PDF Export
Export your docs site as one PDF, downloadable from the dashboard and sent by email. Paid plans only.
Export your documentation site as one PDF from the dashboard. Jamdesk renders every published page into one file. It emails you a download link when the file is ready. The PDF stays available for redownload until your next docs build.
PDF export is useful for:
- Sharing documentation with reviewers who don't have dashboard access
- Offline reading on planes, in secure facilities, or at customer sites
- Compliance and audit snapshots at a specific commit
- Customer handoff packages
Who can use it
PDF export is included on every paid plan at no extra charge. There is no add-on to buy. Each project can generate up to 3 PDFs per day. The counter resets at midnight UTC.
Generate a PDF
Select the project in the dashboard sidebar, click Settings, and scroll to the PDF Exports section beneath project metadata.
The button changes to Generating… while Jamdesk renders the site in a headless browser and writes the PDF to storage. Time to finish scales with the number of pages and how much imagery they contain. Most sites complete in a few minutes.
We email you a link back to the Settings page when the PDF is ready. The page status also updates live.
Click Download PDF. See Download link lifetime if the link ever expires.
Multi-language projects
A locale dropdown appears next to the Generate PDF button when docs.json has more than one language.
{
"navigation": {
"languages": [
{ "language": "en", "default": true },
{ "language": "es" },
{ "language": "fr" }
]
}
}Each export covers one language. Export each language in turn to send all three to a reviewer: en, then es, then fr.
Caching and Regenerate
The Settings page remembers only the most recent completed export per project. Regenerate checks whether the last export matches the current build and the locale you asked for:
- Same build and locale → Jamdesk returns the cached PDF immediately. A notice says nothing has changed since your last export.
- New build or different locale → a new render starts. Clicking Rebuild counts as a new build, even when the commit is unchanged.
The cache holds one export. Exporting a second locale or a new build replaces it. The earlier PDF isn't deleted. The Settings page no longer shows it.
To get a fresh PDF after updating your docs:
Push your changes to GitHub, or use jamdesk deploy from the CLI.
The Builds list in the dashboard shows Completed on the new commit.
Click Regenerate on the Settings page.
Regenerate is safe to click often. It won't re-render or re-email without a new build.
Rate limiting
Each project has two limits:
- 3 completed exports per day: the counter resets at midnight UTC. The dashboard shows how many you've used.
- 5 minutes between exports: requests inside that window return
Try again in a few minutes.
Cache hits (same build and locale as the previous export) skip these limits.
Jamdesk treats a PDF still generating after twenty minutes as stale. Click Generate PDF again to re-enqueue.
What gets exported
The PDF includes every page listed in your docs.json navigation for the chosen language, in declaration order. External links in the nav are skipped. Orphan pages (files in your repo that aren't wired into navigation) are not included.
Jamdesk renders each page from the same URL a reader visits (https://<slug>.jamdesk.app/<path>). Anything that shows up in the browser shows up in the PDF.
Password-protected sites
PDF export doesn't run on a password protected site. Disable password protection to run the export. Re-enable it afterward.
Email delivery
The person who clicked Generate PDF gets an email when the PDF is ready. It links back to the Settings → PDF Exports section. It also lists the page count, timestamp, and locale (for multi-language projects). The dashboard switches to the ready state live. You don't need the email to download.
Only the requester is emailed. Other collaborators see the new PDF the next time they open the Settings page.
If the email doesn't arrive within a few minutes of completion, check your spam folder. The PDF is available from the dashboard either way.
Download link lifetime
Email download links are valid for 72 hours from the time the PDF finishes. The dashboard creates a new URL every time you open the Settings page. Dashboard downloads don't expire. If an email link returns 403, click Download PDF in the dashboard.
Troubleshooting
PDF export renders a built site, not your source MDX. You need at least one successful build on your default branch. Push a commit or click Rebuild on the Builds page. Try again after the build finishes.
Your project is on the free trial. Upgrade from Settings → Billing.
Each project is capped at 3 completed exports per UTC day. The counter resets at midnight UTC.
You hit the five-minute gap between exports. Wait and retry.
Jamdesk reused the cached PDF. No new build has completed since the last export. Push a commit, or click Rebuild on the Builds page. Click Regenerate again after the build finishes. See Caching and Regenerate.
The exporter pulls only pages in your docs.json navigation, in the language you selected. Orphan pages (authored but not navigated) and external links won't appear. Check that the missing pages load cleanly in a browser at <slug>.jamdesk.app.
Large diagrams, videos, and unoptimized images inflate PDF size fast. Turn on Automatic Image Conversion to cut image bytes by 60-80%. Videos render as a poster frame with a play icon, not the full video.