Minimax PDF

minimax-pdf

Three tasks. One skill.

Read design/design.md before any CREATE or REFORMAT work.

Route table

| User intent | Route | Scripts used |

|---|---|---|

| Generate a new PDF from scratch | CREATE | palette.py → cover.py → render_cover.js → render_body.py → merge.py |

| Fill / complete form fields in an existing PDF | FILL | fill_inspect.py → fill_write.py |

| Reformat / re-style an existing document | REFORMAT | reformat_parse.py → then full CREATE pipeline |

Rule: when in doubt between CREATE and REFORMAT, ask whether the user has an existing document to start from. If yes → REFORMAT. If no → CREATE.

Route A: CREATE

Full pipeline — content → design tokens → cover → body → merged PDF.

bash scripts/make.sh run \
  --title "Q3 Strategy Review" --type proposal \
  --author "Strategy Team" --date "October 2025" \
  --accent "#2D5F8A" \
  --content content.json --out report.pdf

Doc types: report · proposal · resume · portfolio · academic · general · minimal · stripe · diagonal · frame · editorial · magazine · darkroom · terminal · poster

| Type | Cover pattern | Visual identity |

|---|---|---|

| report | fullbleed | Dark bg, dot grid, Playfair Display |

| proposal | split | Left panel + right geometric, Syne |

| resume | typographic | Oversized first-word, DM Serif Display |

| portfolio | atmospheric | Near-black, radial glow, Fraunces |

| academic | typographic | Light bg, classical serif, EB Garamond |

| general | fullbleed | Dark slate, Outfit |

| minimal | minimal | White + single 8px accent bar, Cormorant Garamond |

| stripe | stripe | 3 bold horizontal color bands, Barlow Condensed |

| diagonal | diagonal | SVG angled cut, dark/light halves, Montserrat |

| frame | frame | Inset border, corner ornaments, Cormorant |

| editorial | editorial | Ghost letter, all-caps title, Bebas Neue |

| magazine | magazine | Warm cream bg, centered stack, hero image, Playfair Display |

| darkroom | darkroom | Navy bg, centered stack, grayscale image, Playfair Display |

| terminal | terminal | Near-black, grid lines, monospace, neon green |

| poster | poster | White bg, thick sidebar, oversized title, Barlow Condensed |

Cover extras (inject into tokens via --abstract, --cover-image):

• --abstract "text" — abstract text block on the cover (magazine/darkroom)
• --cover-image "url" — hero image URL/path (magazine, darkroom, poster)

Color overrides — always choose these based on document content:

• --accent "#HEX" — override the accent color; accent_lt is auto-derived by lightening toward white
• --cover-bg "#HEX" — override the cover background color

Accent color selection guidance:

You have creative authority over the accent color. Pick it from the document's semantic context — title, industry, purpose, audience — not from generic "safe" choices. The accent appears on section rules, callout bars, table headers, and the cover: it carries the document's visual identity.

| Context | Suggested accent range |

|---|---|

| Legal / compliance / finance | Deep navy #1C3A5E, charcoal #2E3440, slate #3D4C5E |

| Healthcare / medical | Teal-green #2A6B5A, cool green #3A7D6A |

| Technology / engineering | Steel blue #2D5F8A, indigo #3D4F8A |

| Environmental / sustainability | Forest #2E5E3A, olive #4A5E2A |

| Creative / arts / culture | Burgundy #6B2A35, plum #5A2A6B, terracotta #8A3A2A |

| Academic / research | Deep teal #2A5A6B, library blue #2A4A6B |

| Corporate / neutral | Slate #3D4A5A, graphite #444C56 |

| Luxury / premium | Warm black #1A1208, deep bronze #4A3820 |

Rule: choose a color that a thoughtful designer would select for this specific document — not the type's default. Muted, desaturated tones work best; avoid vivid primaries. When in doubt, go darker and more neutral.

content.json block types:

| Block | Usage | Key fields |

|---|---|---|

| h1 | Section heading + accent rule | text |

| h2 | Subsection heading | text |

| h3 | Sub-subsection (bold) | text |

| body | Justified paragraph; supports <b> <i> markup | text |

| bullet | Unordered list item (• prefix) | text |

| numbered | Ordered list item — counter auto-resets on non-numbered blocks | text |

| callout | Highlighted insight box with accent left bar | text |

| table | Data table — accent header, alternating row tints | headers, rows, col_widths?, caption? |

| image | Embedded image scaled to column width | path/src, caption? |

| figure | Image with auto-numbered "Figure N:" caption | path/src, caption? |

| code | Monospace code block with accent left border | text, language? |

| math | Display math — LaTeX syntax via matplotlib mathtext | text, label?, caption? |

| chart | Bar / line / pie chart rendered with matplotlib | chart_type, labels, datasets, title?, x_label?, y_label?, caption?, figure? |

| flowchart | Process diagram with nodes + edges via matplotlib | nodes, edges, caption?, figure? |

| bibliography | Numbered reference list with hanging indent | items [{id, text}], title? |

| divider | Accent-colored full-width rule | — |

| caption | Small muted label | text |

| pagebreak | Force a new page | — |

| spacer | Vertical whitespace | pt (default 12) |

chart / flowchart schemas:

{"type":"chart","chart_type":"bar","labels":["Q1","Q2","Q3","Q4"],
 "datasets":[{"label":"Revenue","values":[120,145,132,178]}],"caption":"Q results"}

{"type":"flowchart",
 "nodes":[{"id":"s","label":"Start","shape":"oval"},
          {"id":"p","label":"Process","shape":"rect"},
          {"id":"d","label":"Valid?","shape":"diamond"},
          {"id":"e","label":"End","shape":"oval"}],
 "edges":[{"from":"s","to":"p"},{"from":"p","to":"d"},
          {"from":"d","to":"e","label":"Yes"},{"from":"d","to":"p","label":"No"}]}

{"type":"bibliography","items":[
  {"id":"1","text":"Author (Year). Title. Publisher."}]}

Route B: FILL

Fill form fields in an existing PDF without altering layout or design.

# Step 1: inspect
python3 scripts/fill_inspect.py --input form.pdf

# Step 2: fill
python3 scripts/fill_write.py --input form.pdf --out filled.pdf \
  --values '{"FirstName": "Jane", "Agree": "true", "Country": "US"}'

| Field type | Value format |

|---|---|

| text | Any string |

| checkbox | "true" or "false" |

| dropdown | Must match a choice value from inspect output |

| radio | Must match a radio value (often starts with /) |

Always run fill_inspect.py first to get exact field names.

Route C: REFORMAT

Parse an existing document → content.json → CREATE pipeline.

bash scripts/make.sh reformat \
  --input source.md --title "My Report" --type report --out output.pdf

Supported input formats: .md .txt .pdf .json

Environment

bash scripts/make.sh check   # verify all deps
bash scripts/make.sh fix     # auto-install missing deps
bash scripts/make.sh demo    # build a sample PDF

| 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 |