The PDF parser endpoint converts PDF documents into other formats. This is useful when you need to extract and process text content from PDF files for further analysis or integration into your workflow.

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Use cases

  • Converting research papers from PDF to searchable text for analysis
  • Extracting content from business reports for data processing
  • Converting PDF documentation into markdown format for web publishing
  • Making archived PDF documents searchable and analyzable
  • Automating data extraction from PDF forms and invoices

You need an API key to access the Writer API. Get an API key by following the steps in the API quickstart.

We recommend setting the API key as an environment variable in a .env file with the name WRITER_API_KEY.

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Endpoint overview

URL: POST https://api.writer.com/v1/tools/pdf-parser

curl --location 'https://api.writer.com/v1/tools/pdf-parser/<file-id>' \
--header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
--header "Authorization: Bearer $WRITER_API_KEY" \
--data '{
  "format": "markdown"
}'

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Path parameters

ParameterDescription
file_idThe ID of the uploaded PDF file to parse.

Before using the PDF parser, you’ll need to upload your PDF file to the Writer API and obtain its file ID. Learn more about how to upload files with the Files API.

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Request body

The request body includes the following parameters:

ParameterTypeDescription
formatstringThe desired output format. Can be text or markdown.

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Response parameters

Returns an object with a content field containing the extracted text in the specified format.

JSON
{
  "content": "..."
}