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Version: v2

/pdf API

info

Currently, Browserless V2 is available in production via two domains: production-sfo.browserless.io and production-lon.browserless.io

The /pdf API allows for simple navigation to a site and capturing a pdf. browserless will respond with a Content-Type of application/pdf, and a Buffer of the pdf file. Similar to screenshots, this also exposes puppeteer's pdf options via an options property in the JSON body for granular control.

You can check the full Open API schema here.

info

This route requires either a url or html property in the JSON body. When html is present browserless will render the HTML for you and capture the PDF

Basic Usage​

// JSON body
// `options` are the options available via puppeteer's Page.pdf() method
// (see our Open API documentation)
{
  "url": "https://example.com/",
  "options": {
    "displayHeaderFooter": true,
    "printBackground": false,
    "format": "A0"
    // Queue the lack of a `path` parameter
  }
}

cURL request

curl -X POST \
  https://production-sfo.browserless.io/pdf?token=MY_API_TOKEN \
  -H 'Cache-Control: no-cache' \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{
  "url": "https://example.com/",
  "options": {
    "displayHeaderFooter": true,
    "printBackground": false,
    "format": "A0"
  }
}'
warning

We do not allow to set a options.path

Setting HTML content​

You can set the HTML content of the page to render dynamically generated content.

danger

When this propriety is set, the url propriety must not be present.

// JSON body
// `options` are the options available via puppeteer's Page.pdf() method
// (see our Open API documentation)
{
  "url": "https://example.com/",
  "options": {
    "displayHeaderFooter": true,
    "printBackground": false,
    "format": "A0"
    // Queue the lack of a `path` parameter
  }
}

cURL request

curl -X POST \
  https://production-sfo.browserless.io/pdf?token=MY_API_TOKEN \
  -H 'Cache-Control: no-cache' \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{
  "url": "https://example.com/",
  "options": {
    "displayHeaderFooter": true,
    "printBackground": false,
    "format": "A0"
  }
}'
warning

We do not allow to set a options.path

Adding custom styles and scripts​

Browserless offers ways to load additional stylesheets and script tags to the page.

JSON payload

{
  "url": "https://example.com/",
  "addScriptTag": [
    { "url": "https://code.jquery.com/jquery-3.7.1.min.js" },
    { "content": "document.querySelector(`h1`).innerText = `Hello Word!`" }
  ],
  "addStyleTag": [
    {
      "content": "body { height: 100vh;  background: linear-gradient(45deg, #da5a44, #a32784);}"
    },
    {
      "url": "https://interactive-examples.mdn.mozilla.net/live-examples/css-examples/text-decoration/text-decoration-color.css"
    }
  ]
}

cURL request

curl -X POST \
  https://production-sfo.browserless.io/pdf?token=MY_API_TOKEN \
  -H 'Cache-Control: no-cache' \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{
  "url": "https://example.com/",
  "addScriptTag": [
    { "url": "https://code.jquery.com/jquery-3.7.1.min.js" },
    { "content": "document.querySelector(`h1`).innerText = `Hello Word!`" }
  ],
  "addStyleTag": [
    {
      "content": "body { height: 100vh;  background: linear-gradient(45deg, #da5a44, #a32784);}"
    },
    {
      "url": "https://interactive-examples.mdn.mozilla.net/live-examples/css-examples/text-decoration/text-decoration-color.css"
    }
  ]
}'

Rejecting Undesired Requests​

You can use rejectResourceTypes and rejectRequestPattern to block undesired content, resources and requests.

JSON payload

// Will reject any images and .css files
{
  "url": "https://browserless.io/"
  "rejectResourceTypes": ["image"],
  "rejectRequestPattern": ["/^.*\\.(css)"]
}

cURL Request

curl -X POST \
  https://production-sfo.browserless.io/pdf?token=MY_API_TOKEN \
  -H 'Cache-Control: no-cache' \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{
  "url": "https://browserless.io/"
  "rejectResourceTypes": ["image"],
  "rejectRequestPattern": ["/^.*\\.(css)"]
}'

You can use the gotoOptions to modify the default navigation behavior for the requested URL. The objects mirror Puppeteer's GoToOptions interface.

