Decrypt PDF

Endpoint #

POST https://pixlab.davix.dev/v1/pdf

Action #

action=decrypt

Description #

The Decrypt PDF action removes password protection from a PDF document using the H2I engine (PixLab).

This action is part of the public /v1/pdf API surface. It accepts a source PDF and a required decryption password, then returns a generated PDF output through a signed URL under the public PDF output path.

This action is suitable for workflows where protected documents must be unlocked before further PDF processing.

Request Format #

Requests to /v1/pdf must use:

• Content-Type: multipart/form-data
• API key authentication in request headers
• source PDF upload through the files field

For non-merge PDF actions, the first uploaded PDF file is used as the primary input. This applies to action=decrypt.

Parameters #

action #

Type: string
Required: Yes
Accepted value: decrypt

Specifies that the request should decrypt the uploaded PDF document.

files #

Type: file upload (multipart/form-data)
Required: Yes

The source PDF document.

• uploaded through the files field
• must be a valid PDF upload
• for this action, the first uploaded PDF file is used as the source input

password #

Type: string
Required: Yes

Defines the decryption password for the uploaded PDF.

• required for action=decrypt
• must be provided as a non-empty form field

Supported Parameters #

The Decrypt PDF action supports the following public parameters:

Parameter	Description
action	Must be decrypt
files	Source PDF upload
password	Required decryption password

These are the documented public parameters for /v1/pdf action=decrypt.

Full cURL Example #

curl -sS -X POST "https://pixlab.davix.dev/v1/pdf" \
  -H "X-Api-Key: <YOUR_API_KEY>" \
  -H "Idempotency-Key: pdf-decrypt-001" \
  -F "action=decrypt" \
  -F "files=@/path/to/encrypted-document.pdf" \
  -F "password=example-password"

This example includes the full documented public parameter surface for the Decrypt PDF action:

• action=decrypt
• source PDF upload in files
• required password
• optional idempotency header

Success Response #

Successful /v1/pdf requests return either a single output object or a results array, depending on the action. For public documentation, action=decrypt is safest documented as a single generated PDF output returned through a signed URL. PDF output URLs are served under /pdf/<file>.

{
  "url": "https://pixlab.davix.dev/pdf/decrypted-document.pdf",
  "request_id": "req_abc123"
}

Response Fields #

url #

Signed output URL for the generated decrypted PDF. PDF outputs are served under the public /pdf/<file> path.

request_id #

Request identifier returned by the API when available.

Errors #

The public /v1/pdf endpoint documents the following PDF-route errors:

• missing_field
• invalid_parameter
• unsupported_media_type
• pdf_page_limit_exceeded
• rate_limit_exceeded
• rate_limit_store_unavailable
• monthly_quota_exceeded
• server_busy
• timeout
• pdf_tool_failed

The shared upload/error layer can also return:

• invalid_upload
• file_too_large
• too_many_files
• total_upload_exceeded

A missing qpdf dependency causes PDF encrypt/decrypt requests to fail with HTTP 400, invalid_parameter, and the message qpdf not installed. That behavior is documented in the dependency notes and is best treated as an operational dependency note.

HTTP Status Codes #

• 400 → invalid request fields or parameters
• 413 → upload size/count limits exceeded or other request-size-related PDF limits
• 415 → unsupported media type
• 429 → rate limit or monthly quota exceeded
• 503 → timeout, rate-limit store unavailable, or server busy
• 500 → PDF processing failure

Usage Notes #

Idempotency-Key is optional and supported for retry-safe request handling. Both Idempotency-Key and X-Idempotency-Key are accepted.

password is required for PDF decryption.

This action depends on qpdf in the service runtime.

Output files are returned through signed URLs. Applications that need long-term storage should store generated files externally rather than treating output URLs as permanent hosting.