---
source: https://carbone.io/documentation/quickstart/integration/for-developers.html
title: "Add report and document generation into your application using our REST API"
description: "Add document generation into your application"
generated_at: "2026-07-24"
---

# For Developers

Add document generation into your application

## Quick API Integration Guide

Get started with document generation in just a few minutes!

For detailed options, see the [full HTTP API documentation](/documentation/developer/http-api/introduction.md).

## 1\. Get Your API Key

-   Create a free [Carbone Account](https://account.carbone.io).
-   Go to your dashboard to get your API keys:
    -   **Production API key**: For production use. [Get 100 free documents/month](https://account.carbone.io/plans?st=0&idp=355329978948510477) after adding a payment method.
    -   **Test API key**: Always free. For development and testing (adds a Carbone watermark, PDF export only). ![Get API Keys from Carbone Account](/img/doc/carbone-account-api-keys.png)
-   Use your key in all API requests:
    
    ```json
    "authorization": "Bearer YOUR_API_TOKEN"
    ```
    

## 2\. Get a Template ID

To generate documents, you need a template `Id`. There are two easy ways to get it:

**Copy the ID from Carbone Studio**

If you uploaded [your template](/documentation/quickstart/getting-started/generate-a-document.md) via [Carbone Studio](https://studio.carbone.io), simply open your template and copy its ID from the Studio interface.

![Get templateID from Studio](/img/doc/studio-get-templateid.png)

  

**Or Upload your template via the API**

If you prefer to work programmatically, you can [upload your template](/documentation/developer/http-api/manage-templates.md#upload-a-template) file using the API. Here’s a curl sample command:

```bash
export CARBONE_API_TOKEN="<your_api_key_here>"
export ABSOLUTE_FILE_PATH="/path/to/first-template.docx"
curl --location --request POST 'https://api.carbone.io/template' \
     --header 'carbone-version: 5' \
     --header 'Expect:' \
     --header 'Content-Type: multipart/form-data' \
     --header 'Authorization: Bearer '${CARBONE_API_TOKEN} \
     --form 'versioning=true' \
     --form 'template=@'${ABSOLUTE_FILE_PATH}
```

Set `versioning=true` to use the new `id`/`versionId` fields from the v5 API:

```js
{
  success: true,
  data: {
    id: "424242424242", // template id
    versionId: "af42af42af42af42af42af42af42af42af42af42af42af42af42af42af42af42", // unique hash
    type: "docx",
    size: 12012,
    createdAt: 21545451,
    // For backward compatibility with v4 API, deprecated fields are still returned:
    // "templateId" (now "versionId" in v5)
    templateId: "af42af42af42af42af42af42af42af42af42af42af42af42af42af42af42af42",
    // "templateExtension" (now "type")
    templateExtension: "docx"
  }
}
```

With either method, you now have your template `id` or `versionId` (both are accepted) ready to use in API calls!

## 3\. Generate Your Document

Replace `TEMPLATE_ID_OR_VERSION_ID` with your template’s ID.

```bash
curl --location --request POST 'https://api.carbone.io/render/TEMPLATE_ID_OR_VERSION_ID?download=true' \
     --header 'carbone-version: 5' \
     --header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
     --header 'Authorization: Bearer '${CARBONE_API_TOKEN} \
     --data-raw '{ "data": { "name": "John" }, "convertTo": "pdf" }' \
     -o 'report.pdf'
```

Your generated document will be saved as `report.pdf`.

## Prefer SDKs?

Carbone provides ready-to-use SDKs to speed up development:

-   [NodeJS](/documentation/developer/api-sdks/nodejs.md)
-   [Javascript](/documentation/developer/api-sdks/javascript.md)
-   [Go](/documentation/developer/api-sdks/go.md)
-   [PHP](/documentation/developer/api-sdks/php.md)
-   [Python](/documentation/developer/api-sdks/python.md)
-   [Rust](/documentation/developer/api-sdks/rust.md)
-   [Java](/documentation/developer/api-sdks/java.md)

That’s it! 🚀 Now you’re ready to automate document generation with Carbone.

## Related topics

- [For NoCode makers](/documentation/quickstart/integration/for-nocode-makers.md)
- [For DevOps](/documentation/quickstart/integration/for-devops.md)