SDK · Install

Installation

Add via cargo:

cargo add pdfluent@1.1.0

Or edit Cargo.toml directly:

toml

[dependencies]
pdfluent = "1"

Enable optional feature flags (XFA, signatures, OCR, etc.):

toml

[dependencies]
pdfluent = { version = "1", features = ["xfa", "signatures"] }

SDK · First call

Quick example

Extract all text from a PDF in five lines:

rust

use pdfluent::PdfDocument;

fn main() -> pdfluent::Result<()> {
    let doc = PdfDocument::open("invoice.pdf")?;
    let text = doc.extract_text()?;
    println!("{text}");
    Ok(())
}

See the full API reference for forms, signatures, rendering, PDF/A conversion, and more, or the Cookbook for ten recipes that are compiled on every release.

SDK · Manipulate

What's included

AcroForms (production-grade)

XFA form processing — experimental, under active development

PDF/A validation and conversion

AES-256 encryption and digital signatures (PAdES B-B, B-T, B-LT)

Text extraction and page rendering

Bindings for Rust, Python, Node.js, Java, .NET and WebAssembly

Written in Rust

No licence key and no activation step

Every licence gets the same SDK. The licences differ on two things: whether you publish your own source, and whether you ship PDFluent inside a product you sell.

Full feature list

SDK · Extract · New in 1.1.0

Structured extraction Preview

Structured extraction returns Markdown, blocks, words with boxes, and chunks for retrieval pipelines. Blocks carry paragraphs, headings with level, list items, table cells with grid position, and running heads, each with page and box.

Two quality tiers:

fast (default): the engine alone, pure Rust, no models, runs everywhere including WebAssembly.
balanced (Preview): runs a layout model and a table-structure model locally through ONNX Runtime 1.23.2 [B49, 2026-10-10]. Native only, never WebAssembly.

Install the models once with pdfluent models install layout tables. The pdfluent command comes from the CLI archives on the 1.1.0 release page; pip install pdfluent==1.1.0 and npm install @pdfluent/node do not install it. pdfluent models status shows what is installed and whether the pins verify.

Structured extraction ships as Preview: output quality is still improving and the API may change in a minor release. Table results are in claims A38, A39 and A40; see table extraction results.

SDK · Licence

Licensing

PDFluent uses an offline, signed-file licence. Three modes: pick what fits your stage.

Default

Unlicensed (no key)

Use the SDK with no configuration and no licence key. Nothing in the output is stamped.

Free

Free under the AGPLv3

The complete SDK, in production, at any scale. Nothing is withheld and nothing expires. The AGPL asks one thing back: publish your own corresponding source.

Install it

Yearly

Commercial licence

The right not to publish your own source. Four self-service buttons, per organisation, or per product when you ship PDFluent inside something you sell. No seats, no quotes.

View pricing

There is no licence key and nothing to activate. The SDK makes no network call at any point, so it works air-gapped by construction. Pricing

SDK · Runtimes

Targets & bindings

Rust, Python, Node.js, WebAssembly, .NET and Java install from a package registry for each language. The bindings call the C API internally; it is not distributed on its own yet.

Binding	Status	Install
Rust (native)	Available	cargo add pdfluent@1.1.0	Details
Python	Available	pip install pdfluent==1.1.0	Details
WASM / JavaScript	Available	npm install @pdfluent/sdk-wasm	Details
Node.js	Available	npm install @pdfluent/node	Details
.NET / C# PDF SDK	Available	dotnet add package PDFluent	Details
Java PDF SDK	Available	com.pdfluent:pdfluent:1.1.0 Version 1.1.0 is served from the PDFluent Maven repository at https://maven.pdfluent.com, so add it to your build next to the dependency. Maven Central carries 1.0.0; 1.1.x follows there later.	Details
C API	Internal	Used by language bindings; not separately distributed yet