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Quickstart using an AI assistant

Ask your AI assistant to generate the same invoice as the app and API guides. You need the published Invoice quickstart template from Create your reusable dynamic template and a workspace with generation credits.

Your assistant must already be connected to ShipPDF. Follow the MCP authentication guide for connection setup and permissions. This quickstart starts after that connection is ready.

1. Identify the template and supply the data

Copy the published template’s ID and replace YOUR_PUBLISHED_TEMPLATE_ID in this request. Send it to your assistant:

Use ShipPDF template YOUR_PUBLISHED_TEMPLATE_ID, named Invoice quickstart. Inspect its published data schema and use the JSON below to generate one document. Ask me if any required information is missing. Wait until generation completes and give me the PDF download link. Use quickstart-invoice-INV-1043 as the idempotency key for this request.

{
  "invoice": {
    "number": "INV-1043",
    "customer_name": "Northstar"
  }
}

The actual template ID identifies the layout; the JSON supplies the values for this document. If you use a different template, provide data matching its schema.

2. Generate and retrieve the PDF

The assistant uses the published template, sends the data to ShipPDF, and checks the document until it completes or fails. A new generation uses one credit. The finished PDF is not returned immediately by the generation call.

If you retry this same request, keep the same idempotency key. For another invoice or changed data, ask for a new document with a new key.

If generation fails, ask the assistant to explain the error and what needs to change before it tries again. The MCP generation guide describes the tool calls, status handling, and retries in detail.

3. Download and check the document

Open the returned PDF link and download the file while the link is valid. Confirm it shows Invoice INV-1043 and Customer: Northstar.

If the link expires, ask the assistant to retrieve a fresh link for the same document rather than generate it again.

Generating a document does not change the template. For layout changes, follow Author a template with AI and publish the revised template before generating another PDF.

Next steps