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Version: 7.x

Routes

Most routes within Gotenberg are designed to accept multipart/form-data requests and generate one or more PDF files. This guide will assist you in understanding their usage.

Convert with Chromium​

The next routes leverage the capabilities of the Chromium browser to effectively transform a diverse range of HTML documents into PDFs.

There are three multipart/form-data routes available:

  1. URL into PDF
  2. HTML file into PDF
  3. Markdown file(s) into PDF

Each route accepts common form fields and form files:

Checkout the Chromium module configuration to tailor the Chromium behavior to your needs.

URL into PDF route​

This multipart/form-data route converts a web page into PDF.

POST /forms/chromium/convert/url

It accepts the following specific form field:

KeyDescription
urlURL of the page you want to convert into PDF.required
curl \
--request POST 'http://localhost:3000/forms/chromium/convert/url' \
--form 'url="https://my.url"' \
-o my.pdf
Content-Disposition: attachement; filename={output-filename.pdf}
Content-Type: {content-type}
Content-Length: {content-length}
Gotenberg-Trace: {trace}
Body: {output-file}
  • See the Request Tracing section for more information about the Gotenberg-Trace header.
  • See the Output Filename section for more information about the Gotenberg-Output-Filename header.

HTML file into PDF route​

This multipart/form-data route converts an HTML file into PDF.

POST /forms/chromium/convert/html

It accepts the following specific form file:

KeyDescription
index.htmlThe HTML file to convert into PDF.required

For instance:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
  <head>
    <meta charset="utf-8" />
    <title>My PDF</title>
  </head>
  <body>
    <h1>Hello world!</h1>
  </body>
</html>
curl \
--request POST 'http://localhost:3000/forms/chromium/convert/html' \
--form 'files=@"/path/to/index.html"' \
-o my.pdf
Content-Disposition: attachement; filename={output-filename.pdf}
Content-Type: {content-type}
Content-Length: {content-length}
Gotenberg-Trace: {trace}
Body: {output-file}
  • See the Request Tracing section for more information about the Gotenberg-Trace header.
  • See the Output Filename section for more information about the Gotenberg-Output-Filename header.

You may also send additional files, like images, fonts, stylesheets, and so on.

The only requirement is that their paths in the index.html file are on the root level.

For instance, this will work:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
  <head>
    <meta charset="utf-8" />
    <title>My PDF</title>
  </head>
  <body>
    <h1>Hello world!</h1>
    <img src="img.png" />
  </body>
</html>

But this won't:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
  <head>
    <meta charset="utf-8" />
    <title>My PDF</title>
  </head>
  <body>
    <h1>Hello world!</h1>
    <img src="/foo/img.png" />
  </body>
</html>
curl \
--request POST 'http://localhost:3000/forms/chromium/convert/html' \
--form 'files=@"/path/to/index.html"' \
--form 'files=@"/path/to/img.png"' \
-o my.pdf
info

Remote paths for images, fonts (e.g., Google Fonts), etc., work too.

Markdown file(s) into PDF route​

This multipart/form-data route converts Markdown file(s) into PDF.

POST /forms/chromium/convert/markdown

It accepts the following specific form files:

KeyDescription
index.htmlThe HTML file that wraps the markdown content.required
*.mdAt least one markdown file.required

It works like the HTML route but with access to a Go template function toHTML. This function converts a markdown file's content into HTML.

<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
  <head>
    <meta charset="utf-8">
    <title>My PDF</title>
  </head>
  <body>
    {{ toHTML "file.md" }}
  </body>
</html>
curl \
--request POST 'http://localhost:3000/forms/chromium/convert/markdown' \
--form 'files=@"/path/to/index.html"' \
--form 'files=@"/path/to/file.md"' \
-o my.pdf
Content-Disposition: attachement; filename={output-filename.pdf}
Content-Type: {content-type}
Content-Length: {content-length}
Gotenberg-Trace: {trace}
Body: {output-file}
  • See the Request Tracing section for more information about the Gotenberg-Trace header.
  • See the Output Filename section for more information about the Gotenberg-Output-Filename header.

