Authentication

To authenticate with the PDFik API, you must provide a valid API key in every request.

Obtaining an API Key

1. Log in to your PDFik Dashboard.
2. Navigate to Settings > API Keys.
3. Click Generate New API Key.
4. Copy the secret key immediately. For security reasons, it will not be shown again.

API Key Formats

PDFik API keys use prefix tags to identify the environment:

• Live Mode Keys: Start with sk_live_ (e.g., sk_live_abc123...). Use these for production PDF generation. Jobs submitted without the test flag count toward your plan's quotas.
• Test Mode Keys: Start with sk_test_ (e.g., sk_test_xyz789...). The prefix labels the key so you can keep sandbox credentials apart — it does not change behavior by itself. Test behavior is requested per job: pass "test": true in the request body to run the full pipeline for free and receive a static sample PDF instead of a real render. See Testing.

Authentication Methods

You must authenticate by passing your API key in the headers.

X-API-Key Header

Pass your API key as the value of the X-API-Key HTTP header.

curl -X POST https://api.pdfik.net/url-to-pdf \
  -H "X-API-Key: sk_live_YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"url": "https://example.com"}'

Security Best Practices

[!WARNING] Your API key holds full access to your account and quota. Keep it private.

• Do not hardcode API keys in your repository. Use environment variables (e.g., PDFIK_API_KEY).
• Never expose keys in client-side code (browsers, mobile applications). All calls should be made from your backend server.
• Rotate keys regularly or immediately if you suspect a leak.