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Quick Start with Postman

Postman

Test the PDFBolt REST API in Postman without writing code. Open the quick start video on YouTube, use our Postman collection, or follow the step-by-step guide below.

Quick API Testing​

Fork our Postman collection with one click to test all PDFBolt API endpoints. Set your API key as an environment variable, then start sending requests.

Run In Postman

Quick start video

Prefer a video walkthrough? Watch the Postman quick start video on YouTube.

Quick Start from Scratch​

1. Get Your API Key​

Find your API key on the API Keys page in your Dashboard. If you don't have an account, sign up – the free plan includes 100 document conversions per month.

2. Set Up Postman for PDFBolt​

1. Create a New Request​

  • Open Postman and create a new Request.
  • Set the HTTP Method to POST.
  • Enter one of the following PDFBolt API endpoint URLs based on your use case:
https://api.pdfbolt.com/v1/direct
https://api.pdfbolt.com/v1/sync
https://api.pdfbolt.com/v1/async

2. Set Up Authorization​

  • Go to the Authorization tab.
  • Choose API Key as the Auth Type.
  • Enter the following values:
    • Key: API-KEY
    • Value: Your unique API key.
    • Select Header to include the key in the request headers.
Setting Up Your API Key as an Environment Variable in Postman

Instead of manually entering your API key every time, store it as an environment variable in Postman for easier reuse in future requests.

How to set it up in Postman:​

  1. Open Postman and go to Environments.
  2. Click ➕ to create a new environment.
  3. Create a new variable called API_KEY and set its type to Secret.
  4. Paste your API key into Initial value and Current value, then save the environment.
  5. In your request headers, set the key name to API-KEY and the value to {{API_KEY}}.

Postman will substitute {{API_KEY}} with your actual API key when sending requests.

3. Define the Request Body​

  • Navigate to the Body tab.
  • Select raw and set the content type to JSON.
  • Choose your source:

Convert a webpage to PDF:

{
  "url": "https://example.com",
  "format": "A4",
  "printBackground": true
}

4. Send the Request​

  • Click Send to execute the request.
  • Upon success, the response depends on the endpoint you chose:
Expected response
  • Direct – returns the binary PDF (use Save Response → Save to file in Postman to save it).
  • Sync – returns JSON with documentUrl (the PDF download link, valid for 24 hours).
  • Async – returns JSON with requestId. The PDF is delivered to your webhook URL when ready.
Async endpoint

If you want to use the /async endpoint, include the webhook parameter in your request body.

Next Steps​