html-to-pdf

Overview

This skill converts an HTML file to PDF using Puppeteer (headless Chromium), exactly

how atypica exports its AI research reports. Two modes are supported:

Quickstart (3 steps)

# 1. Copy the bundled scripts to a working directory
cp <skill-dir>/scripts/html-to-pdf.js ./
cp <skill-dir>/scripts/package.json ./

# 2. Install the only dependency (downloads Chromium automatically, ~170 MB, one-time)
npm install

# 3. Run
node html-to-pdf.js report.html report.pdf

is the directory that contains this SKILL.md file.

> Note: npm install puppeteer (~170 MB) downloads a pinned Chromium binary.

> This is the only install step — no system Chrome, no wkhtmltopdf, no separate server needed.

> If the environment already has Puppeteer installed, skip step 2.

Command reference

node html-to-pdf.js <input.html> <output.pdf> [options]

Options:
  --paginated         A4-paginated mode (respects @media print, page-breaks)
  --format <fmt>      Page format: A4 (default), A3, Letter, Legal
  --width <px>        Viewport width for single-page mode (default: 1440)
  --wait <ms>         Extra milliseconds to wait after page load (for JS-rendered content)
  --header-footer     Add page-number footer in paginated mode

Examples

# Single-page full-height (atypica report style)
node html-to-pdf.js report.html report.pdf

# A4 paginated document
node html-to-pdf.js document.html document.pdf --paginated

# A4 with page numbers
node html-to-pdf.js document.html document.pdf --paginated --header-footer

# Narrower single-page layout
node html-to-pdf.js report.html report.pdf --width 1280

# Wait 2 s for JavaScript-rendered charts
node html-to-pdf.js dashboard.html dashboard.pdf --wait 2000

How it works (mirrors atypica's browser service)

1. Launches headless Chromium via Puppeteer with sandbox disabled and CJK font hints enabled.
2. Loads the HTML from a file:// URL so relative assets (images, local CSS) resolve correctly.
3. Injects system-font CSS to ensure Chinese/Japanese/Korean characters render on any OS.
4. Single-page mode: measures document.body.scrollHeight, sets viewport to that height, and generates a single-page PDF at that exact size — no clipping, no page breaks.
5. Paginated mode: injects @media print CSS for clean page-breaks, then generates a standard-format paginated PDF.
6. Writes the PDF buffer to the output path.

Handling common issues

Dependency notes

• Node.js ≥ 18 required (≥ 20 recommended)
• puppeteer is the only npm dependency — it self-contains Chromium
• No global Chrome installation needed
• Works on macOS, Linux, and Windows (WSL)
• In CI/Docker, add --disable-dev-shm-usage (already included in the script)