Generate PDFs from your own templates, with one REST call
Turn a PDF you already have into a reusable template, then fill it with your data over a REST API. Every call returns a generation you poll to completion — and can optionally email the finished PDF to your recipient, with per-recipient delivery status you read back over the API.
Start free — the API is available on every plan, including Free.
Your invoice, filled in
Response
Three things happen once, before any call
Upload your PDF template
Bring a PDF you already use — an invoice, a certificate, a contract. It becomes a reusable template; there is no HTML or CSS to rebuild.
Map your fields visually
In the editor, place the fields you want to fill: text, date, image, and QR fields, positioned exactly where they belong on the page. Each field gets a key you send from your code.
Create your API key
As the workspace owner, mint a key in Settings. From then on every document is one HTTP call away.
One generation, start to finish
Everything below is a single session against the live API: the same generation id runs through every response, so you can read it top to bottom as one document being made.
/api/public/v1/generations
Send the template id and your data
Copy your own template id and image reference from Settings; the values below are placeholders.
curl -X POST 'https://papely.app/api/public/v1/generations' \ -H 'Authorization: Bearer papely_sk_your_secret_here' \ -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \ -d '{ "templateId": "YOUR_TEMPLATE_ID", "data": { "invoice_number": "INV-2026-0042", "issue_date": "2026-07-17", "payment_qr": "https://papely.app/pay/INV-2026-0042", "logo": "YOUR_IMAGE_REFERENCE", "line_items": [ [ "Consulting", "€1,200.00" ], [ "Hosting", "€49.00" ] ], "email": "[email protected]", "name": "Ada Lovelace" }, "email": { "subject": "Your invoice, {{name}}", "message": "Hi {{name}}, your invoice is attached. Download it with the button below.", "buttonText": "Download PDF" } }'Generation is asynchronous: the call returns immediately with an id, not a finished file.
202 Accepted { "generationId": "2f4e6a8c-1b3d-4e5f-8a9b-0c1d2e3f4a5b" }/api/public/v1/generations/:id
Poll the status until it is completed
Request the status endpoint every few seconds until the status is completed (or failed), then download the document.
200 OK { "id": "2f4e6a8c-1b3d-4e5f-8a9b-0c1d2e3f4a5b", "status": "completed" }/api/public/v1/generations/:id/emails
Follow each recipient
When a generation opts into email, this endpoint reports delivery per recipient. The list starts empty and fills as the worker sends, so check it once the generation has completed.
200 OK { "id": "2f4e6a8c-1b3d-4e5f-8a9b-0c1d2e3f4a5b", "emailEnabled": true, "emails": [ { "email": "[email protected]", "name": "Ada Lovelace", "status": "delivered", "sentAt": "2026-07-17T09:00:05.000Z", "deliveredAt": "2026-07-17T09:00:07.000Z", "downloadedAt": "2026-07-17T09:15:00.000Z", "error": null } ] }- Each entry carries one delivery status: pending, sent, delivered, bounced, or failed.
- Downloaded is not a status — it is derived from a non-null downloadedAt, set when the recipient opens the download link.
- A send failure surfaces on the entry only. It never fails the generation and never moves your quota.
- Emails are sent from Papely's own sending domain, not from yours.
What the API gives you
- Your existing PDF templates
- Generate from the PDFs you already have — no template rebuild and no markup. What you designed is what renders.
- Visual field mapping
- Place text, date, image, and QR fields on the page in the editor; each becomes a named key your requests fill.
- Single and batch generation
- Generate one document per request, or up to 100 in a single batch call — the same endpoints for polling and download either way.
- Built-in email delivery
- Opt in per request and Papely emails the finished PDF to your recipient once it is generated — no separate mail service to wire up.
- Generation and delivery tracking
- Poll a generation to completion, and — when email is enabled — read each recipient’s delivery status back over the API.
Your designs, turned into personalized documents
Invoices & receipts
Generate a branded invoice or receipt per order and email it to the customer the moment it is ready.
Certificates
Issue completion or attendance certificates in bulk, each personalized from your data.
Customer reports
Turn per-customer data into a polished PDF report, on a schedule or on demand.
Quotes & contracts
Produce quotes and contracts from a fixed layout, filled with each deal’s details.
Designed to integrate cleanly
Authentication, every endpoint, the rate limits, and the full field contract live in the API reference. This page is the overview; the reference is the detail.
- Every error uses one envelope — { error: { code, message, details? }, requestId } — and every code is a stable, machine-readable string you can branch on.
- Two things worth knowing up front: each download link is freshly signed and expires after one hour, so fetch the bytes soon after you request it; and generated PDFs are kept for a plan-dependent window before a scheduled cleanup removes them.
- Create your key as the workspace owner in Settings → API credentials. The full secret is shown once, so store it somewhere safe.