HTTP API

The platex service exposes a tiny HTTP API. You rarely call it directly — the client library and request handlers speak it for you — but here’s the wire format for building requests by hand, debugging, or writing a client in another language.

Endpoints

Method	Path	Description
`POST`	`/compile`	Compile LaTeX. Body: `CompileRequest` JSON. Response: `CompileResponse` JSON
`GET`	`/health`	Health check. Returns `{ "status": "ok" }` (never requires auth)

`POST /compile`

Request body

interface CompileRequest {
  source: string;                     // LaTeX source (main.tex content)
  engine: 'pdflatex' | 'xelatex' | 'lualatex';
  passes: 'auto' | 1 | 2 | 3;
  bibliography: 'bibtex' | 'biber' | 'none';
  files: Record<string, string>;     // filename → base64-encoded content
  timeout: number;                    // milliseconds, overall pipeline budget, capped at 120s
}

Only source is required in practice — the handler fills in defaults for the rest. files values are base64-encoded on the wire (unlike the library’s Buffer values, which are encoded for you).

Response body

interface CompileResponse {
  pdf: string | null;         // base64-encoded PDF, or null on fatal error
  errors: LatexError[];
  warnings: LatexWarning[];
  logs: RawPassLog[];
}

See the API reference for LatexError, LatexWarning, and RawPassLog.

Status codes

Status	Meaning
`200`	Compiled (check `pdf` for `null` on fatal LaTeX errors)
`400`	Malformed request body
`401`	Missing/invalid bearer token (when `PLATEX_API_KEY` is set)
`413`	Request body exceeds `maxRequestBodyBytes`
`503`	Instance at `maxConcurrentCompiles` — retry shortly

Authentication

If the service is started with PLATEX_API_KEY set, POST /compile requires:

Authorization: Bearer <key>

GET /health never requires auth. See Server configuration.

Examples

Compile and extract the PDF:

curl -X POST https://platex.example.com/compile \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $PLATEX_API_KEY" \
  -d '{"source": "\\documentclass{article}\\begin{document}Hi\\end{document}"}' \
  | jq -r '.pdf' | base64 -d > output.pdf

Health check:

curl https://platex.example.com/health
# → {"status":"ok"}