> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://pdfbase.dev/docs/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
# Create a template
> Store a reusable HTML template with a data schema for repeated rendering.
## Phase
**Phase 1 (Launch)**
## Request
Human-readable name for the template. Must be unique within your account. Used as the identifier in CLI commands (`pdfbase templates push`).
HTML content with Handlebars placeholders for dynamic data. Supports `{{variable}}`, `{{#each items}}`, `{{#if condition}}`, and all standard Handlebars helpers.
CSS stylesheet applied to the template. Kept separate from HTML for cleaner template management.
JSON Schema defining the expected data shape. PDFBase validates render requests against this schema and returns `422` on mismatch.
Supported types: `string`, `number`, `boolean`, `date`, `array`, `object`.
Default rendering options applied every time this template is rendered. Can be overridden per-render.
* `format` (string) — Page size
* `margin` (string | object) — Margins
* `landscape` (boolean) — Orientation
* `header` (object) — Header HTML
* `footer` (object) — Footer HTML
* `compress` (string) — Compression level
Example data that satisfies the schema. Used by the CLI's `preview` command and the dashboard's template preview.
Optional description shown in the dashboard and CLI listings.
## Response
```json theme={null}
{
"id": "tpl_abc123",
"object": "template",
"name": "invoice",
"description": "Standard customer invoice",
"schema": {
"number": "string",
"customer": "string",
"items": "array",
"due_date": "date",
"total": "string"
},
"defaults": {
"format": "a4",
"margin": "20mm",
"compress": "medium"
},
"version": 1,
"created_at": "2026-05-19T10:00:00Z",
"updated_at": "2026-05-19T10:00:00Z"
}
```
Auto-incrementing version number. Starts at 1, increments on every `PATCH` update. Useful for tracking which version of a template generated a specific PDF.
## Example
```bash theme={null}
curl -X POST https://api.pdfbase.dev/v1/templates \
-H "Authorization: Bearer pk_live_xxx" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{
"name": "invoice",
"description": "Standard customer invoice",
"html": "Invoice #{{number}}
Bill to: {{customer}}
| Item | Qty | Price |
|---|
{{#each items}}| {{this.name}} | {{this.qty}} | {{this.price}} |
{{/each}}
Total: {{total}}
Due: {{due_date}}
",
"schema": {
"number": "string",
"customer": "string",
"items": "array",
"due_date": "date",
"total": "string"
},
"defaults": {
"format": "a4",
"margin": "20mm",
"compress": "medium"
},
"sample_data": {
"number": "INV-001",
"customer": "Acme Corp",
"items": [
{ "name": "Widget", "qty": 10, "price": "$50.00" },
{ "name": "Gadget", "qty": 5, "price": "$75.00" }
],
"due_date": "2026-06-19",
"total": "$875.00"
}
}'
```