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SEC Filings to PDF Generator API

Download any SEC filing or exhibit as a PDF file.

Since most SEC filings, exhibits and attachments are not published in PDF format, converting the original content is necessary to download them as PDFs. The PDF Generator API offers this functionality by converting HTML, XML, or text-based filings and exhibits into PDFs while preserving the original formatting, including images and tables. The API supports downloading all EDGAR form types as PDFs, including filings and exhibits such as Form 10-K, 10-Q, 8-K, DEF14A, and more, while preserving the original formatting.

Images are optimized and scaled for high-quality printing, such as in proxy statements, and invisible inline XBRL tags are removed to reduce PDF file size and prevent unnecessary bloating. All original content is preserved without alteration. The PDFs are designed to be easily shareable, printable, and suitable for archiving.

Legacy text-based filings (.txt) were not originally designed for PDF-printable output. As a result, single table rows in these older filings may span multiple lines and may not fit within the standard A4 PDF page width. NLP, LLM or RAG-based tasks might encounter difficulties when parsing such files as PDFs. In these cases, it is recommended to use the original text content instead of the PDF version for better accuracy.

To download the original file as filed, without converting it, use the EDGAR File & SEC Filings Download API instead.

Coverage:
All 20+ million SEC EDGAR filings and all 100+ million exhibits and attachments filed since 1993 to present, across all EDGAR form types.
Supported input formats:
HTML, XML and TXT filings and exhibits. Files already published as PDF are returned as-is.
Output:
A PDF file preserving the original formatting, including images and tables. Inline XBRL tags are stripped to keep the file size down.

Use Cases

The PDF Generator API is often used alongside the real-time filing Stream API or the pull-based filing Query API. The sec.gov source URL of a filing or exhibit is retrieved from the metadata those APIs return, then passed to the PDF Generator API. Use cases include:

  • Convert HTML, XML, and TXT filings to PDF for user exports
  • Attach a printable copy of a filing to an internal compliance record
  • Publish proxy statements and annual reports on an investor relations website in a single, consistent format
  • Share a filing over email, Slack, WhatsApp, Signal or any other messaging platform as a single file, rather than a link that needs a browser and an API key to open
  • Archive filings in a format that stays readable without a browser

PDF Generator API

API Endpoint

Filings and exhibits can be converted to and downloaded as PDF by calling the following PDF Generator API endpoint with the URL of the original filing or exhibit as a query parameter:

https://api.sec-api.io/filing-reader

Supported HTTP Method: GET

Response content type: application/pdf

The API returns the filing or exhibit as a PDF file, preserving the original formatting, including images and tables.

Authentication

Two authentication methods are available. Choose the method that best fits your use case:

  • Authorization header: Set the API key as the value of the Authorization header. Do not add "Bearer" or any other words in front of the API key. Example: Authorization: YOUR_API_KEY
  • Query parameter: Set the API key as the token query parameter.
    Example: https://api.sec-api.io/filing-reader?token=YOUR_API_KEY&url=.... This is the method to use when the PDF has to open directly in a browser, since a browser address bar cannot send a header.

When using the Python or Node.js SDK, the API key is automatically added to the request headers.

Request Parameters

  • token (required) - Your API key.
  • url (required) - URL of the filing or exhibit attachement. All file types are supported (HTML, XML, TXT, etc). Must be a valid "sec.gov/Archives" URL. Remove inline XBRL parameters from the URL before using it with the API by replacing /ix?doc= with an empty string.
    Example URLs:
    https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1833764/000089924321006812/xslF345X02/doc3.xml
    https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/815094/000156459021006205/abmd-8k_20210211.htm

Examples

Replace YOUR_API_KEY with your actual API key, and copy and paste any of the following example URLs into a browser to download the filing as a PDF.

URL to download a Form 10-K filing as PDF:
    https://api.sec-api.io/filing-reader?
    token=YOUR_API_KEY&
    url=https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/320193/000032019323000106/aapl-20230930.htm

URL to download a Form 4 filing in XML format as PDF:
    https://api.sec-api.io/filing-reader?
    token=YOUR_API_KEY&
    url=https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1833764/000089924321006812/xslF345X02/doc3.xml

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