minimax-pdf
A Claude skill for creating and editing visually polished PDFs.
Three routes. One design system. Tokens flow from content analysis through every renderer.
Quick start
bash scripts/make.sh check # verify deps
bash scripts/make.sh fix # auto-install missing deps
bash scripts/make.sh demo # → demo.pdf
Route A: CREATE — generate a new PDF
bash scripts/make.sh run \
--title "Q3 Strategy Review" \
--type "proposal" \
--author "Strategy Team" \
--date "October 2025" \
--content content.json \
--out report.pdf
--type options:
| Type | Palette | Cover pattern | Google Fonts (cover) |
|---|---|---|---|
report |
Deep ink, teal accent | fullbleed |
Playfair Display / IBM Plex Sans |
proposal |
Near-black, amber accent | split |
Syne / Nunito Sans |
resume |
White, navy accent | typographic |
DM Serif Display / DM Sans |
portfolio |
Deep violet, coral accent | atmospheric |
Fraunces / Inter |
academic |
Warm white, navy accent | typographic |
EB Garamond / Source Sans 3 |
general |
Dark slate, blue accent | fullbleed |
Outfit / Outfit |
minimal |
Near-white, red accent | minimal |
Cormorant Garamond / Jost |
stripe |
Dark navy, amber accent | stripe |
Barlow Condensed / Barlow |
diagonal |
Dark blue, teal accent | diagonal |
Montserrat / Montserrat |
frame |
Warm cream, brown accent | frame |
Cormorant / Crimson Pro |
editorial |
White, red accent | editorial |
Bebas Neue / Libre Franklin |
magazine |
Warm linen, deep navy accent | magazine |
Playfair Display / EB Garamond |
darkroom |
Deep navy, steel blue accent | darkroom |
Playfair Display / EB Garamond |
terminal |
Near-black, neon green accent | terminal |
Space Mono |
poster |
White, near-black accent | poster |
Barlow Condensed / Courier Prime |
content.json block types:
[
{"type": "h1", "text": "Section Title"},
{"type": "h2", "text": "Subsection"},
{"type": "h3", "text": "Sub-subsection"},
{"type": "body", "text": "Paragraph. Supports <b>bold</b> and <i>italic</i>."},
{"type": "bullet", "text": "Unordered list item"},
{"type": "numbered","text": "Ordered list item — counter auto-resets between lists"},
{"type": "callout", "text": "Key insight or highlighted finding"},
{"type": "table",
"headers": ["Col A", "Col B"],
"rows": [["a", "b"], ["c", "d"]]
},
{"type": "image", "path": "chart.png", "caption": "Figure 1: optional caption"},
{"type": "code", "text": "def hello():\n print('world')"},
{"type": "math", "text": "\\int_0^\\infty e^{-x^2} dx = \\frac{\\sqrt{\\pi}}{2}", "label": "(1)"},
{"type": "divider"},
{"type": "caption", "text": "Table 1: standalone caption label"},
{"type": "pagebreak"},
{"type": "spacer", "pt": 16}
]
Route B: FILL — fill form fields in an existing PDF
# See what fields the PDF has
bash scripts/make.sh fill --input form.pdf --inspect
# Fill fields
bash scripts/make.sh fill \
--input form.pdf \
--out filled.pdf \
--values '{"FirstName": "Jane", "Agree": "true", "Country": "US"}'
# Or from a JSON file
bash scripts/make.sh fill --input form.pdf --out filled.pdf --data values.json
Field value rules:
text→ any stringcheckbox→"true"or"false"dropdown→ must match a choice value shown by--inspectradio→ must match a radio value shown by--inspect
Route C: REFORMAT — apply design to an existing document
bash scripts/make.sh reformat \
--input source.md \
--title "Annual Report" \
--type "report" \
--author "Research Team" \
--out output.pdf
Supported input: .md .txt .pdf .json
Architecture
SKILL.md ← Claude entry point, route table
design/design.md ← Aesthetic system (read before CREATE/REFORMAT)
scripts/
make.sh ← Unified CLI
palette.py ← metadata → tokens.json [CREATE, REFORMAT]
cover.py ← tokens.json → cover.html [CREATE, REFORMAT]
render_cover.js ← cover.html → cover.pdf [CREATE, REFORMAT]
render_body.py ← tokens + content → body.pdf [CREATE, REFORMAT]
merge.py ← cover + body → final.pdf [CREATE, REFORMAT]
fill_inspect.py ← PDF → field list [FILL]
fill_write.py ← PDF + values → filled PDF [FILL]
reformat_parse.py ← doc → content.json [REFORMAT]
Design tokens (tokens.json) flow from palette.py to every renderer — cover and body are always visually consistent.