JSON payload

{
  "url": "https://example.com/",
  "gotoOptions": { "waitUntil": "networkidle2" },
}

cURL request

curl -X POST \
  https://production-sfo.browserless.io/pdf?token=MY_API_TOKEN \
  -H 'Cache-Control: no-cache' \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{
  "url": "https://example.com/",
  "gotoOptions": { "waitUntil": "networkidle2" },
}'

Continue on error​

You can use bestAttempt to make Browserless attempt to proceed when async events fail or timeout. This includes things like the goto or waitForSelector proprieties in the JSON payload.

JSON payload

{
  "url": "https://example.com/",
  "bestAttempt": true,

  // This would fail without bestAttempt
  "waitForSelector": { "selector": "table", "timeout": 500 }
}

cURL request

curl -X POST \
  https://production-sfo.browserless.io/pdf?token=MY_API_TOKEN \
  -H 'Cache-Control: no-cache' \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{
  "url": "https://example.com/",
  "bestAttempt": true,
  "waitForSelector": { "selector": "table", "timeout": 500 }
}'

Waiting for Things​

Browserless offers 4 different ways to wait for preconditions to be met on page. These are events, functions, selectors and timeouts

waitForEvent​

Waits for an event to happen on the page before cotinue

Example​

JSON payload

// Will fail since the event never fires
{
  "url": "https://example.com/",
  "waitForEvent": {
    "event": "fullscreenchange",
    "timeout": 5000
  }
}

cURL request

curl -X POST \
  https://production-sfo.browserless.io/pdf?token=MY_API_TOKEN \
  -H 'Cache-Control: no-cache' \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{
  "url": "https://example.com/",
  "waitForEvent": {
    "event": "fullscreenchange",
    "timeout": 5000
  }
}'

waitForFunction​

Waits for the provided function to return before cotinue. The function can be any valid JavaScript or EcmaScript function, and async functions are supported.

Example​

JS function

async () => {
  const res = await fetch("https://jsonplaceholder.typicode.com/todos/1");
  const json = await res.json();

  document.querySelector("h1").innerText = json.title;
};

JSON payload

{
  "url": "https://example.com/",
  "waitForFunction": {
    "fn": "async()=>{let t=await fetch('https://jsonplaceholder.typicode.com/todos/1'),e=await t.json();document.querySelector('h1').innerText=e.title}",
    "timeout": 5000
  }
}

cURL request

curl -X POST \
  https://production-sfo.browserless.io/pdf?token=MY_API_TOKEN \
  -H 'Cache-Control: no-cache' \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{
  "url": "https://example.com/",
  "waitForFunction": {
    "fn": "async()=>{let t=await fetch('https://jsonplaceholder.typicode.com/todos/1'),e=await t.json();document.querySelector('h1').innerText=e.title}",
    "timeout": 5000
  }
}'

waitForSelector​

Wait for a selector to appear in page. If at the moment of calling the method the selector already exists, the method will return immediately. If the selector doesn't appear after the timeout milliseconds of waiting, the function will throw.

The object can have any of these values:

  • selector: String, required — A valid CSS selector.
  • hidden Boolean, optional — Wait for the selected element to not be found in the DOM or to be hidden, i.e. have display: none or visibility: hidden CSS properties.
  • timeout: Number, optional — Maximum number of milliseconds to wait for the selector before failing.
  • visible: Boolean, optional — Wait for the selected element to be present in DOM and to be visible, i.e. to not have display: none or visibility: hidden CSS properties.

Example​

JSON payload

// Will fail since the event never fires
{
  "url": "https://example.com/",
  "waitForEvent": {
    "event": "fullscreenchange",
    "timeout": 5000
  }
}

cURL request

curl -X POST \
  https://production-sfo.browserless.io/pdf?token=MY_API_TOKEN \
  -H 'Cache-Control: no-cache' \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{
  "url": "https://example.com/",
  "waitForEvent": {
    "event": "fullscreenchange",
    "timeout": 5000
  }
}'

waitForTimeout​