Best Practices

Template Design Best Practices

Template Structure

Design templates with clear structure and proper data fields: Template Data Fields:

Use descriptive field names (recipientName not name)
Group related data in objects (customerInfo.name, customerInfo.email)
Use arrays for repeating data (items[] for invoice line items)
Include validation rules for required fields

Template Layout:

Design for consistent branding across all documents
Use responsive layouts that work with varying data amounts
Include conditional sections for optional data
Test with both minimal and maximum data scenarios

HTML Optimization for PDFs

Document Structure

Always use proper HTML5 structure for consistent results:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
    <meta charset="utf-8">
    <title>Document Title</title>
    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">
    <style>
        /* CSS here */
    </style>
</head>
<body>
    <!-- Content here -->
</body>
</html>

CSS Best Practices

Typography for PDFs:

body {
    font-family: 'Arial', 'Helvetica', sans-serif;
    font-size: 12pt;
    line-height: 1.4;
    color: #333333;
    margin: 0;
    padding: 20px;
}

h1 { 
    font-size: 18pt; 
    margin-bottom: 12pt;
    page-break-after: avoid;
}

h2 { 
    font-size: 16pt; 
    margin-bottom: 10pt;
    page-break-after: avoid;
}

p { 
    margin-bottom: 8pt; 
    text-align: justify;
}

Page Break Control:

/* Keep content together */
.page-break { 
    page-break-before: always; 
}

.avoid-break { 
    page-break-inside: avoid; 
}

/* Prevent awkward breaks */
h1, h2, h3, h4, h5, h6 {
    page-break-after: avoid;
}

/* Table handling */
table {
    page-break-inside: auto;
}

tr {
    page-break-inside: avoid;
    page-break-after: auto;
}

Responsive Tables:

table {
    width: 100%;
    border-collapse: collapse;
    page-break-inside: avoid;
    margin-bottom: 20px;
}

th, td {
    padding: 8px 12px;
    border: 1px solid #ddd;
    text-align: left;
    vertical-align: top;
}

thead {
    background-color: #f5f5f5;
    font-weight: bold;
}

/* Ensure table headers repeat on new pages */
thead {
    display: table-header-group;
}

tbody {
    display: table-row-group;
}

Image Optimization

Responsive Images:

img {
    max-width: 100%;
    height: auto;
    image-rendering: optimizeQuality;
    display: block;
    margin: 10px 0;
}

/* High-DPI optimization */
@media (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 2) {
    img {
        image-rendering: -webkit-optimize-contrast;
    }
}

Image Guidelines:

Use compressed images (PNG for graphics, JPEG for photos)
Keep images under 2MB each
Embed small images as base64 data URLs
Use appropriate resolution (300 DPI for print quality)

MCP Integration Best Practices

Template Organization

Template Naming:

Use descriptive, memorable template names
Follow consistent naming conventions (company-certificate, monthly-invoice)
Avoid special characters and spaces in template names
Document template purposes and required data fields

AI Conversation Flow:

Train users on how to request documents clearly
Provide examples of good prompts for different document types
Set up template descriptions that help AI agents understand usage
Test conversation flows with different AI assistants

Data Collection Strategies

Structured Prompts:

Good: "Create a certificate using template 'course-completion' for John Smith who completed 'Python Programming' on January 30, 2024"

Better: "Use the course-completion template to generate a certificate with these details:
- Student: John Smith  
- Course: Python Programming
- Completion Date: January 30, 2024
- Grade: A+"

API Usage Best Practices

Error Handling

Implement robust error handling with retry logic:

async function generatePDFWithRetry(templateName, contextData, maxRetries = 3) {
  for (let attempt = 1; attempt <= maxRetries; attempt++) {
    try {
      const response = await fetch(`https://peedief.com/api/templates/by-name/${templateName}/pdf`, {
        method: 'POST',
        headers: {
          'x-api-key': 'YOUR_API_KEY',
          'Content-Type': 'application/json'
        },
        body: JSON.stringify({ 
          contextJson: contextData,
          fileName: `${templateName}-${Date.now()}.pdf`
        })
      });

      if (!response.ok) {
        const errorText = await response.text();
        throw new Error(`HTTP ${response.status}: ${errorText}`);
      }

      const result = await response.json();
      
      if (result.success) {
        return result;
      } else {
        throw new Error(result.error || 'Unknown error');
      }
    } catch (error) {
      console.error(`Attempt ${attempt} failed:`, error.message);
      
      if (attempt === maxRetries) {
        throw new Error(`PDF generation failed after ${maxRetries} attempts: ${error.message}`);
      }
      
      // Exponential backoff
      const delay = Math.pow(2, attempt) * 1000;
      await new Promise(resolve => setTimeout(resolve, delay));
    }
  }
}

Security Best Practices

API Key Management

DO

Store keys in environment variables
Use different keys per environment
Rotate keys periodically
Monitor key usage patterns
Use server-side API calls only

DON'T

Commit keys to version control
Share keys via email/chat
Use same key across projects
Embed keys in client-side code
Store keys in plain text files

Environment Configuration:

# .env file (never commit this!)
PEEDIEF_API_KEY=pk_live_your_secret_key_here
PEEDIEF_API_URL=https://peedief.com/api

// Proper server-side usage
const apiKey = process.env.PEEDIEF_API_KEY;
if (!apiKey) {
  throw new Error('PEEDIEF_API_KEY environment variable is required');
}

// NEVER do this in client-side code:
// const apiKey = 'pk_live_1234567890'; // ❌ NEVER!

Getting started

API Integration

MCP Integration

Configuration

Support

Best Practices

Best Practices

Template Design Best Practices

Template Structure

HTML Optimization for PDFs

Document Structure

CSS Best Practices

Image Optimization

MCP Integration Best Practices

Template Organization

Data Collection Strategies

API Usage Best Practices

Error Handling

Security Best Practices

API Key Management

DO

DON'T

​Best Practices

​Template Design Best Practices

​Template Structure

​HTML Optimization for PDFs

​Document Structure

​CSS Best Practices

​Image Optimization

​MCP Integration Best Practices

​Template Organization

​Data Collection Strategies

​API Usage Best Practices

​Error Handling

​Security Best Practices

​API Key Management

DO

DON'T

Best Practices

Template Design Best Practices

Template Structure

HTML Optimization for PDFs

Document Structure

CSS Best Practices

Image Optimization

MCP Integration Best Practices

Template Organization

Data Collection Strategies

API Usage Best Practices

Error Handling

Security Best Practices

API Key Management