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Choose the authentication method the page actually uses
There are two separate authentication layers in this request. Your PDFShift API key authenticates you to PDFShift. The auth credentials or session cookies authorize the conversion service to retrieve the protected source page.
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| Page access method | What you provide | Where it goes |
|---|---|---|
| HTTP Basic Authentication challenge | Username and password | auth object in the JSON request body |
| Already-authenticated session | Valid cookie name and value | cookies array in the JSON request body |
Both methods still require the X-API-Key header. Do not put the PDFShift API key in the page’s auth object or treat the page password as your API key.
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Use this method when the web server responds to the page request with an HTTP Basic Authentication challenge. PDFShift’s documented request sends the source URL and an auth object in JSON.
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Python example
Install Requests if needed with python -m pip install requests. Save the following as convert_basic_auth.py, replace the placeholders, and run python convert_basic_auth.py.
import requests
api_key = "YOUR_PDFSHIFT_API_KEY"
payload = {
"source": "https://www.example.com/protected-page",
"auth": {
"username": "YOUR_PAGE_USERNAME",
"password": "YOUR_PAGE_PASSWORD",
},
}
response = requests.post(
"https://api.pdfshift.io/v3/convert/pdf",
headers={"X-API-Key": api_key},
json=payload,
timeout=90,
)
response.raise_for_status()
with open("protected-page.pdf", "wb") as pdf_file:
pdf_file.write(response.content)
The binary write matters: a PDF is not plain text. raise_for_status() stops the script on an HTTP error instead of silently saving an error response as if it were a PDF.
Request shape
{
"source": "https://www.example.com/protected-page",
"auth": {
"username": "YOUR_PAGE_USERNAME",
"password": "YOUR_PAGE_PASSWORD"
}
}Send that JSON to https://api.pdfshift.io/v3/convert/pdf with your own PDFShift key in X-API-Key. The page’s username and password belong to the source-site authentication, not the PDFShift account.
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If you already have a valid session cookie for a page you are authorized to access, pass the cookie name and value in the cookies array. PDFShift’s cookie guide also documents optional secure and http_only Boolean fields.
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{
"source": "https://www.example.com/protected-page",
"cookies": [
{
"name": "SESSION_COOKIE_NAME",
"value": "SESSION_COOKIE_VALUE",
"secure": true,
"http_only": true
}
]
}The flags are optional; include them when appropriate for the cookie you have. A session cookie is sensitive access information. Avoid putting it in a public repository, client-side code exposed to untrusted users, screenshots, or logs. The documented cookie example shows how to pass an existing cookie, not how to obtain one or guarantee that every site’s session behavior will work with the converter.
Keep credentials out of exposed code
- Use placeholders in shared examples, and load real API keys and source credentials from protected server-side configuration or environment variables in your own application.
- Do not embed a PDFShift key, page password, or session token in a web page or public source repository.
- Only convert pages you are authorized to access. Consider whether your organization permits sending the relevant credentials and page content to a third-party conversion service.
Check the PDFShift API key separately
PDFShift identifies API users through the X-API-Key header. Its Help Center says the service moved to this header on 2025-05-06 and that omitting it can result in an unauthenticated request and a watermark. If a result is watermarked or the API rejects the request, first check that the header is present and the key is valid; then check the source-page credentials or cookie independently. PDFShift says you can check whether the key is being accepted with GET https://api.pdfshift.io/v3/credits/usage. See its Help Center explanation of watermark and API-key behavior.
Troubleshoot login screens, errors, and unexpected PDFs
The saved PDF shows a login page
Confirm which access mechanism the source uses. For an HTTP Basic Auth challenge, use the auth object. For an existing authenticated session, send the required valid cookie or cookies. Supplying a username and password this way is not evidence that an ordinary interactive login form will be completed automatically.
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The API returns an HTTP error or a watermark
Check the X-API-Key header and key, then confirm that the source username/password or session cookie is current and valid. PDFShift documents 401/403 outcomes for API-key problems and says requests without the expected key may be treated as unauthenticated. A valid source-page credential does not fix a missing PDFShift API key.
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The cookie is rejected
Make sure the cookie name and value are from the session that can access the target page and that the session has not expired. A cookie from another domain or an expired session may not authorize the requested URL. This is a practical consequence of session-based access, not a guarantee about compatibility with every site.
The page uses SSO, MFA, CAPTCHA, or a JavaScript login flow
The cited PDFShift documentation establishes Basic Auth and existing cookies; it does not establish support for automatically completing interactive login forms, SSO, MFA challenges, CAPTCHA, or JavaScript-driven authentication. Do not assume that putting a username and password in auth will handle those flows.
Or skip the browser setup
If you need a clean screenshot rather than a PDF of an authenticated page, ScreenshotNeo is a website screenshot API and MCP server for developers. One GET request can return a PNG, JPEG, WebP, or PDF; its clean-shot workflow accepts cookie and consent banners like a visitor and removes 60+ known consent platforms, newsletter popups, and chat widgets before capture. Each of those cleanup steps can be turned off. Bot checks, CAPTCHAs, blank pages, timeouts, failed loads, and cache hits are not billed, and responses include X-Page-Verdict and X-Billed headers. Its MCP server provides take_screenshot, get_page_info, and capture_pdf for Claude, Cursor, and other MCP clients.
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