Docs to PDF

⚡ Requirements

• Node.js >= 20.0.0

📌 Introduction

This is a PDF generator from document website such as docusaurus. This is a fork of mr-pdf which was not maintained anymore. Feel free to contribute to this project.

📦 Installation

npm install -g docs-to-pdf

🚀 Quick Start

npx docs-to-pdf --initialDocURLs="https://docusaurus-archive-october-2023.netlify.app/docs/2.3.1" --contentSelector="article" --paginationSelector="a.pagination-nav__link.pagination-nav__link--next" --excludeSelectors=".margin-vert--xl a,[class^='tocCollapsible'],.breadcrumbs,.theme-edit-this-page" --coverImage="https://docusaurus.io/img/docusaurus.png" --coverTitle="Docusaurus v2"

⚡ Usage

For Docusaurus v2

npx docs-to-pdf docusaurus --initialDocURLs="https://docusaurus-archive-october-2023.netlify.app/docs/2.3.1"

OR

npx docs-to-pdf --initialDocURLs="https://docusaurus-archive-october-2023.netlify.app/docs/2.3.1" --contentSelector="article" --paginationSelector="a.pagination-nav__link.pagination-nav__link--next" --excludeSelectors=".margin-vert--xl a,[class^='tocCollapsible'],.breadcrumbs,.theme-edit-this-page" --coverImage="https://docusaurus.io/img/docusaurus.png" --coverTitle="Docusaurus v2"

🍗 CLI Global Options

Option	Required	Description
--initialDocURLs	Yes	set URL to start generating PDF from.
--contentSelector	No	used to find the part of main content
--paginationSelector	No	CSS Selector used to find next page to be printed for looping.
--excludeURLs	No	URLs to be excluded in PDF
--excludeSelectors	No	exclude selectors from PDF. Separate each selector with comma and no space. But you can use space in each selector. ex: --excludeSelectors=".nav,.next > a"
--cssStyle	No	CSS style to adjust PDF output ex: --cssStyle="body{padding-top: 0;}" *If you're project owner you can use @media print { } to edit CSS for PDF.
--outputPDFFilename	No	name of the output PDF file. Default is docs-to-pdf.pdf
--pdfMargin	No	set margin around PDF file. Separate each margin with comma and no space. ex: --pdfMargin="10,20,30,40". This sets margin top: 10px, right: 20px, bottom: 30px, left: 40px
--paperFormat	No	pdf format ex: --paperFormat="A3". Please check this link for available formats Puppeteer document
--coverTitle	No	Title for the PDF cover.
--coverImage	No	<src> Image for PDF cover (does not support SVG)
--coverSub	No	Subtitle the for PDF cover. Add <br/> tags for multiple lines.
--tocTitle	No	Title for the table of contents.
--disableCover	No	Optional toggle to show the PDF cover or not
--disableTOC	No	Optional toggle to show the table of contents or not
--headerTemplate	No	HTML template for the print header. Please check this link for details of injecting values Puppeteer document
--footerTemplate	No	HTML template for the print footer. Please check this link for details of injecting values Puppeteer document
--puppeteerArgs	No	Add puppeteer BrowserLaunchArgumentOptions arguments ex: --sandbox Puppeteer document
--protocolTimeout	No	Timeout setting for individual protocol calls in milliseconds. If omitted, the default value of 180000 ms (3 min) is used
--filterKeyword	No	Only adds pages to the PDF containing a given meta keywords. Makes it possible to generate PDFs of selected pages
--baseUrl	No	Base URL for all relative URLs. Allows to render the pdf on localhost (ci/Github Actions) while referencing the deployed page.
--excludePaths	No	URL Paths to be excluded
--restrictPaths	No	Keep Only URL Path with the same rootPath as --initialDocURLs
--extractIframes	No	Extract and inline content from iframes (only same-origin or accessible iframes). Default is false
--httpAuthUser	No	HTTP Basic Auth username for protected documentation sites
--httpAuthPassword	No	HTTP Basic Auth password for protected documentation sites

Docusaurus Options

Option	Required	Description
--version	No	Docusaurus version. Default is 2. Supported versions: 1, 2, and 3.
--docsDir	No	Path to Docusaurus build dir. Either absolute or relative from path of the shell. The local server will automatically find an available port if 3000 is occupied.

