AI PDF Generator

A WordPress plugin that generates PDF documents (invoices, tickets, certificates, badges, thank-you letters, and more) from HTML templates created via the Google Gemini API. Describe the document in plain language — the plugin generates a template, lets you fine-tune it visually, and automatically renders the finished PDF on plugin events (WooCommerce, Amelia, forms, etc.).

Features

• AI template generation (PDF Generator page). A text prompt → Gemini returns an HTML skeleton plus structured editable_fields.
• Draft mode + chat refinement. A generated template is first shown as a draft (no post is created yet). "Refine" sends the current layout back to Gemini along with your instructions; "Save Template" finalizes it as a CPT.
• Reference images. Attach a design sample to your prompt (via the WordPress media library) — it's sent to Gemini as inline_data, and the AI reproduces its layout, colors, and style.
• Visual editor (no code). Instead of raw HTML — dynamic fields: WP Color Picker for colors, input/textarea for text. The live preview updates instantly. JSON is the source of truth.
• Smart triggers (65 events). A catalog of triggers keyed to real hook names (WooCommerce, EDD, Amelia, Bookly, TEC, 9 form plugins, LMS, memberships, donations, CRM, WP core). Only triggers for currently active plugins are shown; each carries its own contextual placeholders.
• Smart placeholders. {{client_name}}, {{order_id}}, {{order_total}}, {{qr_code}}, etc. — substituted with real event data at render time.
• Branding. Logo (media library), primary color, and company details live in Settings and are exposed as {{logo_url}}, {{brand_color}}, {{company_name}}, {{company_address}}, {{company_email}} — no hardcoding in templates.
• Two generation modes. Bring your own Gemini API key (free, direct calls), or use the managed Cloud Service — get a free trial (3 generations) or a paid license key with pooled credits, tiered plans, domain limits, and expiry, all surfaced as a live status dashboard in the License tab.
• PDF rendering via mPDF. Full UTF-8/Cyrillic support out of the box (DejaVu Sans), custom page sizes (A4, Letter, 800x400 px), table layouts, and inline styles.
• Delivery. attach_to_email (emailed attachment) or download_link (button on the WooCommerce thank-you page / under a CF7 or Elementor form / [aipdf_download_button] shortcode for Amelia redirect flows).
• Garbage collection. WP Cron deletes PDFs older than the configured retention period every day.
• Audit log. A rotating file logger (5 MB) — API, render, and delivery errors are visible in the admin.

Requirements

• WordPress 6.0+
• PHP 8.0+
• Composer (to install mPDF)
• A Google Gemini API key (Google AI Studio) — or a Cloud Service license/trial key instead

Installation

1. Copy the ai-pdf-generator/ folder into wp-content/plugins/.
2. Install dependencies inside the plugin folder:

   composer install --no-dev --optimize-autoloader

3. Activate the plugin under Plugins → Installed Plugins.
4. Open AI PDF → Dashboard, and follow the onboarding on the Instructions tab. In short:
   • License tab — get a free trial or enter your own Gemini API key. To use your own key permanently, you can instead define a constant in wp-config.php (it takes priority over the stored option):

     define( 'AIPDF_GEMINI_API_KEY', 'your-key' );

   • Settings tab — pick a Gemini model and set the PDF retention period.
   • AI PDF → PDF Generator (its own top-level menu item) — write a prompt and generate your first template.
5. Change the Gemini model if needed (default: gemini-flash-latest, a self-updating alias that won't break on deprecation).

Nginx: the log file is protected via .htaccess (Apache/LiteSpeed). For nginx, add to your config: location ~* /ai-pdf-generator/.*\.log$ { deny all; }

Building a release archive (build.sh)

A ZIP ready to upload via Plugins → Add New (with vendor/, without dev files) is built with one script:

./build.sh

The script:

1. runs composer install --no-dev --optimize-autoloader;
2. copies files into a temporary staging directory, excluding .git, .gitignore, build.sh, build/, composer.lock, IDE/OS files, and logs;
3. packages everything into a folder named after the slug — so WordPress extracts the archive into the correct wp-content/plugins/ai-pdf-generator/;
4. outputs build/ai-pdf-generator-<version>.zip (the version is read from the main file's Version: header).

Structure

ai-pdf-generator/
├── ai-pdf-generator.php        # Main file: constants, includes, bootstrap
├── includes/
│   ├── triggers.php            # Smart trigger catalog (label / condition / placeholders)
│   ├── fields.php              # editable_fields: normalization, sanitization, JSON storage
│   ├── brand.php               # Branding: logo, color, company details → placeholders
│   ├── cpt-register.php        # pdf_ai_template CPT (hidden)
│   ├── template-editor.php     # Visual editor + live preview (instead of raw HTML)
│   ├── admin-page.php          # Dashboard (Instructions/Settings/License/Event Log) + PDF Generator page
│   ├── ajax-handler.php        # generate / refine / save + Gemini and cloud-licensing calls
│   ├── pdf-renderer.php        # PDF rendering via mPDF, placeholder substitution
│   ├── trigger-dispatcher.php  # Listens to active plugins' hooks → generates PDFs
│   ├── delivery.php            # Delivery: email attachment / download link
│   ├── cron-cleanup.php        # Daily cleanup of old PDFs
│   └── logger.php              # Audit log with rotation
├── assets/
│   ├── admin.js                # Dashboard + PDF Generator: draft / refine / save, license UI, media uploaders
│   ├── editor.js               # Template editor: fields + live preview
│   └── frontend.js             # PDF download button under forms (CF7 / Elementor)
├── composer.json               # Dependency: mpdf/mpdf ^8.2
├── build.sh                    # Release archive builder
└── README.md

Development

Sync code locally into a test WordPress install:

./sync-local.sh

License

GPL-2.0-or-later.