GET /v1/documents - Retrieve Generated PDFs

GET /v1/documents/:id

Retrieve PDFs generated via the Create endpoint. Each generated PDF is assigned a unique document ID and stored for the configured TTL (default 24 hours).

Overview

When you generate a PDF via /v1/create, the response includes a document ID (e.g., doc_abc123...). Use this ID to:

1. Download the PDF - Retrieve the raw file at any time before expiration
2. Check metadata - Get file size, creation time, and expiration without downloading
3. Share securely - Document URLs work without API keys (security via unguessable IDs)

Tip

Document URLs are shareable. You can send the URL directly to customers, partners, or embed it in emails without exposing your API key.

In-Memory Storage

By default, generated documents are stored in-memory and will be lost when the server restarts. Documents also expire after their configured TTL (default 24 hours). For production deployments requiring persistent storage, configure an S3 or R2 storage adapter. See Deployment Guide for details.

GET /v1/documents/:id

Retrieve a generated PDF by its document ID.

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Location	Description
id	string	Path	The document ID (e.g., doc_abc123...)

Response

Returns the PDF file directly with appropriate headers:

Headers:

Content-Type: application/pdf
Content-Disposition: inline; filename="glyph-invoice-clean-1706000000000.pdf"
Content-Length: 45678

Body: Binary PDF data

Example

# Download a generated PDF
curl https://api.glyph.you/v1/documents/doc_abc123 -o document.pdf

// Fetch and display in browser
const response = await fetch('https://api.glyph.you/v1/documents/doc_abc123');
const blob = await response.blob();
const url = URL.createObjectURL(blob);
window.open(url);

import requests

response = requests.get('https://api.glyph.you/v1/documents/doc_abc123')
with open('document.pdf', 'wb') as f:
    f.write(response.content)

Errors

Status	Code	Description
404	DOCUMENT_NOT_FOUND	Document ID does not exist
410	DOCUMENT_EXPIRED	Document has expired. Response includes expiredAt timestamp.

404 Response:

{
  "error": "Document not found",
  "code": "DOCUMENT_NOT_FOUND"
}

410 Response:

{
  "error": "Document has expired",
  "code": "DOCUMENT_EXPIRED",
  "expiredAt": "2026-01-28T12:00:00.000Z"
}

---

GET /v1/documents/:id/metadata

GET /v1/documents/:id/metadata

Retrieve metadata about a document without downloading the file. Useful for checking expiration or file size before download.

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Location	Description
id	string	Path	The document ID (e.g., doc_abc123...)

Response

{
  "id": "doc_abc123...",
  "format": "pdf",
  "size": 45678,
  "filename": "glyph-invoice-clean-1706000000000.pdf",
  "createdAt": "2026-01-28T12:00:00.000Z",
  "expiresAt": "2026-01-29T12:00:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "type": "template",
    "templateId": "invoice-clean"
  },
  "sessionId": "dev_xyz789..."
}

Fields

Field	Type	Description
id	string	Document ID
format	string	Output format (pdf or png)
size	number	File size in bytes
filename	string	Generated filename
createdAt	string	ISO 8601 creation timestamp
expiresAt	string	ISO 8601 expiration timestamp
source	object	How the document was created
source.type	string	template, html, or url
source.templateId	string	Template ID (if type is template)
source.url	string	Source URL (if type is url)
sessionId	string	Session used to generate the document

Example

curl https://api.glyph.you/v1/documents/doc_abc123/metadata

const response = await fetch('https://api.glyph.you/v1/documents/doc_abc123/metadata');
const metadata = await response.json();

console.log(`File size: ${(metadata.size / 1024).toFixed(1)} KB`);
console.log(`Expires: ${new Date(metadata.expiresAt).toLocaleString()}`);

// Check if document is still valid
const expiresAt = new Date(metadata.expiresAt);
if (expiresAt > new Date()) {
  console.log('Document is still available');
}

import requests
from datetime import datetime

response = requests.get('https://api.glyph.you/v1/documents/doc_abc123/metadata')
metadata = response.json()

print(f"File size: {metadata['size'] / 1024:.1f} KB")
print(f"Created: {metadata['createdAt']}")
print(f"Expires: {metadata['expiresAt']}")

---

Notes

No Authentication Required

Document URLs work without API keys. Security is provided through unguessable document IDs (cryptographically random 32-character strings). This means:

• Share document URLs directly with customers
• Embed in emails or notifications
• Use in client-side applications without exposing API keys

Automatic Cleanup

Documents are automatically deleted after their TTL expires. You can configure the TTL (5 minutes to 7 days) when calling /v1/create:

{
  "data": { ... },
  "ttl": 604800  // 7 days in seconds
}

See POST /v1/create for full TTL documentation.

Storage Behavior

In-Memory Storage Warning

The default document store uses in-memory storage. This means:

• Documents are lost on server restart - Any cached documents will be unavailable after a deployment or restart
• TTL expiration still applies - Documents expire after their configured TTL regardless of storage backend
• Not suitable for critical documents - If document availability is critical, configure persistent storage

For production deployments, configure an S3 or Cloudflare R2 storage adapter to ensure documents persist across restarts. See Deployment Guide for configuration details.

Workflow Example

A typical workflow for generating and sharing a PDF:

// 1. Generate the PDF
const createResponse = await fetch('https://api.glyph.you/v1/create', {
  method: 'POST',
  headers: {
    'Authorization': 'Bearer gk_your_api_key',
    'Content-Type': 'application/json'
  },
  body: JSON.stringify({
    templateId: 'invoice-clean',
    data: invoiceData,
    ttl: 604800  // Keep for 7 days
  })
});

const { documentId, expiresAt } = await createResponse.json();

// 2. Build the shareable URL
const shareableUrl = `https://api.glyph.you/v1/documents/${documentId}`;

// 3. Send to customer (no API key needed)
await sendEmail({
  to: customer.email,
  subject: 'Your Invoice',
  body: `Download your invoice: ${shareableUrl}\n\nThis link expires on ${expiresAt}.`
});

Next Steps

• POST /v1/create - Generate PDFs with custom TTL
• POST /v1/modify - Make AI-powered changes before finalizing
• Error Codes - Full error reference