Page Properties​

Each route accepts the following form fields:

KeyDescriptionDefault
paperWidthPaper width, in inches.8.5
paperHeightPaper height, in inches.11
marginTopTop margin, in inches.0.39
marginBottomBottom margin, in inches.0.39
marginLeftLeft margin, in inches.0.39
marginRightRight margin, in inches.0.39
preferCssPageSizeDefine whether to prefer page size as defined by CSS.false
printBackgroundPrint the background graphics.false
omitBackgroundHide the default white background and allow generating PDFs with transparency.false
landscapeSet the paper orientation to landscape.false
scaleThe scale of the page rendering.1.0
nativePageRangesPage ranges to print, e.g., '1-5, 8, 11-13' - empty means all pages.All pages
curl \
--request POST 'http://localhost:3000/forms/chromium/convert/url' \
--form 'url="https://my.url"' \
--form 'paperWidth="8.27"' \
--form 'paperHeight="11.7"' \
--form 'marginTop="1"' \
--form 'marginBottom="1"' \
--form 'marginLeft="1"' \
--form 'marginRight="1"' \
--form 'preferCssPageSize="false"' \
--form 'printBackground="true"' \
--form 'omitBackground="true"' \
--form 'landscape="true"' \
--form 'scale="2.0"' \
--form 'nativePageRanges="1-5"' \
-o my.pdf
info

Examples of paper size (width x height):

  • Letter - 8.5 x 11 (default)
  • Legal - 8.5 x 14
  • Tabloid - 11 x 17
  • Ledger - 17 x 11
  • A0 - 33.1 x 46.8
  • A1 - 23.4 x 33.1
  • A2 - 16.54 x 23.4
  • A3 - 11.7 x 16.54
  • A4 - 8.27 x 11.7
  • A5 - 5.83 x 8.27
  • A6 - 4.13 x 5.83
info

The rules regarding the printBackground and omitBackground form fields are the following:

  • If printBackground is set to false, no background is printed.
  • If printBackground is set to true:
    • If the HTML document has a background, that background is used.
    • If not:
      • If omitBackground is set to true, the default background is transparent.
      • If not, the default white background is used.

Header & Footer​

Each route accepts the following form files:

KeyDescriptionDefault
header.htmlHTML file containing the header.None
footer.htmlHTML file containing the footer.None
curl \
--request POST 'http://localhost:3000/forms/chromium/convert/url' \
--form 'url="https://my.url"' \
--form 'files=@"/path/to/header.html"' \
--form 'files=@"/path/to/footer.html"' \
--form 'marginTop="1"' \
--form 'marginBottom="1"' \
-o my.pdf

Each of them has to be a complete HTML document:

<html>
<head>
    <style>
    body {
        font-size: 8rem;
        margin: 4rem auto;
    }
    </style>
</head>
<body>
<p><span class="pageNumber"></span> of <span class="totalPages"></span></p>
</body>
</html>
info

The following classes allow you to inject printing values:

  • date - formatted print date.
  • title - document title.
  • url - document location.
  • pageNumber - current page number.
  • totalPages - total pages in the document.
caution

Make sure that:

  1. Margins top and bottom are large enough (marginTop and marginBottom form fields).
  2. The font size is big enough.
caution

There are some limitations:

  • No JavaScript.
  • The CSS properties are independent of the ones from the HTML document.
  • footer.html CSS properties override the ones from header.html.
  • Only fonts installed in the Docker image are loaded - see the fonts configuration section.
  • Images only work using a base64 encoded source - i.e., data:image/png;base64, iVBORw0K....
  • background-color and color CSS properties require an additional -webkit-print-color-adjust: exact CSS property in order to work.
  • Assets are not loaded (i.e., CSS files, scripts, fonts, etc.).
  • Background form fields do not apply.

