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Browser Usage

The package works with browser-friendly binary values. You can generate a PDF, wrap it in a Blob, and preview or download it.

import { createDocument } from "@barrierbreak/a11ydocs-pdf";

const doc = createDocument();
const page = doc.addPage();

page.text("Preview me", {
  x: 56,
  y: 760,
  fontSize: 16
});

const blob = doc.toBlob();
const url = URL.createObjectURL(blob);

iframe.src = url;

Streaming to a Response​

Use WebStreamSink with a TransformStream to stream a PDF straight to the browser without buffering the whole document:

import { WebStreamSink } from "@barrierbreak/a11ydocs-pdf";

const { readable, writable } = new TransformStream<Uint8Array>();
const sink = new WebStreamSink(writable);
void doc.writeTo(sink).then(() => sink.close());

const response = new Response(readable, {
  headers: { "Content-Type": "application/pdf" }
});

BufferSink also works in the browser when you just need the bytes.

Browser limitations​

The core engine — generation, parsing, editing, fonts, images, tables, templates, annotations, tagged PDF, and password encryption — runs in the browser with no Node dependencies. One area is Node-only:

  • Disk-backed output. TempFileSink, NodeStreamSink, and writeToFile rely on node:fs and are not available in the browser. Use toBlob(), toArrayBuffer(), toUint8Array(), BufferSink, or WebStreamSink instead.

Encryption works in the browser. RC4 and all AES variants (aes-128, aes-256, aes-256-r6) encrypt and decrypt client-side. When node:crypto is unavailable the library uses a built-in, zero-dependency AES/SHA-2 implementation whose output matches the Node path byte-for-byte, so a document encrypted in the browser opens with the same password everywhere. It only needs a secure-random source for the IV/key, which it reads from the Web Crypto API (crypto.getRandomValues). See Encryption and Signatures.

The Node-only sinks load node:fs through a lazy dynamic import(), so bundlers building for the browser will not pull them into the core path.

Generation requires a license guard (secure by default). The library refuses to serialize unless a guard is installed. In the browser you must install a guard explicitly before generating — either the licensing client, or a permissive one for unrestricted use:

import { setLicenseGuard } from "@barrierbreak/a11ydocs-pdf/license-guard";
setLicenseGuard({ consume() {} });

See Licensing and Usage Limits.

Chrome Extensions​

When running inside a Chrome extension, use loadExtensionFont() to load font files bundled with the extension. Fonts bundled as .ttf/.otf files are fetched via chrome.runtime.getURL() and registered in one call.

Playground​

Try the library entirely in your browser at the hosted playground: write template code on the left and see the rendered PDF on the right.

Edit the code and press Run (or ⌘/Ctrl+Enter). Every a11ydocs export is in scope; your code just needs to build a document and return it.