JSON to PDF

A versatile n8n community node that converts JSON payloads (with Markdown formatting) into styled PDF documents—either a single PDF or a full e-book with chapters and table of contents. No external services required.

🚀 Features

• Two operation modes:

  • Single PDF: treat a JSON field as Markdown text, split on a keyword to insert page breaks.
  • Generate E-book: treat a JSON field as an array of { title, content } chapters, auto-generate a title page, table of contents with links, and chapter formatting.

• Custom typography:

  • Choose any PDF font (Helvetica, Times-Roman, Courier, etc.).
  • Adjust base font size and line spacing.

• Page control:

  • In Single PDF mode, specify a “page break keyword” (e.g. ## Chapter) which, when encountered at the start of a line, forces a new page.
  • In E-book mode, control whether each chapter title appears on its own page or inline.

• Table of Contents (E-book only):

  • Optionally include a TOC with clickable links to each chapter.
  • Customize the TOC title.

• Error handling:

  • Clear error messages when the JSON field isn’t the expected type.
  • Detailed stack traces available in the n8n execution log.

📦 Installation

1. In your n8n instance, open Settings → Community Nodes → Install
2. In npm Package Name enter:

n8n-nodes-free-web-scrapping

3. Click Install and restart n8n if prompted.

⚙️ Node Configuration

Operation

| Parameter | Description | | ----------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | operation | single: render one PDF from a Markdown string. ebook: render an entire e-book from an array of chapters. |

Common Parameters

| Parameter | Type | Default | Description | | ------------- | ------ | ----------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | | jsonField | string | data | JSON field that holds either the Markdown string (single) or chapters array (ebook). | | font | string | Helvetica | PDF font name. | | fontSize | number | 12 | Base font size (points). | | lineSpacing | number | 1.15 | Line height multiplier. |

Single PDF Mode

| Parameter | Type | Default | Description | | -------------- | ------ | ------------ | -------------------------------------------------- | | pageBreakKey | string | ## Chapter | Lines starting with this keyword force a new page. |

Example JSON input for “single” mode:

{
  "data": "# Introduction\nThis is text.\n## Chapter 1\nFirst chapter content...\n## Chapter 2\nSecond chapter content..."
}

• Output: one PDF, with page breaks at each ## Chapter.

Generate E-book Mode

| Parameter | Type | Default | Description | | ------------------- | ------- | ------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | includeToc | boolean | true | Whether to add a “Table of Contents” page. | | tocTitle | string | Table of Contents | Title text for the TOC page. | | chapterTitleStyle | options | newPage | newPage: each chapter title on its own page. inline: title inline. |

Expected JSON structure:

{
  "title": "My Great E-Book",
  "data": [
    { "title": "Chapter 1: Getting Started", "content": "## Hello\nThis is **bold** text..." },
    { "title": "Chapter 2: Advanced Topics",   "content": "More _Markdown_ here..." }
  ]
}

• The node will:

  1. Insert a title page.
  2. Optionally generate a TOC with links to each chapter.
  3. Iterate each chapter, adding titles and content.

🛠️ Examples

Example 1: Single PDF

1. Operation: single
2. JSON Field: data
3. Page Break Keyword: ## PART

Input JSON:

{
  "data": "# Welcome\nSome intro text.\n## PART One\nContent of part one.\n## PART Two\nContent of part two."
}

Result: PDF with three pages:

• Page 1: “Welcome” + intro
• Page 2: “PART One” content
• Page 3: “PART Two” content

Example 2: Generate E-book

1. Operation: ebook
2. JSON Field: data
3. Include TOC: true
4. Chapter Title Style: newPage

Input JSON (inbound to the node):

{
  "title": "My Guide",
  "data": [
    {
      "title": "Chapter 1: Beginnings",
      "content": "This is **first** chapter.\nWith multiple lines."
    },
    {
      "title": "Chapter 2: Next Steps",
      "content": "Second chapter _content_."
    }
  ]
}

Result:

• Page 1: centered “My Guide”
• Page 2: “Table of Contents” with links to #chapter-1 and #chapter-2
• Subsequent pages: each chapter on its own page with content rendered from Markdown.

⚠️ Common Errors

Error:

Output
1 item
Field "data" is not an array of chapters
Error details

Other info
n8n version
1.100.1 (Self Hosted)

Stack trace
Error: Field "data" is not an array of chapters
    at ExecuteContext.execute (/…/JsonToPdf.node.js:155:23)
    at WorkflowExecute.runNode (…/workflow-execute.ts:1193:32)
    …

• Cause: In ebook mode, the node expected jsonField to point at an array of { title, content }, but found something else.

• Solution: Ensure your JSON conforms to the required structure:

  {
    "data": [ { "title": "...", "content": "..." }, … ]
  }

Error:

Field "data" is not a string

• Cause: In single mode, the node expected jsonField to be a Markdown string.

• Solution: Provide a plain string:

  { "data": "# Hello\nSome text…" }

🧑‍💻 Development & Contributing

1. Clone this repo.

2. Run npm install.

3. Edit src/nodes/JsonToPdf/JsonToPdf.node.ts.

4. Compile: npm run build.

5. Link locally in n8n:

   cd ~/.n8n/nodes
   ln -s /path/to/n8n-nodes-json-to-pdf dist

6. Restart n8n and test.

📝 License

MIT © [Threndy]