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PDF.co MCP Server

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html_to_pdf

Convert HTML content to PDF documents with customizable headers, footers, margins, and page settings for professional formatting and printing.

Instructions

Convert HTML to PDF.
Ref: https://developer.pdf.co/api-reference/pdf-from-html/convert.md

The header and footer parameters can contain valid HTML markup with the following classes used to inject printing values into them:
- date: formatted print date
- title: document title
- url: document location
- pageNumber: current page number
- totalPages: total pages in the document
- img: tag is supported in both the header and footer parameter, provided that the src attribute is specified as a base64-encoded string.
For example, the following markup will generate Page N of NN page numbering:
```html
<span style='font-size:10px'>Page <span class='pageNumber'></span> of <span class='totalPages'></span>.</span>

Input Schema

TableJSON Schema
NameRequiredDescriptionDefault
htmlYesInput HTML code to be converted. To convert the link to a PDF use the /pdf/convert/from/url endpoint instead. If it is a local file, just pass the file content as a string.
marginsNoSet to CSS style margins like 10px, 5mm, 5in for all sides or 5px 5px 5px 5px (the order of margins is top, right, bottom, left). (Optional)
paperSizeNoA4 is set by default. Can be Letter, Legal, Tabloid, Ledger, A0, A1, A2, A3, A4, A5, A6 or a custom size. Custom size can be set in px (pixels), mm or in (inches) with width and height separated by space like this: 200 300, 200px 300px, 200mm 300mm, 20cm 30cm or 6in 8in. (Optional)
orientationNoSet to Portrait or Landscape. Portrait is set by default. (Optional)
printBackgroundNotrue by default. Set to false to disable printing of background. (Optional)
mediaTypeNoUses print by default. Set to screen to convert HTML as it appears in a browser or print to convert as it appears for printing or none to set none as mediaType for CSS styles. (Optional)
DoNotWaitFullLoadNofalse by default. Set to true to skip waiting for full load (like full video load etc. that may affect the total conversion time). (Optional)
headerNoUser definable HTML for the header to be applied on every page header. (Optional)
footerNoUser definable HTML for the footer to be applied on every page footer. (Optional)
httpusernameNoHTTP auth user name if required to access source url. (Optional)
httppasswordNoHTTP auth password if required to access source url. (Optional)
nameNoFile name for the generated output. (Optional)
api_keyNoPDF.co API key. If not provided, will use X_API_KEY environment variable. (Optional)

Implementation Reference

  • The primary handler function for the 'html_to_pdf' MCP tool. Registered via @mcp.tool() decorator. Defines input schema with Pydantic Fields and delegates conversion logic to the convert_from helper using PDF.co API parameters.
    @mcp.tool()
    async def html_to_pdf(
        html: str = Field(
            description="Input HTML code to be converted. To convert the link to a PDF use the /pdf/convert/from/url endpoint instead. If it is a local file, just pass the file content as a string."
        ),
        margins: str = Field(
            description="Set to CSS style margins like 10px, 5mm, 5in for all sides or 5px 5px 5px 5px (the order of margins is top, right, bottom, left). (Optional)",
            default="",
        ),
        paperSize: str = Field(
            description="A4 is set by default. Can be Letter, Legal, Tabloid, Ledger, A0, A1, A2, A3, A4, A5, A6 or a custom size. Custom size can be set in px (pixels), mm or in (inches) with width and height separated by space like this: 200 300, 200px 300px, 200mm 300mm, 20cm 30cm or 6in 8in. (Optional)",
            default="",
        ),
        orientation: str = Field(
            description="Set to Portrait or Landscape. Portrait is set by default. (Optional)",
            default="",
        ),
        printBackground: bool = Field(
            description="true by default. Set to false to disable printing of background. (Optional)",
            default=True,
        ),
        mediaType: str = Field(
            description="Uses print by default. Set to screen to convert HTML as it appears in a browser or print to convert as it appears for printing or none to set none as mediaType for CSS styles. (Optional)",
            default="",
        ),
        DoNotWaitFullLoad: bool = Field(
            description="false by default. Set to true to skip waiting for full load (like full video load etc. that may affect the total conversion time). (Optional)",
            default=False,
        ),
        header: str = Field(
            description="User definable HTML for the header to be applied on every page header. (Optional)",
            default="",
        ),
        footer: str = Field(
            description="User definable HTML for the footer to be applied on every page footer. (Optional)",
            default="",
        ),
        httpusername: str = Field(
            description="HTTP auth user name if required to access source url. (Optional)",
            default="",
        ),
        httppassword: str = Field(
            description="HTTP auth password if required to access source url. (Optional)",
            default="",
        ),
        name: str = Field(
            description="File name for the generated output. (Optional)", default=""
        ),
        api_key: str = Field(
            description="PDF.co API key. If not provided, will use X_API_KEY environment variable. (Optional)",
            default="",
        ),
    ) -> BaseResponse:
        """
        Convert HTML to PDF.
