WeChat Article to PDF

Convert WeChat public account articles to high-fidelity PDF files, preserving original content, formatting, layout, and images.

Quick Start

To convert a WeChat article, run the bundled script:

python D:\wechat-to-pdf\scripts\wechat_to_pdf.py <URL> [-o OUTPUT] [-f FORMAT] [-t TIMEOUT]

Workflow

When a user provides a WeChat article URL for PDF conversion, follow these steps:

Step 1: Validate Input

Verify the URL belongs to mp.weixin.qq.com. Reject non-WeChat URLs with a clear explanation. Accepted URL patterns:

• https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/...
• https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s?__biz=...

Step 2: Check Dependencies

Before executing, confirm playwright is installed. If missing, run:

pip install playwright
python -m playwright install chromium

Step 3: Determine Output Path

• If the user specifies a file path or directory, pass it via the -o argument
• If not specified, the script auto-names the PDF using the article title and saves to the current working directory

Step 4: Execute Conversion

Run the conversion script with appropriate arguments:

python D:\wechat-to-pdf\scripts\wechat_to_pdf.py "<URL>" -o "<output_path>" -f <format>

The script handles all conversion steps internally:

1. Opens the article in headless Chromium
2. Waits for content to load
3. Scrolls the page to trigger lazy-loaded images
4. Fixes WeChat's data-src lazy-loading mechanism
5. Injects CSS to hide non-article elements (comments, toolbars, QR codes)
6. Generates PDF with proper margins and background colors

Step 5: Verify Output

After execution, confirm:

• The script exited with code 0
• Report the output file path and size to the user

Command Reference

| Argument | Short | Required | Default | Description |

| ----------- | ----- | -------- | ------------------- | -------------------------------------------- |

| url | - | Yes | - | WeChat article URL |

| --output | -o | No | {cwd}/{title}.pdf | Output file path or directory |

| --format | -f | No | A4 | Paper format: A4, A3, Letter, Legal, Tabloid |

| --timeout | -t | No | 60 | Page load timeout in seconds |

Exit Codes

| Code | Meaning |

| ---- | --------------------------------------------- |

| 0 | Success |

| 1 | Argument error |

| 2 | Invalid URL (not a WeChat article) |

| 3 | Missing dependency (playwright not installed) |

| 4 | Page load failure (timeout, network error) |

| 5 | PDF generation failure |

Error Handling

| Scenario | Action |

| ------------------------ | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |

| Non-WeChat URL | Inform user that only mp.weixin.qq.com URLs are supported |

| Network timeout | Suggest checking network connection or increasing timeout with -t |

| Playwright not installed | Provide installation commands |

| Images missing in PDF | The script already handles lazy-loading; if issues persist, refer to references/wechat-css-selectors.md for DOM structure updates |

Bundled Resources

• scripts/wechat_to_pdf.py - Core conversion script. Accepts CLI arguments, validates URLs, handles lazy-loaded images, and generates PDF via Playwright headless Chromium.
• references/wechat-css-selectors.md - Documents WeChat article page DOM structure, CSS selectors for hidden elements, and the image lazy-loading mechanism. Consult this file when WeChat page structure changes break the conversion.