PageDrop Print Agent

Runs on the print shop's own computer. Polls PageDrop every few seconds for paid orders, downloads the files, and sends them to the shop's printer automatically — no manual checking of an admin dashboard required.

Setup

The easiest way — no local checkout needed. On the shop's computer, with Node.js 18+ installed:

npx pagedrop-print-agent setup

This walks through registering/pairing with a shop (get a pairing code from /signup first), auto-detects local printers, writes a .env config, and runs a safe dry-run test print. Then start it:

npx pagedrop-print-agent

It starts in dry-run mode by default — it will fetch real jobs and log exactly what it would print, without sending anything to the printer. Watch the log output, confirm the jobs look right, then set PAGEDROP_DRY_RUN=false in .env and restart to start printing for real.

Running from this repo instead

If you're developing against this repo directly rather than the published package: copy .env.example to .env, fill in PAGEDROP_API_BASE_URL, PAGEDROP_PRINT_AGENT_API_KEY, and PAGEDROP_PRINTER_NAME, then npm install && node index.js (or node index.js setup for the wizard).

How it works

• Polls GET /api/print-agent/jobs every PAGEDROP_POLL_INTERVAL_MS (default 15s), authenticated with the shop's API key.
• For each order: prints an auto-generated front sheet (order ID + collection code + file count, always B&W/A4), then downloads and prints every file honoring the customer's color/B&W choice, then a back sheet marking the end of that order — so a stack of printed paper is easy to sort by order without checking a screen. See coversheet.js.
• Reports back printed or print_failed so the order won't be picked up again once done.
• Failed jobs are retried automatically on the next poll.

Platform support

• macOS / Linux: uses the system's lp (CUPS) command — full support for color mode and paper size.
• Windows: best-effort only. Uses the OS's default "Print" handler via PowerShell, which can't control color mode or paper size from the CLI. For real control on Windows, replace the Windows branch in index.js with SumatraPDF's -print-to flag.

Running it continuously

This is a long-running process — the shop needs it running whenever they want auto-print to work. Options:

• macOS: wrap it in a launchd agent (~/Library/LaunchAgents)
• Windows: run it as a scheduled task at login, or wrap with pm2 / node-windows
• Linux: a systemd service

Keeping this yours to resell

Each print shop gets its own PAGEDROP_PRINT_AGENT_API_KEY, scoped to that shop's orders only — one shop's agent can never see or print another shop's files.