        Ref: https://developer.pdf.co/api-reference/pdf-from-html/convert.md
    
        The header and footer parameters can contain valid HTML markup with the following classes used to inject printing values into them:
        - date: formatted print date
        - title: document title
        - url: document location
        - pageNumber: current page number
        - totalPages: total pages in the document
        - img: tag is supported in both the header and footer parameter, provided that the src attribute is specified as a base64-encoded string.
        For example, the following markup will generate Page N of NN page numbering:
        ```html
        <span style='font-size:10px'>Page <span class='pageNumber'></span> of <span class='totalPages'></span>.</span>
        """
        return await convert_from(
            "pdf",
            "html",
            ConversionParams(
                html=html,
                margins=margins,
                paperSize=paperSize,
                orientation=orientation,
                printBackground=printBackground,
                mediaType=mediaType,
                DoNotWaitFullLoad=DoNotWaitFullLoad,
                header=header,
                footer=footer,
                httpusername=httpusername,
                httppassword=httppassword,
                name=name,
                api_key=api_key,
            ),
        )
  • Pydantic BaseModel defining the shared input parameters (ConversionParams) for various PDF conversion tools, including those specific to HTML to PDF like 'html', 'margins', 'paperSize', etc. Includes parse_payload method to build API payload.
    class ConversionParams(BaseModel):
        url: str = Field(
            description="URL to the source file. Supports publicly accessible links including Google Drive, Dropbox, PDF.co Built-In Files Storage. Use 'upload_file' tool to upload local files.",
            default="",
        )
        httpusername: str = Field(
            description="HTTP auth user name if required to access source url. (Optional)",
            default="",
        )
        httppassword: str = Field(
            description="HTTP auth password if required to access source url. (Optional)",
            default="",
        )
        pages: str = Field(
            description="Comma-separated page indices (e.g., '0, 1, 2-' or '1, 3-7'). Use '!' for inverted page numbers (e.g., '!0' for last page). Processes all pages if None. (Optional)",
            default="",
        )
        unwrap: bool = Field(
            description="Unwrap lines into a single line within table cells when lineGrouping is enabled. Must be true or false. (Optional)",
            default=False,
        )
        rect: str = Field(
            description="Defines coordinates for extraction (e.g., '51.8,114.8,235.5,204.0'). (Optional)",
            default="",
        )
        lang: str = Field(
            description="Language for OCR for scanned documents. Default is 'eng'. See PDF.co docs for supported languages. (Optional, Default: 'eng')",
            default="eng",
        )
        line_grouping: str = Field(
            description="Enables line grouping within table cells when set to '1'. (Optional)",
            default="0",
        )
        password: str = Field(
            description="Password of the PDF file. (Optional)", default=""
        )
        name: str = Field(
            description="File name for the generated output. (Optional)", default=""
        )
        autosize: bool = Field(
            description="Controls automatic page sizing. If true, page dimensions adjust to content. If false, uses worksheet’s page setup. (Optional)",
            default=False,
        )
    
        html: str = Field(
            description="Input HTML code to be converted. To convert the link to a PDF use the /pdf/convert/from/url endpoint instead.",
            default="",
        )
        templateId: str = Field(
            description="Set to the ID of your HTML template. You can find and copy the ID from HTML to PDF Templates.",
            default="",
        )
        templateData: str = Field(
            description="Set it to a string with input JSON data (recommended) or CSV data.",
            default="",
        )
        margins: str = Field(
            description="Set to CSS style margins like 10px, 5mm, 5in for all sides or 5px 5px 5px 5px (the order of margins is top, right, bottom, left). (Optional)",
