PDF to Word
API Documentation

Overview

The PDF to Word API converts PDF documents into editable Word (.docx) files while preserving text, tables, and layout. For scanned or image-based PDFs, enable OCR to extract text automatically. Synchronous conversion is ideal for small files; the async endpoints are designed for larger documents or batch workflows. Multiprocessing is used on the server to keep conversions fast.

Base URL & Authentication

Base URL

https://api.chemhub.com/api/v1

Authentication

Include your API credentials in every request header.

X-API-Key: your_api_key
X-API-Secret: your_secret
Content-Type: application/json

Get API Keys

Follow these steps to obtain your API credentials:

Endpoints

Health Check

Health check endpoint to verify the PDF to Word service status, available backends, and supported formats.

Response

{
  "success": true,
  "status": "healthy",
  "pdf2w_backends": {
    "pdfplumber": true,
    "tesseract": true,
    "ftfy": true,
    "docx": true
  },
  "supported_formats": [".pdf"],
  "max_file_size_mb": 20,
  "database_available": true,
  "timestamp": "2026-08-07T12:00:00"
}

Code Examples

import requests

url = "https://api.chemhub.com/api/v1/pdf2word/health"

headers = {
    "X-API-Key": "your_api_key",
    "X-API-Secret": "your_secret"
}

res = requests.get(url, headers=headers)
print(res.json())

curl -X GET https://api.chemhub.com/api/v1/pdf2word/health \
-H "X-API-Key: your_api_key" \
-H "X-API-Secret: your_secret"

fetch('https://api.chemhub.com/api/v1/pdf2word/health', {
  method: 'GET',
  headers: {
    'X-API-Key': 'your_api_key',
    'X-API-Secret': 'your_secret'
  }
})
.then(res => res.json())
.then(console.log);

Convert PDF to Word

Convert a PDF file to a Word document synchronously. Upload the file as multipart/form-data.

Form Parameters

cURL Example

curl -X POST "https://api.chemhub.com/api/v1/pdf2word/convert" \
  -H "X-API-Key: your_api_key" \
  -H "X-API-Secret: your_secret" \
  -F "file=@document.pdf" \
  -F "use_ocr=false" \
  --output document.docx

Code Examples

import requests

url = "https://api.chemhub.com/api/v1/pdf2word/convert"

headers = {
    "X-API-Key": "your_api_key",
    "X-API-Secret": "your_secret"
}

with open("document.pdf", "rb") as f:
    files = {"file": f}
    data = {"use_ocr": "true"}
    response = requests.post(url, headers=headers, files=files, data=data)

if response.status_code == 200:
    with open("document.docx", "wb") as out:
        out.write(response.content)
    print("Conversion successful!")
else:
    print(response.json())

const form = new FormData();
form.append('file', fileInput.files[0]);
form.append('use_ocr', 'true');

fetch('https://api.chemhub.com/api/v1/pdf2word/convert', {
  method: 'POST',
  headers: {
    'X-API-Key': 'your_api_key',
    'X-API-Secret': 'your_secret'
  },
  body: form
})
.then(async res => {
  if (res.ok) {
    const blob = await res.blob();
    const url = URL.createObjectURL(blob);
    console.log('Word document URL:', url);
  } else {
    console.log(await res.json());
  }
});

Convert PDF to Word (Async)

Submit a conversion job and receive a job_id immediately. Use the job endpoints to poll for progress and download the result. Ideal for large files or batch workflows.

Form Parameters

Same parameters as the synchronous endpoint.

Response

{
  "success": true,
  "job_id": "8f3a6b2c9d1e4a5f",
  "status": "queued",
  "message": "Document conversion started. Use the job ID to check status."
}

Code Examples

import requests

url = "https://api.chemhub.com/api/v1/pdf2word/convert/async"

headers = {
    "X-API-Key": "your_api_key",
    "X-API-Secret": "your_secret"
}

with open("document.pdf", "rb") as f:
    response = requests.post(url, headers=headers, files={"file": f}, data={"use_ocr": "false"})

result = response.json()
job_id = result.get("job_id")
print("Job ID:", job_id)

curl -X POST "https://api.chemhub.com/api/v1/pdf2word/convert/async" \
  -H "X-API-Key: your_api_key" \
  -H "X-API-Secret: your_secret" \
  -F "file=@document.pdf" \
  -F "use_ocr=false"

Get Job Status

Poll the status of an asynchronous conversion job. Job statuses are queued, processing, done, and failed.

