PDFCrowd CLI

Install with Python 3.8 or newer using pipx or uv:

pipx install pdfcrowd-cli
# Alternatively: uv tool install pdfcrowd-cli
pdfcrowd html2pdf --output example.pdf https://example.com
pdfcrowd --help
pdfcrowd html2pdf help page-margins
pdfcrowd html2pdf help --json

The CLI package also provides the converter commands directly:

html2pdf --output example.pdf https://example.com
html2pdf --help
html2pdf help page-margins
html2pdf help --json

The available commands are html2pdf, html2image, image2pdf, image2image, pdf2pdf, pdf2html, pdf2text, and pdf2image. Without personal credentials, conversions use the demo account and produce marked output. Set PDFCROWD_USERNAME and PDFCROWD_API_KEY, or save your account with pdfcrowd auth login. For unattended login, set both environment variables and run pdfcrowd auth login --non-interactive. Conversions never prompt for credentials.

Environment credentials take priority over the saved account. To use demo even when personal credentials are saved:

PDFCROWD_USERNAME=demo PDFCROWD_API_KEY=demo \
  html2pdf --output example.pdf https://example.com

Long options use --name. Account credentials are not accepted as arguments. Boolean conversion options accept true or false. Compound option arguments are separate values: --page-margins 10mm 10mm 10mm 10mm. Quote each value individually when needed; semicolons inside values are preserved. Use --option=VALUE for values that match an option name. Compound options can also take a JSON array: --http-auth='["username", "password"]'.

help, version, and JSON help work offline. Conversion output uses --output FILE or redirected stdout; only pdf2text writes results directly to a terminal. Failed file conversions preserve the previous output. Options can appear between input files:

pdfcrowd pdf2pdf first.pdf -o merged.pdf second.pdf

Diagnostics use stderr. Service errors preserve the SDK's complete message, including URLs, option values, and documentation links. Exit status 1 means an output pipe closed; Ctrl-C exits with status 130.

Converter settings are read from a per-converter sectionless INI file, but command invocations never automatically save settings. --init-config creates a commented starter; --show-config inspects effective defaults; --no-config bypasses saved conversion defaults while keeping credentials available. --show-config lists conversion settings from the file and command line; other options use their API defaults. Compound configuration values use JSON arrays of strings. auth login explicitly saves shared credentials; auth logout removes them. Use help configuration and help authentication for paths, precedence, examples, and details.

For example:

pdfcrowd html2pdf --init-config
# Open the created file and uncomment the settings you want to use.
pdfcrowd html2pdf --show-config
pdfcrowd html2pdf help --init-config

For scripts, integrations, and AI agents, pdfcrowd html2pdf help --json describes available options, argument types, defaults, and exit codes as JSON. Use pdfcrowd help --json for all converters.

pipx and uv expose pdfcrowd and all eight converter commands. The CLI installation includes the compatible SDK automatically.

The Python SDK contains only the API clients. All commands are provided by pdfcrowd-cli, so the SDK and CLI can share a virtual environment:

python -m pip install pdfcrowd-cli
html2pdf --help

This public source builds independently of the private generator checkout:

python -m pip install .
make build