API Documentation

Quick Start

Three steps to your first filled PDF.

1. Get your API key from your dashboard.
2. Host a fillable PDF somewhere publicly accessible (Dropbox, Google Drive, S3, etc.).
3. Make a POST request with your template URL and data.

curl -X POST https://www.pdfortless.com/api/pdf/fill \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "template_url": "https://your-site.com/onboarding-form.pdf",
    "data": {
      "applicant_name": "Emily Clark",
      "rent_amount": "1500",
      "move_in_date": "2026-09-01"
    }
  }' \
  --output filled-form.pdf

import requests

response = requests.post(
    "https://www.pdfortless.com/api/pdf/fill",
    headers={"Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"},
    json={
        "template_url": "https://your-site.com/onboarding-form.pdf",
        "data": {
            "applicant_name": "Emily Clark",
            "rent_amount": "1500",
            "move_in_date": "2026-09-01"
        }
    }
)

with open("filled-form.pdf", "wb") as f:
    f.write(response.content)

const fs = require('fs');

const response = await fetch('https://www.pdfortless.com/api/pdf/fill', {
    method: 'POST',
    headers: {
        'Authorization': 'Bearer YOUR_API_KEY',
        'Content-Type': 'application/json'
    },
    body: JSON.stringify({
        template_url: 'https://your-site.com/onboarding-form.pdf',
        data: {
            applicant_name: 'Emily Clark',
            rent_amount: '1500',
            move_in_date: '2026-09-01'
        }
    })
});

const buffer = await response.arrayBuffer();
fs.writeFileSync('filled-form.pdf', Buffer.from(buffer));

$ch = curl_init('https://www.pdfortless.com/api/pdf/fill');
curl_setopt_array($ch, [
    CURLOPT_POST           => true,
    CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER => true,
    CURLOPT_HTTPHEADER     => [
        'Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY',
        'Content-Type: application/json'
    ],
    CURLOPT_POSTFIELDS => json_encode([
        'template_url' => 'https://your-site.com/onboarding-form.pdf',
        'data'         => [
            'applicant_name'  => 'Emily Clark',
            'rent_amount'  => '1500',
            'move_in_date' => '2026-09-01'
        ]
    ])
]);
file_put_contents('filled-form.pdf', curl_exec($ch));

Authentication

All API requests require your API key passed as a Bearer token in the Authorization header.

Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY

Base URL

https://www.pdfortless.com/api

Fill PDF

Fills a PDF template with your data and returns the completed PDF as a binary file.

Get Fields

Inspects a PDF template and returns all fillable field names. Use this to discover field names before calling Fill PDF.

{
  "fieldCount": 6,
  "fields": [
    { "name": "applicant_name",   "type": "TextField" },
    { "name": "rent_amount",   "type": "TextField" },
    { "name": "move_in_date",  "type": "TextField" },
    { "name": "pets_allowed",  "type": "CheckBox"  },
    { "name": "start_date",    "type": "Dropdown"  },
    { "name": "unit_number",   "type": "TextField" }
  ]
}

Zapier Integration

Automate PDF generation from Google Sheets, Airtable, or any app in Zapier — no code needed.

1. Create a new Zap with your data source as the trigger (e.g. Google Sheets "New Row").
2. Add a "Webhooks by Zapier" action — search for "Webhooks" and choose Custom Request.
3. Configure the request:
   • Method: POST
   • URL: https://www.pdfortless.com/api/pdf/fill
   • Headers: Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY
   • Data: Raw (JSON)
4. Set the JSON body using Zapier's field mapping to insert values from your trigger data.
5. Add a file storage step (Google Drive, Dropbox, etc.) to save the returned PDF.

// Example Zapier JSON body
{
  "template_url": "https://your-site.com/form.pdf",
  "data": {
    "applicant_name": "{{Name}}",
    "start_date": "{{Start Date}}",
    "move_in_date": "{{MoveIn}}"
  }
}

Make.com Integration

Use Make's HTTP module to call the API and route filled PDFs into any workflow.

1. Add an HTTP module — search for "HTTP" and choose Make a Request.
2. Set the URL to https://www.pdfortless.com/api/pdf/fill
3. Set Method to POST
4. Add a header: Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY
5. Set Body Type to Raw, Content Type to application/json, then paste your JSON payload.
6. Set Response Type to File — Make will treat the response as a file you can pass to Google Drive, Dropbox, or email.

Error Codes

Error response format

{
  "error": "Could not download PDF template. Please check the URL."
}

Rate Limits

To ensure fair usage, API requests are rate limited per API key.

Pricing

PDeffortless uses simple pay-per-use pricing with no monthly commitment.