            default="",
        )
        paperSize: str = Field(
            description="A4 is set by default. Can be Letter, Legal, Tabloid, Ledger, A0, A1, A2, A3, A4, A5, A6 or a custom size. Custom size can be set in px (pixels), mm or in (inches) with width and height separated by space like this: 200 300, 200px 300px, 200mm 300mm, 20cm 30cm or 6in 8in. (Optional)",
            default="",
        )
        orientation: str = Field(
            description="Set to Portrait or Landscape. Portrait is set by default. (Optional)",
            default="",
        )
        printBackground: bool = Field(
            description="true by default. Set to false to disable printing of background. (Optional)",
            default=True,
        )
        mediaType: str = Field(
            description="Uses print by default. Set to screen to convert HTML as it appears in a browser or print to convert as it appears for printing or none to set none as mediaType for CSS styles. (Optional)",
            default="",
        )
        DoNotWaitFullLoad: bool = Field(
            description="false by default. Set to true to skip waiting for full load (like full video load etc. that may affect the total conversion time). (Optional)",
            default=False,
        )
        header: str = Field(
            description="User definable HTML for the header to be applied on every page header. (Optional)",
            default="",
        )
        footer: str = Field(
            description="User definable HTML for the footer to be applied on every page footer. (Optional)",
            default="",
        )
    
        worksheetIndex: str = Field(
            description="Index of the worksheet to convert. (Optional)", default=""
        )
    
        def parse_payload(self, async_mode: bool = True):
            payload = {
                "async": async_mode,
            }
            if self.url:
                payload["url"] = self.url
            if self.httpusername:
                payload["httpusername"] = self.httpusername
            if self.httppassword:
                payload["httppassword"] = self.httppassword
            if self.pages:
                payload["pages"] = self.pages
            if self.unwrap:
                payload["unwrap"] = self.unwrap
            if self.rect:
                payload["rect"] = self.rect
            if self.lang:
                payload["lang"] = self.lang
            if self.line_grouping:
                payload["lineGrouping"] = self.line_grouping
            if self.password:
                payload["password"] = self.password
            if self.name:
                payload["name"] = self.name
            if self.autosize:
                payload["autosize"] = self.autosize
    
            if self.html:
                payload["html"] = self.html
            if self.templateId:
                payload["templateId"] = self.templateId
            if self.templateData:
                payload["templateData"] = self.templateData
            if self.margins:
                payload["margins"] = self.margins
            if self.paperSize:
                payload["paperSize"] = self.paperSize
            if self.orientation:
                payload["orientation"] = self.orientation
            if self.printBackground:
                payload["printBackground"] = self.printBackground
            if self.mediaType:
                payload["mediaType"] = self.mediaType
            if self.DoNotWaitFullLoad:
                payload["DoNotWaitFullLoad"] = self.DoNotWaitFullLoad
            if self.header:
                payload["header"] = self.header
            if self.footer:
                payload["footer"] = self.footer
    
            if self.worksheetIndex:
                payload["worksheetIndex"] = self.worksheetIndex
    
            return payload
  • Helper function convert_from invoked by the html_to_pdf handler to construct the PDF.co API endpoint '/pdf/convert/from/html' and call the underlying request function.
    async def convert_from(
        _to: str, _from: str, params: ConversionParams, api_key: str | None = None
    ) -> BaseResponse:
        return await request(f"{_to}/convert/from/{_from}", params, api_key=api_key)
  • Core request helper that performs the HTTP POST to PDF.co API using PDFCoClient, parses response into BaseResponse, and handles errors. Called by convert_from.
