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POST

Overview

PDF to Brainrot is PDF to Video with a gameplay clip in the background: the text of the PDF becomes a narration, a voice reads it and the captions run over Minecraft parkour, Subway Surfers style runs and other gameplay. It is the format for study notes, summaries and explainers that hold attention on TikTok and Shorts.
  • The PDF: pdfUrl (a public https:// link, up to 20 MB, downloaded by Hooked) or pdfBase64 (the file base64-encoded, up to 10 MB), not both. It needs a text layer: a scanned or image-only PDF answers 400 before anything is charged. See Sending the PDF.
  • The narration: summaryType (summarize by default, summarize_long or key_as_is), targetDuration (default 30 seconds, not used with key_as_is) and customPrompt (with summarize only).
  • The background: gameplaySettings (default minecraft / minecraft-1), or selectedGame: "custom" with a video of your library as selectedVideo. There is no mediaType: the background is always gameplay.
The request answers in a few seconds with a projectId and status processing: the PDF is downloaded and its text checked in the request, and splitting it into scenes and making the video happen after that. What can be refused up front (an invalid body, a link that is not a PDF, a PDF without a text layer, missing keys, too few credits) is still answered with a 400 or 402 and nothing is created. If the scenes cannot be written later, the project becomes failed with the reason in message, the credits come back and your webhook gets the failure.

More request bodies



What happens next

  1. Keep the projectId.
  2. Either poll GET /v1/project/{projectId} until video.status is COMPLETED (or the project status is failed), or pass a webhook and wait for the call.
  3. Download the file from video.url (or data.url in the webhook).
See Webhooks for every payload.

Credits and your own keys

Teams on Hooked’s keys (managed): the project is priced from targetDuration (the gameplay background costs nothing on top of the narration). The PDF is read first, so a file that cannot be read costs nothing; then the credits are taken. If the balance is short, the request answers 402 INSUFFICIENT_CREDITS and nothing is created. If the project fails later, the credits are refunded automatically. Teams on their own keys (BYOK): no credits are charged. The team needs OpenRouter (summary, captions) and ElevenLabs (voiceover) in Settings → AI keys. No Firecrawl key: Hooked downloads and reads the PDF itself. A missing key answers 402 missing_credentials with the list in missingProviders, before anything is created.

Errors

Send an Idempotency-Key header to retry safely: if a request times out or answers 5xx, sending it again with the same key and body returns the first answer instead of creating (and charging) the project twice.

Next Steps

Get Project

Follow the project until the video is ready

PDF to Video

AI images, AI clips or your own media instead

Reddit Story

Another format over gameplay

List Voices

Pick a voice

Authorizations

x-api-key
string
header
required

Headers

Idempotency-Key
string

Makes the request safe to retry. 1-255 printable ASCII characters, one per operation (your job id, or a UUID you store), reused on every retry. Within 24 hours the same key with the same body answers with the first response and the header Idempotent-Replayed: true, without running or charging again. Keys are scoped to your team and the endpoint. 5xx answers and refusals before anything ran (401, 402, 403, 409, 429) are not kept. See Idempotency.

Required string length: 1 - 255
Pattern: ^[\x20-\x7E]+$

Body

application/json
voiceId
string
required

The narrator: a library voice from /v1/voice/list or one of your team's custom voices. An ID that is neither answers 400 (voiceId: Voice "<id>" not found.).

Required string length: 1 - 30
pdfUrl
string<uri>

A public https link to the PDF (up to 20 MB). Hooked downloads it: private or local addresses, redirects to them, files over 20 MB and anything that is not a PDF answer 400. Send this or pdfBase64, not both.

Maximum string length: 2000
pdfBase64
string

The PDF file itself, base64-encoded (up to 10 MB once decoded; a data:application/pdf;base64, prefix is accepted). For bigger files use pdfUrl. Send this or pdfUrl, not both.

pdfFileName
string

The file name, used to name the project. Taken from pdfUrl when omitted.

Maximum string length: 500
summaryType
enum<string>
default:summarize

How the text becomes the narration:

  • summarize: a short summary of the key points, about targetDuration seconds long.
  • summarize_long: a detailed narration with supporting details, about targetDuration seconds long.
  • key_as_is: the text as close to the original as possible, adapted for speech. The video is as long as the text needs; targetDuration is ignored.
Available options:
summarize,
summarize_long,
key_as_is
targetDuration
integer
default:30

Approximate length of the video in seconds (10-600). Not used with key_as_is. It also sets the price of the project.

Required range: 10 <= x <= 600
customPrompt
string

summarize only: extra instructions for the summary, e.g. the angle or the audience (max 2,000 characters). Sent with another summaryType, it answers 400.

Maximum string length: 2000
gameplaySettings
object

The gameplay clip in the background (default Minecraft).

name
string

Project name (max 100 characters). Generated from the source when omitted.

Maximum string length: 100
musicId
string

Background music: a track from /v1/music/list or your team's own uploaded music. An ID that is neither answers 400 (musicId: Music "<id>" not found.).

Maximum string length: 30
aspectRatio
enum<string>
default:ratio_9_16

Vertical, horizontal or square.

Available options:
ratio_9_16,
ratio_16_9,
ratio_1_1
language
string

Two-letter ISO 639-1 code of the narration. The narration is written in the document's own language, detected when omitted; this does not translate it.

caption
object

Burned-in captions of the narration. Not used with motion-graphics (it typesets its own copy) or a speaking cast.

audio
object

Narrator voice settings (ElevenLabs). Any field you leave out keeps its default. Not used by a speaking cast.

addStickers
boolean
default:false

Add emoji/GIF stickers anchored to the captions. Not used with motion-graphics or a speaking cast.

content
object

Branding.

webhook
string<uri>

HTTPS URL on a public host, called when the video is ready or the project fails (max 500 characters). Requests are signed: verify the Hooked-Signature header (HMAC-SHA256 of ".") with the signing secret from Settings → Webhooks; Hooked-Event and Hooked-Delivery headers name the event and the delivery. No redirects are followed; 10 s timeout; 3 immediate attempts. See the Webhooks guide for the payload.

Maximum string length: 500
metadata
object

Any JSON object of your own (max 5 KB). Stored on the project and sent back in the webhook payload. The key automationId is reserved for dashboard automations and is removed.

Response

Project created. Follow it with GET /v1/project/{projectId} or wait for the webhook.

success
enum<boolean>
required
Available options:
true
data
object
required
message
string
required