{"slug": "show-hn-mintpdf-html-markdown-to-pdf-api-with-an-mcp-server", "title": "Show HN: MintPDF – HTML/Markdown to PDF API with an MCP Server", "summary": "MintPDF, a new PDF API for developers and AI agents, launched on Hacker News, allowing users to convert Markdown, HTML, or URLs to PDF via a single POST request or MCP tool call, with no template editor or dashboard. The service offers a free tier of 10 renders per day without signup, and paid plans start at $19 per month for 3,000 renders. Generated files auto-delete after one hour, and requests to private addresses are blocked.", "body_md": "A PDF API for developers and AI agents. No template editor, no template IDs, no dashboard. One POST request, or one MCP tool call. Markdown comes with a stylesheet that makes agent-written documents look right by default.\n\n| built for | invoices · receipts · reports · agent output |\n| send | Markdown, HTML, or a public URL |\n| get back | PDF bytes, or a link that expires in an hour |\n\n```\n# Invoice #42\n\n| Item   | Price  |\n|--------|--------|\n| Widget | $9.00  |\n```\n\n| Item | Price |\n|---|---|\n| Widget | $9.00 |\n| Gadget | $24.00 |\n\n```\n# no signup needed, 10 seconds\ncurl -X POST https://mintpdf.dev/v1/pdf \\\n  -H \"Content-Type: application/json\" \\\n  -d '{\"markdown\":\"# Invoice #42\\n\\n| Item | Price |\\n|---|---|\\n| Widget | $9.00 |\\n| Gadget | $24.00 |\",\"pageNumbers\":true}' \\\n  --output invoice.pdf\n\n# → 200 application/pdf · one A4 page, table already styled\n\n# want a link instead of bytes? add:\n  \"output\": \"url\"  → {\"download_url\": \"…\", \"expires_at\": \"…\"}\n# one line in your MCP config\n\"mintpdf\": {\n  \"command\": \"npx\",\n  \"args\": [\"-y\", \"mintpdf-mcp\"]\n}\n\n# or point straight at the hosted endpoint with mcp-remote:\n# …railway.app/mcp\n```\n\n| tools | generate_pdf · pdf_from_url |\n| transport | streamable HTTP, stateless |\n| returns | download URL, 1h TTL |\n\n``` bash\n# send content, not a template id\n$ curl -sS -X POST https://mintpdf.dev/v1/pdf \\\n     -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \\\n     -d '{\"markdown\":\"# Q3 report\\n\\nRevenue grew **12%**.\",\n          \"pageNumbers\":true, \"footerText\":\"Acme Ltd\"}' \\\n     -o report.pdf -D -\n\nHTTP/2 200\ncontent-type: application/pdf\nx-ratelimit-remaining: 2\n\n$ pdfinfo report.pdf | head -3\nPages:          3\nPage size:      595 x 842 pts (A4)\nFile size:      166 kB\n\n# prefer a link? add \"output\":\"url\"\n$ curl -sS …/v1/pdf -d '{\"markdown\":\"# Hi\",\"output\":\"url\"}'\n{\"download_url\":\"https://mintpdf.dev/f/…\",\n \"expires_at\":\"…\",\"size_bytes\":6751}  ✓\n# the file is deleted an hour later\n```\n\nOne POST, or one MCP tool call from an agent. No template to design first, no template id to keep in sync with your code.\n\nMarkdown gets a stylesheet that keeps code blocks and tables whole across page breaks and repeats table headers. Send HTML instead and your own CSS is used as-is.\n\nStream the file straight into your response, or take a download URL valid for one hour. Nothing is stored afterwards.\n\nOne email, one key, no card. Or try 10 renders a day with no signup at all. Lost your key? Ask again with the same email.\n\n```\n# or from the terminal\ncurl -X POST …/v1/keys \\\n  -d '{\"email\":\"you@example.com\"}'\n```\n\n| format | A4 · Letter · Legal · A3 · A5 |\n| margin | any, e.g. \"18mm\" |\n| landscape | true / false |\n| header / footer | text on every page |\n| pageNumbers | \"3 / 7\" in footer |\n| engine | Chromium. Your CSS works |\n\n| Solo | $19 /mo | 3,000 renders/month |\n| Team | $49 /mo | 12,000 renders/month |\n| Scale | $129 /mo | 50,000 renders/month |\n\nYour documents are rendered and forgotten.\n**Generated files auto-delete after one hour.** No accounts, no\ndocument storage, no tracking of what you render. Requests to private and internal addresses\nare blocked at the browser layer.", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/show-hn-mintpdf-html-markdown-to-pdf-api-with-an-mcp-server", "canonical_source": "https://mintpdf.dev", "published_at": "2026-08-12 12:25:59+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-08-12 12:42:18.589002+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["developer-tools", "ai-tools", "ai-agents"], "entities": ["MintPDF", "Hacker News"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/show-hn-mintpdf-html-markdown-to-pdf-api-with-an-mcp-server", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/show-hn-mintpdf-html-markdown-to-pdf-api-with-an-mcp-server.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/show-hn-mintpdf-html-markdown-to-pdf-api-with-an-mcp-server.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/show-hn-mintpdf-html-markdown-to-pdf-api-with-an-mcp-server.jsonld"}}