n8n-nodes-pdfmonkey

This is an n8n community node. It lets you use PDFMonkey in your n8n workflows.

PDFMonkey is a service that allows you to generate PDFs from HTML templates with dynamic data.

n8n is a fair-code licensed workflow automation platform.

Installation Operations Credentials Compatibility Upgrading Usage Resources

Installation

Follow the installation guide in the n8n community nodes documentation.

Operations

PDFMonkey Node

The PDFMonkey node provides the following operations:

• Generate Document: Create a new PDF document using a template and dynamic data
  • Supports custom metadata and filename customization
  • Optional auto-polling for document completion (controlled by "Wait For Completion" option)
  • Polls every 2 seconds while waiting, and gives up after 5 minutes
  • Downloads the PDF automatically if generation is successful and auto-polling is enabled
  • Fails the item if PDFMonkey reports a generation failure, reporting the failure_cause
• Get Document: Get document details and check its generation status
• Download File: Download a generated PDF or image document and save it as a binary file
• Delete Document: Delete a previously generated PDF document from PDFMonkey

PDFMonkey Trigger Node

The PDFMonkey Trigger node listens for webhooks from PDFMonkey and processes them:

• Webhook Receiver: Triggers when PDFMonkey finishes generating a document, whether it succeeded or failed. Check the status field to tell them apart
• Automatic File Download: Automatically downloads the PDF or image when the document generation is successful; failed documents come through with their failure_cause and no binary data
• Intelligent Filename Handling: Extracts the filename from metadata
• Complete Response Data: Returns all document properties from the PDFMonkey API in the JSON output

Testing the Trigger

Select a workspace (and optionally one or more templates), then click Listen for test event. n8n registers a temporary REST hook with PDFMonkey; generate a document from one of the selected templates and the payload will appear in the output panel.

To build the rest of your workflow without generating a document, click set mock data in the output panel and paste the payload below. It matches what PDFMonkey actually sends (webhook documentation):

[
  {
    "id": "a5e86d72-f5b7-43d4-a04e-8b7e08e6741c",
    "app_id": "d6b4e8f2-7a3c-4d1e-9f5b-2c8a1d3e6f90",
    "created_at": "2050-03-13T12:34:56.181+02:00",
    "document_template_id": "2903f5b4-623b-4e10-b2e3-dc7e2e67ea39",
    "document_template_identifier": "My Invoice Template",
    "download_url": "https://pdfmonkey.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/...",
    "failure_cause": null,
    "filename": "2050-03-14 Peter Parker.pdf",
    "meta": {
      "_filename": "2050-03-14 Peter Parker.pdf",
      "clientRef": "spidey-616"
    },
    "output_type": "pdf",
    "preview_url": "https://preview.pdfmonkey.io/pdf/web/viewer.html?file=...",
    "public_share_link": null,
    "status": "success",
    "updated_at": "2050-03-13T12:34:59.412+02:00"
  }
]

The webhook carries a DocumentCard, so payload, generation_logs and checksum are not included. download_url is a signed link valid for one hour. On a real successful event the node also attaches the downloaded file as binary data, which mock data cannot reproduce.

Credentials

To use the PDFMonkey nodes, you need to have a PDFMonkey account and API key.

1. Sign up for PDFMonkey at https://www.pdfmonkey.io/
2. In your PDFMonkey dashboard, navigate to the API section
3. Copy your API key
4. In n8n, create new credentials of type 'PDFMonkey API' and paste your API key

Compatibility

This node has been tested with n8n version 1.0.0 and later.

Upgrading

See the CHANGELOG for what changed in each release.

Upgrading to 1.0.0 from 0.4.x needs a few manual steps, including selecting a Workspace on every existing PDFMonkey Trigger before its workflow can be activated again. The Upgrading from 0.4.x notes list all of them.

Usage

Flexible Payload Input

The Generate Document operation supports two methods for providing template data:

1. JSON Format:

   • Enter your entire payload as a JSON object
   • Ideal for complex data structures or when copying from another source
   • Example:

     {
     	"invoiceNumber": "INV-2023-001",
     	"customerName": "Acme Inc.",
     	"items": [
     		{ "name": "Widget", "quantity": 5, "price": 10.99 },
     		{ "name": "Gadget", "quantity": 2, "price": 24.99 }
     	],
     	"total": 104.93
     }

2. Key-Value Pairs:

   • Add fields individually with key-value pairs
   • More visual and easier to manage for simple templates
   • Supports complex data structures:
     • JSON objects/arrays: Values starting with { or [ are automatically parsed as JSON
     • Arrays from other nodes: The node automatically handles n8n's special array format [Array: [...]]
     • Direct objects: When passing data from other nodes that return objects, they are used directly

Enhanced Object Handling

The node intelligently processes different value types in key-value pairs:

• Direct Objects: Objects passed directly from other nodes are preserved intact
• JSON Strings: Strings that look like JSON (starting with { or [) are parsed automatically
• Special Array Format: The n8n array format [Array: [...]] is detected and parsed
• Regular Values: Simple strings, numbers, and booleans are handled appropriately

This makes it easy to pass complex data from other nodes to PDFMonkey without manual conversion.

Example: Processing Arrays from n8n

When you map data from other nodes (like Function or HTTP Request nodes), arrays often come in this special format:

[Array: [{"name":"Mouse","quantity":3,"price":88.92},{"name":"Headphones","quantity":5,"price":14.99},{"name":"Keyboard","quantity":3,"price":48.28}]]

The PDFMonkey node will automatically detect this format, extract the array content, and properly parse it as a JSON array. This is especially useful for templating tables or lists in your PDFs where you need to pass complex structured data.

Generate Document with Auto-Polling

The Generate Document operation includes a "Wait For Completion" option that controls whether the node waits for the document to finish generating before continuing the workflow:

1. When enabled (default):

   • The node checks the document status every 2 seconds until it reaches a final state (success or failure)
   • If successful, it automatically downloads the PDF or image and returns it as a binary file
   • If PDFMonkey reports a failure, the item fails with the failure_cause it returned. Enable n8n's "Continue On Fail" on the node if you would rather keep the workflow running
   • If the document is still generating after 5 minutes, the node stops waiting and fails the item. The document keeps generating on PDFMonkey's side, so you can still fetch it later with Get Document or Download File
   • Progress is logged with status updates during polling

2. When disabled:

   • The node returns immediately after creating the document
   • The response includes the document ID and initial pending status
   • You can later use the Get Document or Download File operations to check status and retrieve the document

This feature is especially useful for smaller documents that generate quickly, providing a simpler workflow without needing separate Get Document and Download File steps. For larger documents that take longer to generate, in particular anything that might run past the 5-minute wait, disable this option and use a separate Get Document or Download File operation later, or trigger the follow-up work from the PDFMonkey Trigger node instead.

Custom Filenames

You can set a custom filename for your generated PDF or image using the dedicated Custom Filename field in the Generate Document operation

If the field is left empty, the node will use the default generated filename.

Resources

• n8n community nodes documentation
• PDFMonkey API Documentation
• Changelog