📚 Docusaurus Version Support

docs-to-pdf supports Docusaurus v1 (legacy), v2, and v3. The tool automatically applies the correct selectors based on the version you specify.

Version Differences

• Docusaurus v1 (Legacy): Older documentation format with different HTML structure and navigation
• Docusaurus v2: Uses <article> tag as the main content selector
• Docusaurus v3: Uses <main> tag as the main content selector (changed from v2)

Usage

When using the docusaurus command, specify the version with the --version flag:

# Docusaurus v1
npx docs-to-pdf docusaurus --initialDocURLs="https://your-site.com/docs" --version=1

# Docusaurus v2 (default)
npx docs-to-pdf docusaurus --initialDocURLs="https://your-site.com/docs" --version=2

# Docusaurus v3
npx docs-to-pdf docusaurus --initialDocURLs="https://your-site.com/docs" --version=3

If you omit the --version flag, it defaults to version 2.

🎨 Examples and Demo PDF

Docusaurus v2

https://docusaurus-archive-october-2023.netlify.app/

initialDocURLs: https://docusaurus-archive-october-2023.netlify.app/docs/2.3.1

demoPDF: https://github.com/jean-humann/docs-to-pdf/blob/master/pdf/v2-docusaurus.pdf

command:

npx docs-to-pdf docusaurus --initialDocURLs="https://docusaurus-archive-october-2023.netlify.app/docs/2.3.1"

OR

npx docs-to-pdf --initialDocURLs="https://docusaurus-archive-october-2023.netlify.app/docs/2.3.1" --contentSelector="article" --paginationSelector="a.pagination-nav__link.pagination-nav__link--next" --excludeSelectors=".margin-vert--xl a,[class^='tocCollapsible'],.breadcrumbs,.theme-edit-this-page" --coverImage="https://docusaurus.io/img/docusaurus.png" --coverTitle="Docusaurus v2"

Docusaurus v3

Docusaurus v3 uses <main> as the content selector instead of <article>. Here's an example:

command:

npx docs-to-pdf docusaurus --initialDocURLs="https://your-docusaurus-v3-site.com/docs/" --version=3

OR with explicit selectors:

npx docs-to-pdf --initialDocURLs="https://your-docusaurus-v3-site.com/docs/" --contentSelector="main" --paginationSelector="a.pagination-nav__link.pagination-nav__link--next" --excludeSelectors=".margin-vert--xl a,[class^='tocCollapsible'],.breadcrumbs,.theme-edit-this-page" --coverImage="https://your-docusaurus-v3-site.com/img/logo.png" --coverTitle="Your Docs"

Note: Docusaurus v3 changed the main content wrapper from <article> (v2) to <main> (v3). The --version=3 flag automatically uses the correct main selector.

Extracting Content from Iframes

By default, docs-to-pdf only captures the <iframe> tag itself, but not the content loaded inside it. If your documentation pages contain iframes with important content (e.g., embedded demos, interactive examples), you can use the --extractIframes option to extract and inline their content into the PDF.