Wait Before Rendering​

Each route accepts the following form fields:

KeyDescriptionDefault
waitDelayDuration (e.g, '5s') to wait when loading an HTML document before converting it into PDF.None
waitForExpressionThe JavaScript expression to wait before converting an HTML document into PDF until it returns true.None
info

These form fields do not work if JavaScript is disabled via --chromium-disable-javascript.

See the Chromium module configuration for more details.

waitDelay

When the page relies on JavaScript for rendering, and you don't have access to the page's code, you may want to wait a certain amount of time to make sure Chromium has fully rendered the page you're trying to generate.

curl \
--request POST 'http://localhost:3000/forms/chromium/convert/url' \
--form 'url="https://my.url"' \
--form 'waitDelay="5s"' \
-o my.pdf

waitForExpression

A more reliable option than the previous form field:

// Somewhere in the HTML document.
var globalVar = 'notReady'
await promises()
window.globalVar = 'ready'
curl \
--request POST 'http://localhost:3000/forms/chromium/convert/url' \
--form 'url="https://my.url"' \
--form 'waitForExpression="window.globalVar === '\''ready'\''"' \
-o my.pdf

Emulated Media Type​

Each route accepts the following form field:

KeyDescriptionDefault
emulatedMediaTypeThe media type to emulate, either "screen" or "print" - empty means "print".print

Some websites have dedicated CSS rules for print. Using "screen" allows you to force the "standard" CSS rules.

curl \
--request POST 'http://localhost:3000/forms/chromium/convert/url' \
--form 'url="https://my.url"' \
--form 'emulatedMediaType="screen"' \
-o my.pdf

Custom HTTP Headers​

Each route accepts the following form fields:

KeyDescriptionDefault
userAgentOverride the default User-Agent header.None
extraHttpHeadersHTTP headers to send by Chromium while loading the HTML document (JSON format).None
curl \
--request POST 'http://localhost:3000/forms/chromium/convert/url' \
--form 'url="https://my.url"' \
--form 'userAgent="Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 11_0 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/604.1.38 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/11.0 Mobile/15A372 Safari/604.1"' \
--form 'extraHttpHeaders="{\"MyHeader\": \"MyValue\"}"' \
-o my.pdf

Console Exceptions​

Each route accepts the following form field:

KeyDescriptionDefault
failOnConsoleExceptionsReturn a 409 Conflict response if there are exceptions in the Chromium console.false
info

This form field does not work if JavaScript is disabled via --chromium-disable-javascript.

See the Chromium module configuration for more details.

curl \
--request POST 'http://localhost:3000/forms/chromium/convert/html' \
--form 'files=@"/path/to/index.html"' \
--form 'failOnConsoleExceptions="true"'
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8
Gotenberg-Trace: {trace}
Body:

Chromium console exceptions:

exception "Uncaught" (17:10): Error: Exception 1
at file:///tmp/db09d2c8-31e3-4058-9923-c2705350f2b3/index.html:18:11;
exception "Uncaught" (20:10): Error: Exception 2
at file:///tmp/db09d2c8-31e3-4058-9923-c2705350f2b3/index.html:21:11:

PDF/A & PDF/UA​

Each route accepts the following form fields:

KeyDescriptionDefault
pdfaConvert the resulting PDF into the given PDF/A format.None
pdfuaEnable PDF for Universal Access for optimal accessibility.false

At present, the following PDF/A formats are available:

  • PDF/A-1a
  • PDF/A-2b
  • PDF/A-3b
curl \
--request POST 'http://localhost:3000/forms/chromium/convert/url' \
--form 'url="https://my.url"' \
--form 'pdfa="PDF/A-1a"' \
--form 'pdfua="true' \
-o my.pdf

Convert with LibreOffice​

The next route leverage the capabilities of LibreOffice to effectively transform a diverse range of Office documents (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.) into PDFs.

Checkout the LibreOffice module configuration to tailor the LibreOffice behavior to your needs.

Office documents into PDFs route​

This multipart/form-data route convert one or more Office documents into PDF.

