CobaltPDF.Requests 1.1.0

CobaltPDF.Requests

A lightweight, dependency-free companion package to CobaltPDF.

Install this package on the client (your web app, API gateway, mobile backend, etc.) to build and send PDF generation requests — without pulling in Chromium, Playwright, or any other heavy dependency. The CobaltPDF server handles the actual rendering.

Installation

dotnet add package CobaltPDF.Requests

How it works

Both packages share the same PdfRequest model. The server-side CobaltPDF package provides a request.ExecuteAsync(engine) extension method that maps every property back to the fluent API automatically.

Quick start

// Client — only CobaltPDF.Requests installed
var request = new PdfRequest
{
    Url         = "https://myapp.com/invoice/42",
    Landscape   = true,
    PaperFormat = "A4",
    Metadata    = new() { Title = "Invoice #42", Author = "Billing System" }
};

var response = await httpClient.PostAsJsonAsync("/api/pdf", request);
var pdfBytes = await response.Content.ReadAsByteArrayAsync();

PdfRequest properties

Source (one required)

Layout

Headers & footers

Watermark

Wait strategy

JavaScript

HTTP headers

var request = new PdfRequest
{
    Url       = "https://example.com",
    UserAgent = "Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; MyBot/1.0)",
    ExtraHeaders = new()
    {
        ["Authorization"]  = "Bearer eyJ...",
        ["Accept-Language"] = "en-GB",
        ["X-Api-Key"]      = "secret"
    }
};

Cookies & storage

var request = new PdfRequest
{
    Url     = "https://example.com",
    Cookies = [new() { Name = "session", Value = "abc123" }],
    LocalStorage = new() { ["theme"] = "dark" }
};

Lazy loading

Encryption

Encryption = new()
{
    UserPassword     = "open123",
    OwnerPassword    = "admin456", // optional — random generated if omitted
    AllowPrinting    = true,
    AllowCopying     = false,
    AllowModification = false
}

Metadata

Metadata = new()
{
    Title    = "Invoice #42",
    Author   = "Billing System",
    Subject  = "Monthly invoice",
    Keywords = "invoice, billing",
    Creator  = "MyApp"
}

Supporting types

PdfRequestMargins

All values are CSS length strings: "10mm", "1cm", "0.5in", "20px".

Margins = new()
{
    Top    = "10mm",
    Bottom = "10mm",
    Left   = "15mm",
    Right  = "15mm"
}

PdfRequestCookie

Watermark

Wait strategies

PdfResponse

The server returns a PdfResponse after a successful render.

Helpers:

byte[]       bytes  = response.ToBytes();
MemoryStream stream = response.ToStream();

Full example

using CobaltPdf.Requests;

var request = new PdfRequest
{
    Url         = "https://myapp.com/invoice/42",
    Landscape   = false,
    PaperFormat = "A4",
    MediaType   = "print",

    // HTTP headers
    UserAgent    = "Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; InvoiceBot/1.0)",
    ExtraHeaders = new()
    {
        ["Authorization"]   = "Bearer eyJ...",
        ["Accept-Language"] = "en-GB"
    },

    // Auth cookie
    Cookies = [new() { Name = "session", Value = "abc123" }],

    // Wait for React app to signal readiness
    WaitStrategy = "signal",
    CustomJs     = "window.cobaltNotifyRender();",

    // PDF metadata
    Metadata = new()
    {
        Title  = "Invoice #42",
        Author = "Billing System"
    },

    // Password protect
    Encryption = new() { UserPassword = "open123" }
};

var httpResponse = await httpClient.PostAsJsonAsync("/api/pdf", request);
httpResponse.EnsureSuccessStatusCode();

var pdfResponse = await httpResponse.Content.ReadFromJsonAsync<PdfResponse>();
await File.WriteAllBytesAsync("invoice.pdf", pdfResponse!.ToBytes());

License

See the CobaltPDF licensing page for details.