How to Render LaTeX Files via API

December 21, 2025 • Harvey Walton

How to Render LaTeX Files via API: Cloud-Native PDF Generation Without the Hassle

Rendering LaTeX documents in the cloud is a common requirement for businesses to streamline their day-to-day operations using modern web apps, automation workflows, and serverless functions. However, anyone who has tried to set up LaTeX in a cloud environment knows the pain: TeXLive—the standard LaTeX distribution—can easily exceed 5GB in size. This not only bloats your Docker containers but also leads to slow cold starts, especially in serverless environments like AWS Lambda.

The Difficulties Of Self-Hosting LaTeX

Traditionally, if you wanted to generate PDFs from LaTeX in your app or workflow, you had to:

  • Install and maintain a full TeXLive distribution (5GB+)
  • Deal with complex system dependencies and updates
  • Accept slow cold starts and large deployment packages
  • Troubleshoot compilation errors in unfamiliar environments

This approach is not only resource-intensive but also makes your deployments harder to manage and scale.

The Cloud-Native Solution: LaTeXLite API

LaTeXLite solves these problems by providing a simple, cloud-based API for LaTeX-to-PDF rendering. Instead of bundling TeXLive with your app, you can offload compilation to LaTeXLite’s cloud service with a single HTTP request.

Key Benefits

  • No TeXLive installation required: Keep your containers and serverless functions lightweight.
  • Fast cold starts: Perfect for Lambda, FaaS, and microservices.
  • Easy integration: Works with any language or platform that can make HTTP requests.
  • Low-code friendly: Integrate with automation tools like n8n or Zapier for document workflows.
  • Secure and ephemeral: Your templates and data are never stored permanently—PDFs are auto-deleted after 1 hour.

Example: Rendering a LaTeX File via API

Here’s how you can render a LaTeX template with dynamic data using LaTeXLite’s API and a demo API key with rate-limited usage:

Create Render Job

# LaTeX with templating and dynamic input data
curl -X POST https://latexlite.com/v1/renders \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer demo-key-1234567890abcdef" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "template": "\\documentclass{article}\n\\begin{document}\nInvoice for [[.CustomerName]]\nAmount: \\$[[.Amount]]\n\\end{document}",
    "data": {
      "CustomerName": "John Doe",
      "Amount": "1250.00"
    }
  }'

You’ll receive a job ID that can be used to check the status of rendering and to download the generated PDF once it’s ready with the following requests:

Check status of job

curl -H "Authorization: Bearer demo-key-1234567890abcdef" \
  https://latexlite.com/v1/renders/{JOB_ID}

Download PDF when ready

curl -H "Authorization: Bearer demo-key-1234567890abcdef" \
  https://latexlite.com/v1/renders/{JOB_ID}/pdf \
  -o output.pdf

Integrate with Low-Code Tools

LaTeXLite’s API is compatible with workflow automation platforms like n8n and Zapier. You can trigger PDF generation as part of your business processes, send documents via email, or save them to cloud storage—all without writing custom backend code.

Get Started

Ready to automate your LaTeX PDF generation? Visit LaTeXLite to get started.

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