pdf-tools
PDF engineering for extraction, generation, modification, and form filling. Use when extracting text or tables from PDFs, generating PDFs with Puppeteer, modifying PDFs with pdf-lib, filling PDF forms, or implementing PDF security. Use for AI-assisted OCR, HTML-to-PDF conversion, and document processing pipelines.
- Installs
- 172
- Last 24h
- —
- Trending rank
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- Security
- Not audited
Install
Works with every agent the skills CLI supports.
npx skills add https://github.com/oakoss/agent-skills --skill pdf-tools- 01
Install
Run the command in your project. The CLI asks which agents to install for.
- 02
Describe the task
Ask your agent for something this skill covers. It loads pdf-tools automatically when relevant.
- 03
Review the result
The agent follows the SKILL.md steps, scripts and references bundled with the skill.
SKILL.md
The instructions your agent reads when the skill is triggered.
PDF Tools
Full-lifecycle PDF engineering covering extraction, generation, modification, form filling, and security. Prioritizes JavaScript-first solutions (pdf-lib, unpdf, Puppeteer) with Python/CLI utilities for advanced scenarios.
When to use: Extracting structured data from PDFs, generating pixel-perfect PDFs from HTML/React, modifying existing PDFs, filling forms (fillable or non-fillable), or securing documents with encryption.
When NOT to use: Simple text file processing, image-only manipulation without PDF context, or tasks better handled by a word processor.
Quick Reference
| Task | Tool | Key Point |
|---|---|---|
| Generate PDF from HTML | Puppeteer / Playwright | page.pdf(); use networkidle0 (Puppeteer) or networkidle (Playwright) |
| Extract text (lightweight) | unpdf | Edge/serverless compatible |
| Extract tables (AI) | Vision model + Zod schema | Multi-column and merged cell support |
| Extract tables (non-AI) | pdfplumber (Python) | Precise cell boundary detection |
| Modify, merge, split | pdf-lib (or @pdfme/pdf-lib) | Byte-level PDF manipulation in JS |
| Fill fillable forms | pdf-lib (or @pdfme/pdf-lib) | Inspect AcroForm fields before writing |
| Fill non-fillable forms | Python annotation scripts | Visual analysis + bounding box annotations |
| Encrypt PDF | qpdf | AES-256: qpdf --encrypt user owner 256 -- |
| Repair corrupted PDF | qpdf | qpdf input.pdf --replace-input |
| Fast text extraction (CLI) | poppler-utils | pdftotext -layout input.pdf - |
| Merge thousands of files | pypdf (Python) | Lighter than headless browser |
| Batch queue processing | BullMQ + unpdf | Redis-backed with retry, concurrency, progress tracking |
| PDF/A archival compliance | ghostscript + verapdf | gs -dPDFA=2 for conversion; verapdf for validation |
| Tagged PDF (accessibility) | Puppeteer | tagged: true maps HTML semantics to PDF structure tags |
| Digital signatures | @signpdf/* | PKCS#7 signing with P12 certificates |
| PDF comparison | unpdf + diff / pixelmatch | Text diff or pixel-level visual diff between versions |
| Secure redaction | pymupdf (fitz) | apply_redactions() removes content bytes, not just visual overlay |
Common Mistakes
| Mistake | Correct Pattern |
|---|---|
| Using canvas drawing commands for PDF generation | Use Puppeteer/Playwright with HTML/CSS templates |
| Running Puppeteer in edge/serverless environments | Use unpdf for edge; Puppeteer requires full Node.js |
| Extracting complex layouts with basic text parsers | Use AI-assisted OCR or pdfplumber for multi-column text |
| Storing unencrypted PDFs with PII in public storage | Apply AES-256 encryption via qpdf before storage |
Relying on window.print() for server-side generation | Use headless browser APIs (page.pdf()) for deterministic output |
| Using pypdf for complex layout extraction | Use pdfplumber or AI OCR for multi-column or overlapping text |
| Skipping font embedding in containerized environments | Embed Google Fonts or WOFF2 files with Puppeteer |
| Writing to flattened PDF form fields | Inspect AcroForm fields with pdf-lib before writing |
Using unmaintained pdf-lib for encrypted PDFs | Use @cantoo/pdf-lib fork which adds encrypted PDF support |
Delegation
- Inspect PDF structure and diagnose extraction issues: Use
Exploreagent to examine AcroForm fields, encoding, and metadata - Build end-to-end document processing pipelines: Use
Taskagent to implement extraction, transformation, and generation workflows - Design PDF architecture for a new system: Use
Planagent to select tools and plan extraction, generation, or modification strategies
References
- AI Extraction Patterns -- Vision-based table extraction, recursive summarization, multi-pass verification
- High-Fidelity Generation -- Puppeteer HTML-to-PDF, CSS print tips, React templates, browser pooling
- Legacy Utilities -- pdfplumber, pypdf, qpdf, poppler-utils for batch and forensic tasks
- Form Filling -- Fillable field extraction, non-fillable annotation workflow, validation scripts
- Batch Processing and Accessibility -- Queue-based batch processing, PDF/A compliance, tagged PDFs, digital signatures, comparison, redaction
FAQ
What does the pdf-tools skill do?
PDF engineering for extraction, generation, modification, and form filling. Use when extracting text or tables from PDFs, generating PDFs with Puppeteer, modifying PDFs with pdf-lib, filling PDF forms, or implementing PDF security. Use for AI-assisted OCR, HTML-to-PDF conversion, and document processing pipelines.
How do I install pdf-tools?
Run npx skills add https://github.com/oakoss/agent-skills --skill pdf-tools in your project. The skills CLI detects the agents you use and copies the skill into the right folder. For Claude Code you can also place the skill folder at ~/.claude/skills/pdf-tools/ (personal) or .claude/skills/pdf-tools/ (project).
Which AI agents can use pdf-tools?
Any agent that supports the open Agent Skills format (a folder with a SKILL.md file), including Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Gemini CLI, Windsurf, Cline, OpenCode and more.
Is pdf-tools safe to install?
No partner security audit is available yet. Skills can run commands and scripts, so read the SKILL.md and any bundled files before installing.
Who maintains pdf-tools?
It is published by oakoss in oakoss/agent-skills. It has 172 recorded installs.
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