How to Summarize PDF Text with cURL, Tutorial

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Why Summarize PDF with cURL?

The pdfRest Summarize PDF API Tool is designed to help users extract concise summaries from PDF documents. This tool is especially useful for those who need to quickly understand the main points of lengthy documents without reading them in their entirety. This tutorial will guide you through the process of sending an API call to the Summarize PDF endpoint using cURL, a command-line tool for transferring data with URLs.

Imagine you're a researcher who frequently deals with large volumes of academic papers. Using the Summarize PDF API, you can automate the process of summarizing these documents, saving time and allowing you to focus on more critical tasks. By integrating this API into your workflow, you can quickly generate summaries that highlight key information, making it easier to decide which papers warrant a deeper read.

Summarize PDF with cURL Code Example

#!/bin/sh

# By default, we use the US-based API service. This is the primary endpoint for global use.
API_URL="https://api.pdfrest.com"

# For GDPR compliance and enhanced performance for European users, you can switch to the EU-based service by uncommenting the URL below.
# For more information visit https://pdfrest.com/pricing#how-do-eu-gdpr-api-calls-work
# API_URL="https://eu-api.pdfrest.com"

curl -X POST "$API_URL/summarized-pdf-text" \
  -H "Accept: application/json" \
  -H "Content-Type: multipart/form-data" \
  -H "Api-Key: xxxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx" \
  -F "file=@/path/to/file" \
  -F "target_word_count=100"

Source: GitHub Repository

Breaking Down the Code

The script starts by defining the API_URL variable, which is set to the US-based API endpoint "https://api.pdfrest.com". This is the default endpoint for global users. If you're located in Europe and need GDPR compliance, you can switch to the EU-based service by uncommenting the alternate API_URL.

The curl command is used to make a POST request to the summarized-pdf-text endpoint. The -X POST option specifies the HTTP method.

The headers are defined with the -H flag. "Accept: application/json" indicates that the client expects a JSON response. "Content-Type: multipart/form-data" specifies the format of the request body, which is necessary for file uploads. The "Api-Key: xxxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx" is a placeholder for your API key, which authenticates your request.

The -F flag is used to specify form data. "file=@/path/to/file" uploads the PDF file you want to summarize. Replace /path/to/file with the actual path to your PDF file. "target_word_count=100" sets the desired word count for the summary.

Beyond the Tutorial

In this tutorial, you learned how to use cURL to send a request to the pdfRest Summarize PDF API endpoint. This allows you to automate the process of summarizing PDF documents, which can be a significant time-saver.

To explore more functionalities, I encourage you to try out all of the pdfRest API Tools in the API Lab. For detailed information on each API, refer to the API Reference Guide. Note that this example demonstrates a multipart API call, and code samples using JSON payloads can be found here.