Create PDF — Synchronous PDF Generation API

Generate a PDF from a template with a single synchronous call. The request blocks until the PDF is rendered and returns either a signed URL or the raw PDF bytes.

POST https://api.templatefox.com/v1/pdf/create

Authentication: API key in x-api-key header. Credits: 1 credit per successful generation (refunded automatically if rendering fails).

For large documents, batch jobs, or webhook-driven flows, use create-pdf-async instead.

Request

Minimum required

Only two body fields are strictly required:

Field	Type	Description
`template_id`	string	The 12-character ID of your template (copy from the templates dashboard).
`data`	object	Key-value pairs to inject into the template. Keys must match `{{variable}}` placeholders in your design.

curl -X POST https://api.templatefox.com/v1/pdf/create \
-H "x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{
  "template_id": "HMQywVpZxqAM",
  "data": {
    "customer_name": "John Doe",
    "invoice_number": "INV-001",
    "amount": "$1,234.56"
  }
}'

const response = await fetch("https://api.templatefox.com/v1/pdf/create", {
method: "POST",
headers: {
  "x-api-key": "YOUR_API_KEY",
  "Content-Type": "application/json",
},
body: JSON.stringify({
  template_id: "HMQywVpZxqAM",
  data: {
    customer_name: "John Doe",
    invoice_number: "INV-001",
    amount: "$1,234.56",
  },
}),
});

const { url } = await response.json();

import requests

response = requests.post(
  "https://api.templatefox.com/v1/pdf/create",
  headers={"x-api-key": "YOUR_API_KEY"},
  json={
      "template_id": "HMQywVpZxqAM",
      "data": {
          "customer_name": "John Doe",
          "invoice_number": "INV-001",
          "amount": "$1,234.56",
      },
  },
)

print(response.json()["url"])

package main

import (
  "bytes"
  "encoding/json"
  "fmt"
  "io"
  "net/http"
)

func main() {
  payload, _ := json.Marshal(map[string]any{
      "template_id": "HMQywVpZxqAM",
      "data": map[string]string{
          "customer_name":  "John Doe",
          "invoice_number": "INV-001",
          "amount":         "$1,234.56",
      },
  })

  req, _ := http.NewRequest("POST", "https://api.templatefox.com/v1/pdf/create", bytes.NewReader(payload))
  req.Header.Set("x-api-key", "YOUR_API_KEY")
  req.Header.Set("Content-Type", "application/json")

  resp, _ := http.DefaultClient.Do(req)
  defer resp.Body.Close()

  body, _ := io.ReadAll(resp.Body)
  fmt.Println(string(body))
}

<?php
$ch = curl_init('https://api.templatefox.com/v1/pdf/create');
curl_setopt_array($ch, [
  CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER => true,
  CURLOPT_POST => true,
  CURLOPT_HTTPHEADER => [
      'x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY',
      'Content-Type: application/json',
  ],
  CURLOPT_POSTFIELDS => json_encode([
      'template_id' => 'HMQywVpZxqAM',
      'data' => [
          'customer_name'  => 'John Doe',
          'invoice_number' => 'INV-001',
          'amount'         => '$1,234.56',
      ],
  ]),
]);

$response = json_decode(curl_exec($ch), true);
echo $response['url'];

require 'net/http'
require 'json'

uri = URI('https://api.templatefox.com/v1/pdf/create')
http = Net::HTTP.new(uri.host, uri.port)
http.use_ssl = true

request = Net::HTTP::Post.new(uri, {
'x-api-key'    => 'YOUR_API_KEY',
'Content-Type' => 'application/json'
})
request.body = {
template_id: 'HMQywVpZxqAM',
data: {
  customer_name: 'John Doe',
  invoice_number: 'INV-001',
  amount: '$1,234.56'
}
}.to_json

response = JSON.parse(http.request(request).body)
puts response['url']

import java.net.URI;
import java.net.http.HttpClient;
import java.net.http.HttpRequest;
import java.net.http.HttpResponse;

var client = HttpClient.newHttpClient();

var body = """
{
"template_id": "HMQywVpZxqAM",
"data": {
  "customer_name": "John Doe",
  "invoice_number": "INV-001",
  "amount": "$1,234.56"
}
}
""";

var request = HttpRequest.newBuilder()
  .uri(URI.create("https://api.templatefox.com/v1/pdf/create"))
  .header("x-api-key", "YOUR_API_KEY")
  .header("Content-Type", "application/json")
  .POST(HttpRequest.BodyPublishers.ofString(body))
  .build();

var response = client.send(request, HttpResponse.BodyHandlers.ofString());
System.out.println(response.body());

using System.Net.Http;
using System.Net.Http.Json;

var client = new HttpClient();
client.DefaultRequestHeaders.Add("x-api-key", "YOUR_API_KEY");

var response = await client.PostAsJsonAsync(
  "https://api.templatefox.com/v1/pdf/create",
  new {
      template_id = "HMQywVpZxqAM",
      data = new {
          customer_name = "John Doe",
          invoice_number = "INV-001",
          amount = "$1,234.56"
      }
  }
);

Console.WriteLine(await response.Content.ReadAsStringAsync());

Or use one of our official SDKs — TypeScript, Python, Go, PHP, Ruby, Java, C#.

