Getting Started

Sign up for a free PDFPipe account at pdfpipe.dev/signup. The free tier includes 10 requests per month with JSON and text output formats - no credit card required.

Once logged in, go to Dashboard → API Keys and click Create Key. Give it a name (e.g. "My first key") and optionally restrict it to specific IP addresses.

Copy the key immediately - it starts with pk_live_ and is only shown once. You'll use it in the Authorization header of every API request.

Send a POST request to the convert endpoint with the URL of any publicly accessible PDF:

curl -X POST https://api.pdfpipe.dev/v1/convert \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer pk_live_..." \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "url": "https://example.com/report.pdf",
    "format": "json"
  }'

For small files (<10 MB), you'll get a synchronous 200 response with the result URL:

{
  "requestId": "req_01J9X7K2M...",
  "status": "complete",
  "format": "json",
  "pagesProcessed": 3,
  "creditsUsed": 1,
  "resultUrl": "https://pdfpipe-results.s3...",
  "expiresAt": "2026-02-23T12:00:00.000Z"
}

Fetch the resultUrl to download the converted output. The URL is a time-limited presigned link.

With returnMethod: "inline", a successful sync response includes content, contentType, and (for binary image/encoded formats) contentEncoding: "base64". If inline delivery hits a size limit, the API may fall back to a file URL and set returnMethodFallback with returnMethodFallbackReason.

{
  "requestId": "req_01J9X7K2M...",
  "status": "complete",
  "format": "json",
  "pagesProcessed": 3,
  "creditsUsed": 1,
  "returnMethod": "inline",
  "contentType": "application/json",
  "content": { "pages": [ { "page": 1, "text": "..." } ] },
  "returnMethodFallback": false
}

For larger files or when async: true, you'll get a 202 response with a poll URL:

{
  "requestId": "req_01J9X7K2M...",
  "status": "pending",
  "pollUrl": "/v1/status/req_01J9X7K2M..."
}

Poll GET /v1/status/:requestId until the status changes to complete. Add ?returnMethod=inline to receive content and contentType in the status payload when the job finishes:

{
  "requestId": "req_01J9X7K2M...",
  "status": "complete",
  "format": "json",
  "pagesProcessed": 3,
  "creditsUsed": 1,
  "resultUrl": "https://pdfpipe-results.s3...",
  "expiresAt": "2026-02-23T12:00:00.000Z",
  "processingDurationMs": 4230
}

The resultUrl is a presigned S3 URL. Simply fetch it with any HTTP client - no authentication needed. The link expires based on your tier (1 hour for Free, up to 7 days for Pro, 30 days for Business). Result access is not extended beyond your plan's retention window from request creation.