POST /forms/libreoffice/convert

Currently, the following extensions are supported:

.bib .doc .xml .docx .fodt .html .ltx .txt .odt .ott .pdb .pdf .psw .rtf .sdw .stw .sxw .uot .vor .wps .epub .png .bmp .emf .eps .fodg .gif .jpg .met .odd .otg .pbm .pct .pgm .ppm .ras .std .svg .svm .swf .sxd .sxw .tiff .xhtml .xpm .fodp .potm .pot .pptx .pps .ppt .pwp .sda .sdd .sti .sxi .uop .wmf .csv .dbf .dif .fods .ods .ots .pxl .sdc .slk .stc .sxc .uos .xls .xlt .xlsx .tif .jpeg .odp .odg .dotx .xltx

curl \
--request POST 'http://localhost:3000/forms/libreoffice/convert' \
--form 'files=@"/path/to/file.docx"' \
-o my.pdf
curl \
--request POST 'http://localhost:3000/forms/libreoffice/convert' \
--form 'files=@"/path/to/file.docx"' \
--form 'files=@"/path/to/file.xlsx"' \
-o my.zip
Content-Disposition: attachement; filename={output-filename.ext}
Content-Type: {content-type}
Content-Length: {content-length}
Gotenberg-Trace: {trace}
Body: {output-file}
  • See the Request Tracing section for more information about the Gotenberg-Trace header.
  • See the Output Filename section for more information about the Gotenberg-Output-Filename header.

Page Properties​

The route also accepts the following form fields:

KeyDescriptionDefault
landscapeSet the paper orientation to landscape.false
nativePageRangesPage ranges to print, e.g., '1-4' - empty means all pages.All pages
info

If multiple files are provided, the page ranges will be applied independently to each file.

curl \
--request POST 'http://localhost:3000/forms/libreoffice/convert' \
--form 'files=@"/path/to/file.docx"' \
--form 'landscape="true"' \
--form 'nativePageRanges="1-5"' \
-o my.pdf

Merge​

The route also accepts the following form fields:

KeyDescriptionDefault
mergeMerge the resulting PDFs.false
curl \
--request POST 'http://localhost:3000/forms/libreoffice/convert' \
--form 'files=@"/path/to/file.docx"' \
--form 'files=@"/path/to/file.xlsx"' \
--form 'merge="true"' \
-o my.pdf

PDF/A & PDF/UA​

The route also accepts the following form fields:

KeyDescriptionDefault
pdfaConvert the resulting PDF into the given PDF/A format.None
pdfuaEnable PDF for Universal Access for optimal accessibility.false

At present, the following PDF/A formats are available:

  • PDF/A-1a
  • PDF/A-2b
  • PDF/A-3b
curl \
--request POST 'http://localhost:3000/forms/libreoffice/convert' \
--form 'files=@"/path/to/file.docx"' \
--form 'pdfa="PDF/A-1a"' \
--form 'pdfua="true"' \
-o my.pdf

Convert into PDF/A & PDF/UA route​

This multipart/form-data route transform one or more PDF files into the requested PDF/A format and/or PDF/UA.

POST /forms/pdfengines/convert

It accepts the following form files and form fields:

KeyDescriptionDefault
*.pdfAt least one PDF file.required
pdfaConvert the resulting PDF into the given PDF/A format.None*
pdfuaEnable PDF for Universal Access for optimal accessibility.false*

Note that at least one of the form field must be provided.*

At present, the following PDF/A formats are available:

  • PDF/A-1a
  • PDF/A-2b
  • PDF/A-3b
curl \
--request POST 'http://localhost:3000/forms/pdfengines/convert' \
--form 'files=@"/path/to/pdf.pdf"' \
--form 'pdfa="PDF/A-1a"' \
--form 'pdfua="true"' \
-o my.pdf
curl \
--request POST 'http://localhost:3000/forms/pdfengines/convert' \
--form 'files=@"/path/to/pdf1.pdf"' \
--form 'files=@"/path/to/pdf2.pdf"' \
--form 'files=@"/path/to/pdf3.pdf"' \
--form 'files=@"/path/to/pdf4.pdf"' \
--form 'pdfa="PDF/A-1a"' \
--form 'pdfua="true"' \
-o my.zip
Content-Disposition: attachement; filename={output-filename.ext}
Content-Type: {content-type}
Content-Length: {content-length}
Gotenberg-Trace: {trace}
Body: {output-file}
  • See the Request Tracing section for more information about the Gotenberg-Trace header.
  • See the Output Filename section for more information about the Gotenberg-Output-Filename header.

Merge PDFs route​

This multipart/form-data route accepts PDF files and merges them alphabetically.

POST /forms/pdfengines/merge
KeyDescriptionDefault
*.pdfPDF files.required
pdfaConvert the resulting PDF into the given PDF/A format.None
pdfuaEnable PDF for Universal Access for optimal accessibility.false

At present, the following PDF/A formats are available:

  • PDF/A-1a
  • PDF/A-2b
  • PDF/A-3b
curl \
--request POST 'http://localhost:3000/forms/pdfengines/merge' \
--form 'files=@"/path/to/pdf1.pdf"' \
--form 'files=@"/path/to/pdf2.pdf"' \
--form 'files=@"/path/to/pdf3.pdf"' \
--form 'files=@"/path/to/pdf4.pdf"' \
-o my.pdf
Content-Disposition: attachement; filename={output-filename.pdf}
Content-Type: {content-type}
Content-Length: {content-length}
Gotenberg-Trace: {trace}
Body: {output-file}
  • See the Request Tracing section for more information about the Gotenberg-Trace header.
  • See the Output Filename section for more information about the Gotenberg-Output-Filename header.

Health Check route​

GET /health
curl --request GET 'http://localhost:3000/health'
{
    "status": "up",
    "details": {
        "chromium": {
            "status": "up",
            "timestamp": "2021-07-01T08:05:14.603364Z"
        },
        "uno": {
            "status": "up",
            "timestamp": "2021-07-01T08:05:14.603364Z"
        }
    }
}

The details entry gathers the health checks from modules:

  • The Chromium module checks if the Chromium browser is heallthy.
  • The LibreOffice module checks if the LibreOffice instance is healthy.

Metrics route​

This route exposes the metrics from other modules using the Prometheus format.

GET /prometheus/metrics

Currently, the metrics include:

MetricDescription
{namespace}_chromium_requests_queue_sizeCurrent number of Chromium conversion requests waiting to be treated.
{namespace}_chromium_restarts_countCurrent number of Chromium restarts.
{namespace}_libreoffice_requests_queue_sizeCurrent number of LibreOffice conversion requests waiting to be treated.
{namespace}_libreoffice_restarts_countCurrent number of LibreOffice restarts.

See the Prometheus module configuration for more information.

Request Tracing​

A trace, or request ID, serves to identify a specific request in the logs.

By default, the API assigns a unique UUID trace to every request. However, you also have the option to specify the trace for each request using the Gotenberg-Trace header.

curl \
--request POST 'http://localhost:3000/forms/chromium/convert/url' \
--header 'Gotenberg-Trace: debug' \
--form 'url="https://my.url"' \
-o my.pdf

The API also incorporates a Gotenberg-Trace header into each response. If you're utilizing the webhook feature, this header will also be added to each request made to your callbacks.

info

The --api-trace-header flag allows you to configure the header key. See the API module configuration for more details.

Output Filename​

By default, for multipart/form-data endpoints, the API generates a response with a UUID filename. However, you have the option to specify the filename for each request using the Gotenberg-Output-Filename header.

curl \
--request POST 'http://localhost:3000/forms/chromium/convert/url' \
--header 'Gotenberg-Output-Filename: my_filename' \
--form 'url="https://my.url"' \
-O -J
info

The API automatically appends the file extension, so there's no need for you to set it manually.