All parameters

Field	Type	Required	Default	Description
`template_id`	string	✅	—	12-character template short ID.
`data`	object	✅	—	Key-value data merged into the template. See Data Binding.
`export_type`	string	—	`"url"`	`"url"` uploads the PDF to our CDN and returns a signed URL. `"binary"` returns the raw PDF bytes as `application/pdf`.
`expiration`	integer	—	`86400`	URL expiration in seconds. Min: `60`, max: `604800` (7 days). Only applies when `export_type="url"`.
`filename`	string	—	`"document"`	Custom filename (without `.pdf` extension). Alphanumeric, `_`, `-`, `.` only. Max 100 chars.
`store_s3`	boolean	—	`false`	Upload to your configured S3 bucket instead of our CDN. Requires an S3 integration.
`s3_filepath`	string	—	—	Path prefix inside your S3 bucket. Overrides `default_prefix`. Max 500 chars.
`s3_bucket`	string	—	—	Override the bucket name from your S3 integration (3–63 chars, lowercase).
`pdf_variant`	string	—	—	Generate a standards-compliant PDF. Values: `"pdf/a-1b"`, `"pdf/a-2b"`, `"pdf/a-3b"`. See PDF Standards.
`version`	string	—	—	Template version tag (e.g. `"prod"`) or numeric version (e.g. `"3"`). Omit to use the current draft. Max 50 chars.

Response

`export_type = "url"` (default)

Returns JSON with a signed URL to the generated PDF.

{
  "url": "https://cdn.templatefox.com/generated/abc123/invoice.pdf",
  "filename": "invoice-001.pdf",
  "credits_remaining": 99,
  "expires_in": 86400
}

Field	Type	Description
`url`	string	Signed URL to download the PDF (expires after `expires_in` seconds).
`filename`	string	Final filename of the generated PDF.
`credits_remaining`	number	Credits left in your team’s balance after this call.
`expires_in`	number	Seconds until the signed URL expires.

`export_type = "binary"`

Returns the raw PDF file with content type application/pdf. Useful when you want to stream the file directly to a user or store it yourself. expiration, filename, and S3 options are ignored.

Response headers:

Content-Type: application/pdf
Content-Disposition: attachment; filename="HMQywVpZxqAM.pdf"
X-Credits-Remaining: 99

`store_s3 = true`

When S3 upload is requested, the response describes where the file landed in your bucket instead of returning a URL:

{
  "s3_bucket": "my-pdf-bucket",
  "s3_key": "invoices/2026/01/invoice-001.pdf",
  "filename": "invoice-001.pdf",
  "credits_remaining": 99
}

Example:

curl -X POST https://api.templatefox.com/v1/pdf/create \
-H "x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{
  "template_id": "HMQywVpZxqAM",
  "data": { "customer_name": "John Doe" },
  "store_s3": true,
  "filename": "invoice-001",
  "s3_filepath": "2026/01/"
}'

const response = await fetch("https://api.templatefox.com/v1/pdf/create", {
method: "POST",
headers: {
  "x-api-key": "YOUR_API_KEY",
  "Content-Type": "application/json",
},
body: JSON.stringify({
  template_id: "HMQywVpZxqAM",
  data: { customer_name: "John Doe" },
  store_s3: true,
  filename: "invoice-001",
  s3_filepath: "2026/01/",
}),
});

const { s3_bucket, s3_key } = await response.json();

import requests

response = requests.post(
  "https://api.templatefox.com/v1/pdf/create",
  headers={"x-api-key": "YOUR_API_KEY"},
  json={
      "template_id": "HMQywVpZxqAM",
      "data": {"customer_name": "John Doe"},
      "store_s3": True,
      "filename": "invoice-001",
      "s3_filepath": "2026/01/",
  },
)

result = response.json()
print(result["s3_bucket"], result["s3_key"])

payload, _ := json.Marshal(map[string]any{
  "template_id":  "HMQywVpZxqAM",
  "data":         map[string]string{"customer_name": "John Doe"},
  "store_s3":     true,
  "filename":     "invoice-001",
  "s3_filepath":  "2026/01/",
})

req, _ := http.NewRequest("POST", "https://api.templatefox.com/v1/pdf/create", bytes.NewReader(payload))
req.Header.Set("x-api-key", "YOUR_API_KEY")
req.Header.Set("Content-Type", "application/json")

resp, _ := http.DefaultClient.Do(req)
defer resp.Body.Close()

