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Developer Guide

Welcome to the RenderDoc Developer Guide! This guide provides comprehensive technical documentation for integrating RenderDoc into your applications.

What You'll Learn​

This developer guide covers everything you need to integrate RenderDoc programmatically:

Getting Started​

Advanced Features​

Integration​

Quick Example​

Here's a quick example to get you started with generating a PDF document:

const response = await fetch('https://api.renderdoc.dev/api/v1/documents/generate', {
  method: 'POST',
  headers: {
    'Authorization': 'Bearer rd_sk_abc123xyz456...',
    'Content-Type': 'application/json'
  },
  body: JSON.stringify({
    templateId: 'invoice-template',
    format: 'pdf',
    variables: {
      invoiceNumber: 'INV-2025-001',
      customerName: 'Acme Corporation',
      lineItems: [
        { description: 'Consulting', quantity: 10, price: 100 },
        { description: 'Development', quantity: 5, price: 150 }
      ],
      total: 1750.00
    }
  })
});

const data = await response.json();
console.log('Document ready:', data.downloadUrl);

Note: All documents are generated from templates. Templates are created via the Dashboard or API.

Base URL​

All API requests should be made to:

https://api.renderdoc.dev

Authentication​

RenderDoc uses API keys for authentication. Include your API key in the Authorization header:

curl https://api.renderdoc.dev/api/v1/documents/generate \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer rd_sk_abc123xyz456..." \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"templateId": "...", "format": "pdf", "variables": {...}}'

Learn more about Authentication →

Core Concepts​

Templates​

Templates are reusable document designs. They define:

  • Layout: How content is arranged (headers, sections, tables)
  • Variables: Placeholders for dynamic data ({{customerName}})
  • Formatting: Styles, fonts, colors
  • Format: PDF or Excel output

Document Generation​

Generate documents by:

  1. Providing a template ID
  2. Specifying the output format (pdf/xlsx)
  3. Passing variables to populate the template

Batch Processing​

For high-volume generation:

  1. Submit a batch request with multiple documents
  2. Receive a batch ID
  3. Poll for status or receive webhook notification
  4. Download generated documents

Language Examples​

The RenderDoc API is a standard REST API that works with any HTTP client. Here are examples in popular languages:

Node.js​

import { RenderDoc } from '@renderdoc/sdk';

const client = new RenderDoc({ apiKey: process.env.RENDERDOC_API_KEY });

const result = await client.documents.generate({
  templateId: 'invoice-template',
  format: 'pdf',
  variables: {
    invoiceNumber: 'INV-001',
    customerName: 'Acme Corp'
  }
});

Python​

from renderdoc import RenderDoc

client = RenderDoc(api_key=os.environ["RENDERDOC_API_KEY"])

result = client.documents.generate(
    template_id="invoice-template",
    format="pdf",
    variables={
        "invoiceNumber": "INV-001",
        "customerName": "Acme Corp"
    }
)

Java​

RenderDoc client = new RenderDoc(System.getenv("RENDERDOC_API_KEY"));

GenerateResult result = client.documents().generate(
    GenerateRequest.builder()
        .templateId("invoice-template")
        .format("pdf")
        .variable("invoiceNumber", "INV-001")
        .variable("customerName", "Acme Corp")
        .build()
);

cURL​

curl -X POST https://api.renderdoc.dev/api/v1/documents/generate \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer rd_sk_..." \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "templateId": "invoice-template",
    "format": "pdf",
    "variables": {
      "invoiceNumber": "INV-001",
      "customerName": "Acme Corp"
    }
  }'

See specific endpoint documentation in the API Reference for detailed examples.

Getting Help​

Ready to integrate? → Start with Authentication