Generate PDFs from Google Sheets

To generate a PDF from Google Sheets, make an HTTP request (from Apps Script, Google Workflows, or an automation tool connected to your sheet) that POSTs a row's data to the Docweave API at /api/v1/pdf, which renders it into a PDF and returns it in the response.

Google Sheets has no native "export row as PDF" API call, so every no-code path — Apps Script, Zapier, Make, n8n — ultimately comes down to the same thing: read the row, send it as JSON in an HTTP request, get a PDF back. Docweave is built for exactly that request.

Wire the automation, step by step

1. Trigger: start from a Google Sheets trigger — an on-edit/on-form-submit trigger in Apps Script, or a "New or Updated Spreadsheet Row" trigger if you're using Zapier, Make, or n8n's Google Sheets module.
2. Read the row: pull the column values you need (for example order ID, customer name, total) into variables or module fields.
3. HTTP request step: add an "HTTP Request" / "Webhooks" module (or, in Apps Script, call UrlFetchApp.fetch()) configured as:
   • Method: POST
   • URL: https://docweave.dev/api/v1/pdf
   • Headers: Authorization: Bearer dw_live_your_key and Content-Type: application/json
   • Body type: JSON / raw
4. Body: map each column value into the data object of the JSON body (see example below), matching the {{ placeholders }} in your HTML template.
5. Save the result: the response body is the generated PDF. Store it back to Google Drive (via the module's file-creation step), email it, or forward it to whatever step comes next in your automation.

Example request from your automation

Column values from the sheet fill the data object; the placeholders in your HTTP step map row fields (such as {{Order ID}}) into this same shape:

curl https://docweave.dev/api/v1/pdf \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer dw_live_your_key" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Accept: application/pdf" \
  --output order-{{Row ID}}.pdf \
  -d '{
    "source": {
      "type": "template",
      "template": "<h1>Order {{ order_id }}</h1><p>Customer: {{ customer }}</p><p>Total: {{ total }}</p>",
      "data": {
        "order_id": "{{Order ID}}",
        "customer": "{{Customer Name}}",
        "total": "{{Total}}"
      }
    },
    "options": { "format": "A4" },
    "idempotencyKey": "{{Row ID}}"
  }'

Copyable JSON body

Drop this into the body field of your HTTP request step and swap in your own template and column mappings:

{
  "source": {
    "type": "template",
    "template": "<h1>Order {{ order_id }}</h1><p>Customer: {{ customer }}</p><p>Total: {{ total }}</p>",
    "data": {
      "order_id": "1042",
      "customer": "Acme Inc.",
      "total": "$480.00"
    }
  },
  "options": { "format": "A4" },
  "idempotencyKey": "sheet-row-1042"
}

No-code and MCP options

If you'd rather not hand-build the HTTP step, connect Sheets to Docweave through your automation platform's generic HTTP/webhook module (Zapier, Make, and n8n all support one) — the request shape above stays the same regardless of platform. Building an AI workflow instead of a spreadsheet automation? The open-source @docweave/mcp server (run with npx @docweave/mcp) gives an agent a generate_pdf tool that wraps the same API, so it can turn sheet data into a PDF without writing raw HTTP calls at all.

Other spreadsheet-to-PDF tools exist as Google Workspace add-ons or Apps Script libraries; check the provider's current docs/pricing to compare against a plain HTTP call to Docweave.

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