Dependencies
| Tool | Used by | Install |
|---|---|---|
| Python 3.9+ | all .py scripts |
system |
reportlab |
render_body.py |
pip install reportlab |
pypdf |
fill, merge, reformat | pip install pypdf |
| Node.js 18+ | render_cover.js |
system |
playwright + Chromium |
render_cover.js |
npm install -g playwright && npx playwright install chromium |
License
MIT
Document types
--type |
Mood | Cover pattern | Cover fonts |
|---|---|---|---|
report |
Authoritative | fullbleed |
Playfair Display / IBM Plex Sans |
proposal |
Confident | split |
Syne / Nunito Sans |
resume |
Clean | typographic |
DM Serif Display / DM Sans |
portfolio |
Expressive | atmospheric |
Fraunces / Inter |
academic |
Scholarly | typographic |
EB Garamond / Source Sans 3 |
general |
Neutral | fullbleed |
Outfit |
minimal |
Restrained | minimal |
Cormorant Garamond / Jost |
stripe |
Bold | stripe |
Barlow Condensed / Barlow |
diagonal |
Dynamic | diagonal |
Montserrat |
frame |
Classical | frame |
Cormorant / Crimson Pro |
editorial |
Editorial | editorial |
Bebas Neue / Libre Franklin |
Cover fonts load via Google Fonts @import at render time — no local caching.
Body pages always use system fonts (Times / Helvetica) via ReportLab.
content.json schema
[
{"type": "h1", "text": "Section Title"},
{"type": "h2", "text": "Subsection"},
{"type": "h3", "text": "Sub-subsection"},
{"type": "body", "text": "Paragraph text. Supports <b>bold</b> and <i>italic</i>."},
{"type": "bullet", "text": "Unordered list item"},
{"type": "numbered","text": "Ordered list item — auto-numbered, counter resets between lists"},
{"type": "callout", "text": "Highlighted insight or key finding"},
{"type": "table",
"headers": ["Column A", "Column B", "Column C"],
"rows": [["row1a", "row1b", "row1c"], ["row2a", "row2b", "row2c"]]
},
{"type": "image", "path": "chart.png", "caption": "Figure 1: Sales by quarter"},
{"type": "code", "text": "SELECT * FROM users\nWHERE active = 1;"},
{"type": "math", "text": "\\sigma = \\sqrt{\\frac{1}{N}\\sum_{i=1}^N (x_i - \\mu)^2}", "label": "(2)"},
{"type": "divider"},
{"type": "caption", "text": "Table 2: standalone label"},
{"type": "pagebreak"},
{"type": "spacer", "pt": 16}
]
Architecture
SKILL.md ← Claude entry point, routing only
design/design.md ← Aesthetic system (read before any script)
scripts/
make.sh ← Unified CLI: check / fix / run / demo
palette.py ← content metadata → tokens.json
cover.py ← tokens.json → cover.html
render_cover.js ← cover.html → cover.pdf (Playwright)
render_body.py ← tokens.json + content.json → body.pdf (ReportLab)
merge.py ← cover.pdf + body.pdf → final.pdf + QA report
Design tokens (color, typography, spacing) are written once by palette.py and consumed by every downstream script. This guarantees visual consistency between cover and body without any manual coordination.
Dependencies
| Tool | Purpose | Install |
|---|---|---|
| Python 3.9+ | palette, cover, render_body, merge | system |
reportlab |
Body page rendering | pip install reportlab |
pypdf |
Merging PDFs | pip install pypdf |
| Node.js 18+ | Cover rendering | system |
playwright |
Headless Chromium for cover | npm install -g playwright && npx playwright install chromium |
Run bash scripts/make.sh check to verify everything at once.
Run bash scripts/make.sh fix to auto-install what is missing.
License
MIT