DocWhale

Developer API

Build on DocWhale’s document engine.

Every tool on DocWhale is available over a clean, key-authenticated REST API. Merge, compress and convert documents straight from your own apps and workflows — no browser, no upload UI, just an HTTP call and a file back.

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Base URL

All endpoints live under a single versioned base URL. Paths in this reference are relative to it.

https://api.docwhale.com

Authentication

Authenticate every request with an API key. Create and manage keys from your API keys dashboard. Keys look like dw_… and are shown in full only once, so store them somewhere safe.

Pass your key in the X-API-Key header:

X-API-Key: dw_your_key_here

Or as a bearer token, if that suits your HTTP client better:

Authorization: Bearer dw_your_key_here

Requests without a valid, active key are rejected with 401 Unauthorized.

Endpoint reference

Endpoints accept multipart/form-data and stream the resulting file straight back in the response body.

POST/api/v1/merge

Merge 2 or more PDFs into one. Send a multipart files field per PDF.

curl -X POST https://api.docwhale.com/api/v1/merge \
  -H "X-API-Key: dw_your_key_here" \
  -F "files=@first.pdf" \
  -F "files=@second.pdf" \
  -o merged.pdf
POST/api/v1/compress

Shrink a PDF's file size. Optional level form field: low, medium (default) or high.

curl -X POST https://api.docwhale.com/api/v1/compress \
  -H "X-API-Key: dw_your_key_here" \
  -F "file=@document.pdf" \
  -F "level=medium" \
  -o compressed.pdf
POST/api/v1/pdf-to-word

Convert a PDF into an editable .docx Word document.

curl -X POST https://api.docwhale.com/api/v1/pdf-to-word \
  -H "X-API-Key: dw_your_key_here" \
  -F "file=@document.pdf" \
  -o document.docx

Rate limits & fair use

The API is rate-limited per key to keep things fast for everyone. If you exceed the limit you’ll receive a 429 Too Many Requests response — back off and retry after a short pause. Uploads are capped at 100 MB per file. Need higher limits for production? Get in touch.

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Create your first API key and start making requests in minutes.

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