# Enable iframe extraction
npx docs-to-pdf --initialDocURLs="https://your-site.com/docs" --contentSelector="article" --paginationSelector="a.pagination-nav__link--next" --extractIframes

With Docusaurus:

npx docs-to-pdf docusaurus --initialDocURLs="https://your-site.com/docs" --extractIframes

How it works:

• Detects all <iframe> elements on each page
• Extracts content from accessible iframes (same-origin or accessible cross-origin)
• Replaces the iframe tag with a styled <div> containing the extracted content
• Preserves iframe metadata (title, src) in the extracted content
• Gracefully skips cross-origin iframes that cannot be accessed due to CORS restrictions

Limitations:

• Only works with same-origin iframes or iframes that allow cross-origin access
• Cross-origin iframes blocked by CORS policy will be skipped
• The feature is opt-in and disabled by default for backward compatibility

When to use:

• Your documentation contains embedded examples in iframes
• You want to include interactive demos in the PDF
• Your site uses iframes for content that should appear in the PDF

Using HTTP Basic Authentication

If your documentation site is protected with HTTP Basic Authentication, you can provide credentials using the --httpAuthUser and --httpAuthPassword options:

npx docs-to-pdf --initialDocURLs="https://protected-docs.example.com/docs" --contentSelector="article" --paginationSelector="a.pagination-nav__link--next" --httpAuthUser="myusername" --httpAuthPassword="mypassword"

This works with both the core and docusaurus commands:

npx docs-to-pdf docusaurus --initialDocURLs="https://protected-docs.example.com/docs" --httpAuthUser="myusername" --httpAuthPassword="mypassword"

Security Note: Be cautious when using credentials in command-line arguments, as they may be visible in shell history. Consider using environment variables or other secure methods for sensitive credentials in production environments.

Docusaurus v1 - Legacy

https://docusaurus.io/en/

initialDocURLs: https://docusaurus.io/docs/en/installation

demoPDF: https://github.com/jean-humann/docs-to-pdf/blob/master/pdf/v1-docusaurus.pdf

command:

npx docs-to-pdf docusaurus --initialDocURLs="https://docusaurus.io/docs/en/installation" --version=1

OR

npx docs-to-pdf --initialDocURLs="https://docusaurus.io/docs/en/installation" --contentSelector="article" --paginationSelector=".docs-prevnext > a.docs-next" --excludeSelectors=".fixedHeaderContainer,footer.nav-footer,#docsNav,nav.onPageNav,a.edit-page-link,div.docs-prevnext" --cssStyle=".navPusher {padding-top: 0;}" --pdfMargin="20"

PR to add new docs is welcome here... 😸

🐳 Docker Support

Docker images are available for running docs-to-pdf in containerized environments. Images are published for multiple Node.js versions (20, 22, 24) and both Alpine and Debian-based distributions.

Quick Start with Docker

# Pull the latest image (Alpine with Node 24)
docker pull ghcr.io/jean-humann/docs-to-pdf:latest-node24-alpine

# Generate a PDF
docker run --rm -v $(pwd)/output:/docs-to-pdf/output \
  ghcr.io/jean-humann/docs-to-pdf:latest-node24-alpine \
  bash -c "docs-to-pdf --initialDocURLs='https://docusaurus-archive-october-2023.netlify.app/docs/2.3.1' --outputPDFFilename='output/docs.pdf'"

Available Image Tags

Images follow the pattern: <version>-node<X>-<os>

Examples:

• latest-node24-alpine - Latest version with Node 24 on Alpine
• latest-node22-debian - Latest version with Node 22 on Debian
• v1.2.3-node20-alpine - Specific version with Node 20 on Alpine

Development and Testing

For local development, testing, and contributing to Docker support, see the Docker README.

📄 How docs-to-pdf works

1. puppeteer can make html to PDF like you can print HTML page in chrome browser
2. so, the idea of docs-to-pdf is generating one big HTML through looping page link, then run page.pdf() from puppeteer to generate PDF.

🎉 Thanks

This repo's code is coming from https://github.com/KohheePeace/mr-pdf.

Thanks for awesome code made by @KohheePeace, @maxarndt and @aloisklink.

@bojl approach to make TOC was awesome and breakthrough.

🤝 Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please read our Contributing Guide for details on:

• Setting up the development environment with mise
• Running tests and linting
• Docker development and E2E testing
• Commit message conventions (Conventional Commits)
• Release process (automated via release-please-action)

For AI assistants working on this project, see CLAUDE.md for specific guidelines.