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Zapier Integration

Automatically convert PDFs in your Zapier workflows using PDFPipe. This guide uses the Webhooks by Zapier action to call the PDFPipe API directly - no custom app needed.

Prerequisites: A PDFPipe account with an API key and a Zapier account on a plan that supports Webhooks by Zapier (Professional or higher).
1

Create a new Zap and choose a trigger

Start a new Zap and pick a trigger that provides a PDF URL. Common examples:

  • Gmail - "New Attachment" (use the attachment URL)
  • Google Drive - "New File in Folder"
  • Dropbox - "New File in Folder"
  • Webhook (Catch Hook) - receive a PDF URL from an external system
2

Add a Webhooks by Zapier action

Add an action step and select Webhooks by Zapier → Custom Request. Configure:

  • Method: POST
  • URL: https://api.pdfpipe.dev/v1/convert
  • Headers:
    Authorization | Bearer pk_live_your_key_here
    Content-Type | application/json
3

Set the request body

In the Data field, switch to Raw mode and enter:

Request body (JSON)
{
  "url": "{{pdf_url_from_trigger}}",
  "format": "json",
  "returnMethod": "inline"
}

Replace {{pdf_url_from_trigger}} with the dynamic value from your trigger step. Change "format" to any supported format (text, markdown, csv, etc.).

4

Test and parse the response

Click Test step. For small PDFs you'll get a synchronous response:

200 - Response
{
  "requestId": "req_01J9X7K2M...",
  "status": "complete",
  "format": "json",
  "pagesProcessed": 2,
  "creditsUsed": 1,
  "returnMethod": "inline",
  "contentType": "application/json",
  "content": { "pages": [ ... ] }
}

With returnMethod: "inline", map content in later steps. Otherwise use resultUrl and status.

5

Download the result (optional)

If you omit inline delivery and use the default file response, add Webhooks by Zapier → GET on resultUrl to fetch the converted body.

6

Route to a destination

Add a final action to send the result wherever you need it:

  • Google Sheets - insert extracted data as rows
  • Slack - post a summary message
  • Airtable - create a record with the extracted fields
  • Email - forward the converted text

Handling large files

For PDFs over 10 MB, the API returns a 202 response with a pollUrl instead of an immediate result. In Zapier, you can handle this with a Looping by Zapier action or by setting "async": false and staying within the 10 MB sync limit. See the Async Polling guide for details.