Path Parameters

Response

{
  "success": true,
  "job_id": "8f3a6b2c9d1e4a5f",
  "status": "done",
  "filename": "document.pdf",
  "created_at": "2026-08-07 12:00:01",
  "updated_at": "2026-08-07 12:00:05",
  "result_url": "/api/v1/pdf2word/jobs/8f3a6b2c9d1e4a5f/download"
}

Code Examples

import requests

job_id = "8f3a6b2c9d1e4a5f"
url = f"https://api.chemhub.com/api/v1/pdf2word/jobs/{job_id}"

headers = {
    "X-API-Key": "your_api_key",
    "X-API-Secret": "your_secret"
}

res = requests.get(url, headers=headers)
print(res.json())

curl -X GET "https://api.chemhub.com/api/v1/pdf2word/jobs/8f3a6b2c9d1e4a5f" \
  -H "X-API-Key: your_api_key" \
  -H "X-API-Secret: your_secret"

Download Conversion Result

Download the Word document produced by a completed async job.

Path Parameters

cURL Example

curl -X GET "https://api.chemhub.com/api/v1/pdf2word/jobs/8f3a6b2c9d1e4a5f/download" \
  -H "X-API-Key: your_api_key" \
  -H "X-API-Secret: your_secret" \
  --output converted.docx

Python SDK

Complete Python SDK covering health check, synchronous conversion, async job submission, polling, and download.

import os
import requests

BASE_URL = "https://api.chemhub.com/api/v1"

# Your api key here
API_KEY = "your_api_key"
API_SECRET = "your_api_secret"

headers = {
    "X-API-Key": API_KEY,
    "X-API-Secret": API_SECRET
}

# --- Health Check ---
def check_health():
    return requests.get(f"{BASE_URL}/pdf2word/health", headers=headers).json()

# --- Synchronous conversion ---
def convert_sync(pdf_path, use_ocr=False):
    with open(pdf_path, "rb") as f:
        files = {"file": f}
        data = {"use_ocr": "true" if use_ocr else "false"}
        response = requests.post(
            f"{BASE_URL}/pdf2word/convert",
            headers=headers,
            files=files,
            data=data
        )
    if response.status_code == 200:
        output_path = pdf_path.rsplit(".", 1)[0] + ".docx"
        with open(output_path, "wb") as out:
            out.write(response.content)
        print(f"Saved: {output_path}")
        return output_path
    print(f"Error: {response.status_code} - {response.text}")
    return None

# --- Async conversion ---
def convert_async(pdf_path, use_ocr=False):
    with open(pdf_path, "rb") as f:
        files = {"file": f}
        data = {"use_ocr": "true" if use_ocr else "false"}
        response = requests.post(
            f"{BASE_URL}/pdf2word/convert/async",
            headers=headers,
            files=files,
            data=data
        )
    return response.json()

# --- Poll job status ---
def get_job_status(job_id):
    return requests.get(
        f"{BASE_URL}/pdf2word/jobs/{job_id}",
        headers=headers
    ).json()

# --- Download completed job ---
def download_job(job_id, output_path="converted.docx"):
    response = requests.get(
        f"{BASE_URL}/pdf2word/jobs/{job_id}/download",
        headers=headers
    )
    if response.status_code == 200:
        with open(output_path, "wb") as out:
            out.write(response.content)
        print(f"Downloaded: {output_path}")
    else:
        print(f"Error: {response.status_code} - {response.text}")

# --- Test all endpoints ---
if __name__ == "__main__":
    print("=== PDF TO WORD API TEST ===")

    health = check_health()
    print(f"Health: {health.get('status', 'unknown')}")

    # Replace with your own paths
    document_path = r"C:\path\to\your\document.pdf"
    output_path = r"C:\path\to\your\output\converted.docx"

    print("\nSubmitting PDF conversion job...")

    job = convert_async(document_path, use_ocr=False)

    job_id = job.get("job_id")

    if not job_id:
        print(f"Failed to submit job: {job}")
    else:
        print(f"Submitted job: {job_id}")

        print("\nWaiting for conversion to complete...")

        while True:
            status_response = get_job_status(job_id)
            status = status_response.get("status")

            print(f"Job status: {status}")

            if status == "done":
                print("\nConversion completed. Downloading Word document...")
                download_job(job_id, output_path)
                break

            if status == "failed":
                print(f"\nConversion failed: {status_response}")
                break

Errors & Status Codes

Error Response Format

{
  "success": false,
  "error": "Invalid file",
  "message": "File too large. Max size is 20MB"
}

Status Codes

Limitations