    async def request(
        endpoint: str,
        params: ConversionParams,
        custom_payload: dict | None = None,
        api_key: str | None = None,
    ) -> BaseResponse:
        payload = params.parse_payload(async_mode=True)
        if custom_payload:
            payload.update(custom_payload)
    
        try:
            async with PDFCoClient(api_key=api_key) as client:
                url = f"/v1/{endpoint}"
                print(f"Requesting {url} with payload {payload}", file=sys.stderr)
                response = await client.post(url, json=payload)
                print(f"response: {response}", file=sys.stderr)
                json_data = response.json()
                return BaseResponse(
                    status="working",
                    content=json_data,
                    credits_used=json_data.get("credits"),
                    credits_remaining=json_data.get("remainingCredits"),
                    tips=f"You **should** use the 'wait_job_completion' tool to wait for the job [{json_data.get('jobId')}] to complete if a jobId is present.",
                )
        except Exception as e:
            return BaseResponse(
                status="error",
                content=f"{type(e)}: {[arg for arg in e.args if arg]}",
            )
Behavior3/5

Does the description disclose side effects, auth requirements, rate limits, or destructive behavior?

With no annotations provided, the description carries the full burden of behavioral disclosure. It adds useful context about header/footer HTML markup capabilities and special classes (e.g., 'pageNumber', 'totalPages'), which goes beyond basic conversion. However, it doesn't cover critical behavioral aspects like error handling, rate limits, authentication requirements (beyond the api_key parameter), or output format details (e.g., PDF byte stream vs. file).

Agents need to know what a tool does to the world before calling it. Descriptions should go beyond structured annotations to explain consequences.

Conciseness4/5

Is the description appropriately sized, front-loaded, and free of redundancy?

The description is reasonably concise and front-loaded, starting with the core purpose. The additional details about header/footer markup are relevant but could be more streamlined. The external reference link and HTML example are useful but add length. Overall, most sentences earn their place, though some information might be better integrated or summarized.

Shorter descriptions cost fewer tokens and are easier for agents to parse. Every sentence should earn its place.

Completeness3/5

Given the tool's complexity, does the description cover enough for an agent to succeed on first attempt?

Given the complexity (13 parameters, no annotations, no output schema), the description is moderately complete. It covers the basic purpose and adds specific details for header/footer parameters, but lacks information on output (e.g., that it returns a PDF file), error cases, or performance considerations. The schema handles parameter documentation well, but the description doesn't fully compensate for the absence of behavioral annotations or output schema.

Complex tools with many parameters or behaviors need more documentation. Simple tools need less. This dimension scales expectations accordingly.

Parameters3/5

Does the description clarify parameter syntax, constraints, interactions, or defaults beyond what the schema provides?

Schema description coverage is 100%, so the schema already documents all 13 parameters thoroughly. The description adds minimal parameter semantics beyond the schema—it only elaborates on the 'header' and 'footer' parameters with HTML markup examples and special classes. This provides some value but doesn't significantly enhance understanding of other parameters like 'margins' or 'paperSize', which are well-covered in the schema.

Input schemas describe structure but not intent. Descriptions should explain non-obvious parameter relationships and valid value ranges.

Purpose4/5

Does the description clearly state what the tool does and how it differs from similar tools?

The description clearly states the tool's purpose: 'Convert HTML to PDF.' It specifies the verb ('Convert') and resource ('HTML to PDF'), making the function immediately understandable. However, it doesn't explicitly differentiate from sibling tools like 'webpage_to_pdf' or 'document_to_pdf', which handle different input sources.

Agents choose between tools based on descriptions. A clear purpose with a specific verb and resource helps agents select the right tool.

Usage Guidelines3/5

Does the description explain when to use this tool, when not to, or what alternatives exist?

The description provides some implied usage guidance by referencing an external API documentation link and mentioning alternative endpoints for different input types (e.g., '/pdf/convert/from/url' for links). However, it lacks explicit instructions on when to use this tool versus siblings like 'webpage_to_pdf' (for URLs) or 'document_to_pdf' (for document files), leaving the agent to infer based on parameter descriptions.

Agents often have multiple tools that could apply. Explicit usage guidance like "use X instead of Y when Z" prevents misuse.

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