BiGapiguides
POST /v1/pdf/compress → 200 application/pdf · 1¢

Compress PDF via API

Ghostscript downsampling with four presets: screen, ebook (default), printer, prepress. If compression would grow the file, you get the original back.

Quick start (curl)

Get a key first – no signup: curl -X POST https://api.bigapi.dev/v1/keys (100 free operations, 7 days).

curl -X POST https://api.bigapi.dev/v1/pdf/compress -H 'Authorization: Bearer $KEY' -F 'file=@big.pdf' -F 'level=ebook' -o small.pdf

Give it to your agent (MCP)

Add BiGapi to Claude Desktop, Cursor or any MCP client – the server fetches its own key on first use:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "bigapi": { "command": "npx", "args": ["-y", "@bigapi/mcp"] }
  }
}

Then simply ask: “Compress this PDF for e-mail.” – the model calls the pdf_compress tool.

When your agent needs this

Parameters

ParamTypeRequiredNotes
filefileyes
levelstringnoone of screen, ebook, printer, prepress · default ebook

Pricing

1¢ per operation
First 100 operations free (per key, 7 days) · failed calls (4xx/5xx) cost $0 · repeats with Idempotency-Key are free · prepaid credit from $5, never expires.

Every response carries X-BigAPI-Cost, X-BigAPI-Balance and X-BigAPI-Free-Ops – your agent can budget on its own.

Errors your agent can handle

StatusMeaningAgent action
401missing/invalid keyPOST /v1/keys for a fresh one
402credit exhaustedshow the upgrade_url from the response to a human
413file too largesplit the input (limit 100 MB)
422conversion failedcheck the detail field – costs $0
429rate limitedwait retry_after seconds

FAQ

Which level should an agent pick?

ebook is the safe default (150 dpi images). screen for smallest, printer/prepress for print quality.

Can the file get bigger?

Ghostscript sometimes inflates already-optimized files – we detect that and return the original, so the result is never worse.

Is text quality affected?

No – text stays vector; only embedded images are downsampled.