pdf-generation

name	pdf-generation
description	Generate PDFs using Puppeteer, Playwright, react-pdf/renderer, pdfkit, jsPDF — server-side document rendering, invoices, reports, and export workflows
layer	domain
category	backend
triggers	["generate pdf","pdf generation","export to pdf","invoice pdf","report pdf","puppeteer pdf","react-pdf","pdfkit","jspdf","server-side pdf","print to pdf"]
inputs	["Document type (invoice, report, certificate, contract)","Data source and template requirements","Styling complexity (simple text vs rich layouts)","Runtime environment (server-only, edge, client-side)","Volume expectations (on-demand vs batch)"]
outputs	["PDF generation implementation with chosen library","Document template system","API endpoint for on-demand PDF generation","Batch generation pipeline (if needed)","Download/email delivery integration"]
linksTo	["react","api-designer","nodejs","message-queues"]
linkedFrom	["ecommerce","billing"]
preferredNextSkills	["caching","message-queues"]
fallbackSkills	["nodejs"]
riskLevel	low
memoryReadPolicy	selective
memoryWritePolicy	none
sideEffects	["May add browser dependencies (Puppeteer/Playwright Chromium)","May add native dependencies (pdfkit/canvas)","May increase Docker image size significantly for browser-based approaches"]

PDF Generation Skill

Purpose

PDF generation is essential for invoices, reports, certificates, contracts, and data exports. This skill covers the full spectrum: from browser-based HTML-to-PDF rendering (Puppeteer/Playwright) to programmatic PDF construction (pdfkit, react-pdf) to client-side generation (jsPDF).

When to Use What

Library	Best For	Runtime	Styling	Size Impact
Puppeteer / Playwright	Complex HTML layouts, pixel-perfect CSS	Server (needs Chromium)	Full CSS, Tailwind, Flexbox, Grid	~400MB (Chromium)
@react-pdf/renderer	React developers, component-based layouts	Server or client	React-PDF subset (Flexbox, no CSS Grid)	~2MB
pdfkit	Programmatic PDF, precise control	Server (Node.js)	Manual positioning, no CSS	~5MB
jsPDF	Client-side generation, simple documents	Browser	Manual positioning	~300KB
Playwright page.pdf()	Already using Playwright, need PDF export	Server	Full CSS	~400MB

Decision shortcut:

• Have complex HTML/CSS templates? Puppeteer or Playwright
• React-based, component-driven? @react-pdf/renderer
• Need precise low-level control? pdfkit
• Must generate in browser, no server? jsPDF

Implementation Patterns

1. Puppeteer HTML-to-PDF (Most Flexible)

import puppeteer, { Browser } from 'puppeteer';

// Reuse browser instance for performance
let browser: Browser | null = null;

async  (): <> {
   (!browser || !browser.) {
    browser =  puppeteer.({
      : ,
      : [
        ,
        ,
        ,     
        ,
        ,  
      ],
    });
  }
   browser;
}

  {
  : ;
  ?:  |  | ;
  ?: ;
  ?: { : ; : ; : ; :  };
  ?: ;
  ?: ;
  ?: ;
}

  (): <> {
   browser =  ();
   page =  browser.();

   {
    
     page.(options., {
      : [, ],
      : ,
    });

    
     page.();

     pdfBuffer =  page.({
      : options. ?? ,
      : options. ?? ,
      : options. ?? ,
      : options. ?? {
        : ,
        : ,
        : ,
        : ,
      },
      : !!(options. || options.),
      : options. ?? ,
      :
        options. ??
        ,
    });

     .(pdfBuffer);
  }  {
     page.();
  }
}


process.(,  () => {
   (browser)  browser.();
});