DocRaptor

DocRaptor is a hosted service that turns HTML and CSS into PDF documents. The docraptor driver behind pdf renders your templates there instead of in the built-in renderer. Pick it when your documents need print layout features the built-in renderer doesn't cover.

pdf:
  driver: docraptor

Before you start

1. Create a DocRaptor account and copy its API key.
2. Store the key in your secrets manager.

Configure

pdf:
  driver: docraptor

Hosted pdf drivers take their keys as secret: references (for example secret:DOCRAPTOR_API_KEY); the key field name is not defined yet.

Use it

import { pdf } from "mainsdk";

export async function invoiceFor(order: { id: string }, user: { locale: string }) {
  return pdf.render("invoice", { order, locale: user.locale });
}

Local development and testing

pdf is phase 1, so createTestApp() from @mainsdk/testing renders on its in-memory fake with no hosted service. DocRaptor offers watermarked test documents for trying real renders. chaos.on("pdf", { outage: true }) simulates DocRaptor being down.

What MainSDK adds on top

• Text, money and dates localised through i18n; a missing translation fails the i18n check, not the reader.
• The same pdf.render() call on every driver.

See PDF documents.

Limits and notes

• pdf has no spec; the DocRaptor driver is listed in the catalog and requirements.
• DocRaptor receives the document data, which often holds personal data. Check its regions against your MainSDK data region (US, EU or India).
• Store generated documents through files, not in DocRaptor.

Swap to or from it

pdf:
  driver: docraptor   # was builtin

Rendering holds no state, but whether templates need changes between renderers is still open.

FAQ

Do I need DocRaptor to render PDFs? No. The built-in renderer is the default.

Next

• PDF documents
• Built in and Documenso

Open questions