99.00</td></tr></table><p>Total: $99.00</p></body></html>",
    "css": "@page { size: A4; margin: 2cm; } body { font-family: Arial, sans-serif; } table { width: 100%; border-collapse: collapse; } th, td { border: 1px solid #ddd; padding: 8px; }",
    "filename": "invoice-12345.pdf"
  }' \
  --output invoice-12345.pdf

Text to PDF

curl -X POST https://api.pdf-mcp.io/textToPdf \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "text": "Meeting Notes\n\nDate: January 15, 2025\n\n1. Project status review\n2. Timeline discussion\n3. Next steps",
    "filename": "meeting-notes.pdf"
  }' \
  --output meeting-notes.pdf

MCP Integration

Using AI Agents? MCPs (Model Context Protocols) provide plug-and-play connectivity with pdf-mcp. AI agents like Claude can generate PDFs natively using our MCP Server without any HTTP configuration.

Handling the Response

Zapier’s Webhooks action returns the PDF as binary data. Here’s how to work with it in subsequent steps:

Send via Email

Use Gmail, Outlook, or SMTP actions to send the PDF as an attachment:

Add an email action after the webhook
In the attachment field, select the response body from the webhook step
Set the attachment filename (e.g., document.pdf)

Upload to Cloud Storage

Use Google Drive, Dropbox, or OneDrive actions:

Add a file upload action after the webhook
Map the webhook response body to the file content
Specify the destination folder and filename

Save to CRM

Some CRMs (Salesforce, HubSpot) accept file attachments:

Use the CRM’s “Add Attachment” or “Upload File” action
Map the PDF data from the webhook response

Error Handling

Zapier provides built-in error handling. Configure your Zap to handle failures:

Common Status Codes

Code	Description	Solution
200	Success	PDF generated successfully
401	Unauthorized	Check your API key in headers
403	Forbidden	Verify API key permissions or credit balance
400	Bad Request	Check your request body format
500	Server Error	Review HTML syntax or contact support

Setting Up Error Notifications

Go to your Zap settings
Enable Error notifications
Choose to be notified by email when the Zap fails

Using Paths for Error Handling

Add a Paths action after the webhook to handle success/failure differently:

[Webhook] → [Paths]
              ├── Path A: Status = 200 → [Continue with PDF]
              └── Path B: Status != 200 → [Send Alert Email]

Troubleshooting

PDF is empty or not generated

Verify your API key is correct and has credits
Check that the html field contains valid HTML
Ensure headers are correctly formatted
Test with a simple HTML string first

Authentication errors (401/403)

Check the Authorization header format: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY
Ensure there’s a space between “Bearer” and your key
Verify your API key hasn’t been revoked
Check your credit balance in the dashboard

Webhook timeout

Large or complex HTML may take longer to process
Simplify your HTML template
Use inline styles instead of external resources

Data mapping issues

Click into the field value to see available mappings
Use Zapier’s Formatter action to prepare data
Test each step individually before running the full Zap

Binary data not recognized

Some downstream actions may not accept binary data directly
Use a Code step to base64 encode if needed
Check the specific app’s documentation for file upload requirements

Tips and Best Practices

Performance

Keep HTML simple for faster generation
Use inline CSS instead of external stylesheets
Avoid large images - use compressed versions

Reliability

Test your Zap thoroughly before turning it on
Use Zapier’s built-in error notifications
Monitor your API credit balance

Security

Never share your API key publicly
Use Zapier’s secure storage for sensitive data
Review your Zap’s data exposure

Cost Optimization

Batch similar operations when possible
Use filters to only generate PDFs when necessary
Monitor your credit usage in the dashboard

Quick Start - Get your API key
HTML to PDF - Detailed endpoint documentation
API Reference - All available endpoints
MCP Server - AI agent integration
n8n Integration - Alternative automation platform
Make Integration - Integromat/Make setup

Credit Usage

API calls from Zapier workflows use the same credit system as direct API calls:

PDF generation: ~1 credit per page
Text extraction: ~1 credit per page processed
Page count: ~0.1 credits per request

Monitor your usage in the dashboard.