PDF/A (archival)

Set pdf_variant to produce a PDF that passes PDF/A compliance checks — useful for e-invoicing (Factur-X, ZUGFeRD), archival, or regulated industries.

curl -X POST https://api.templatefox.com/v1/pdf/create \
-H "x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{
  "template_id": "HMQywVpZxqAM",
  "data": { "customer_name": "John Doe" },
  "pdf_variant": "pdf/a-3b"
}'

const response = await fetch("https://api.templatefox.com/v1/pdf/create", {
method: "POST",
headers: {
  "x-api-key": "YOUR_API_KEY",
  "Content-Type": "application/json",
},
body: JSON.stringify({
  template_id: "HMQywVpZxqAM",
  data: { customer_name: "John Doe" },
  pdf_variant: "pdf/a-3b",
}),
});

const { url } = await response.json();

import requests

response = requests.post(
  "https://api.templatefox.com/v1/pdf/create",
  headers={"x-api-key": "YOUR_API_KEY"},
  json={
      "template_id": "HMQywVpZxqAM",
      "data": {"customer_name": "John Doe"},
      "pdf_variant": "pdf/a-3b",
  },
)

print(response.json()["url"])

payload, _ := json.Marshal(map[string]any{
  "template_id": "HMQywVpZxqAM",
  "data":        map[string]string{"customer_name": "John Doe"},
  "pdf_variant": "pdf/a-3b",
})

req, _ := http.NewRequest("POST", "https://api.templatefox.com/v1/pdf/create", bytes.NewReader(payload))
req.Header.Set("x-api-key", "YOUR_API_KEY")
req.Header.Set("Content-Type", "application/json")

resp, _ := http.DefaultClient.Do(req)
defer resp.Body.Close()

Binary response

Set export_type to "binary" to receive the raw PDF bytes directly — useful for streaming to the user or saving to disk without a CDN round-trip.

curl -X POST https://api.templatefox.com/v1/pdf/create \
-H "x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
--output invoice.pdf \
-d '{
  "template_id": "HMQywVpZxqAM",
  "data": { "customer_name": "John Doe" },
  "export_type": "binary"
}'

import fs from "node:fs";

const response = await fetch("https://api.templatefox.com/v1/pdf/create", {
method: "POST",
headers: {
  "x-api-key": "YOUR_API_KEY",
  "Content-Type": "application/json",
},
body: JSON.stringify({
  template_id: "HMQywVpZxqAM",
  data: { customer_name: "John Doe" },
  export_type: "binary",
}),
});

const buffer = Buffer.from(await response.arrayBuffer());
fs.writeFileSync("invoice.pdf", buffer);

import requests

response = requests.post(
  "https://api.templatefox.com/v1/pdf/create",
  headers={"x-api-key": "YOUR_API_KEY"},
  json={
      "template_id": "HMQywVpZxqAM",
      "data": {"customer_name": "John Doe"},
      "export_type": "binary",
  },
)

with open("invoice.pdf", "wb") as f:
  f.write(response.content)

payload, _ := json.Marshal(map[string]any{
  "template_id": "HMQywVpZxqAM",
  "data":        map[string]string{"customer_name": "John Doe"},
  "export_type": "binary",
})

req, _ := http.NewRequest("POST", "https://api.templatefox.com/v1/pdf/create", bytes.NewReader(payload))
req.Header.Set("x-api-key", "YOUR_API_KEY")
req.Header.Set("Content-Type", "application/json")

resp, _ := http.DefaultClient.Do(req)
defer resp.Body.Close()

out, _ := os.Create("invoice.pdf")
defer out.Close()
io.Copy(out, resp.Body)

Errors

Status	Error	When
400	`BAD_REQUEST`	The template is an image template — use `create-image` instead.
401	`UNAUTHORIZED`	Missing or invalid API key.
402	`INSUFFICIENT_CREDITS`	Your team’s credit balance is 0.
403	`FORBIDDEN`	The template does not belong to your team.
404	`TEMPLATE_NOT_FOUND`	`template_id` does not exist.
429	`RATE_LIMIT_EXCEEDED`	Rate limit hit (see response headers).
500	`INTERNAL_ERROR`	Rendering failed. Credit is automatically refunded.

See the full list in the API Reference overview.