Open password-protected PDFs in JavaScript

Nutrient Web SDK supports opening and editing password-protected PDFs. Passwords can be supplied when loading a PDF, when entered by a user when accessing a document, or when included in the JSON Web Token (JWT).

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Setting the default document password

To supply the password when loading a PDF, set the password via the initial Configuration#password option (try it in the Playground(opens in a new tab)):

NutrientViewer.load({
  container: "#pspdfkit",
  document: "/path/to/protected.pdf",
  password: "secr3t"
})
  .then((instance) => {
    console.log("Password-protected document loaded");
  })
  .catch((error) => {
    if (error.message.includes("password")) {
      console.error("Invalid password provided");
    } else {
      console.error("Failed to load document:", error.message);
    }
  });

Note that setting this property will make loading PDF documents that aren’t protected by a password fail. As such, be sure to only add it for documents protected by a password.

Including the password in the JWT (Document Engine only)

To include the password in the JWT used by Document Engine to authenticate clients, add the password claim to your JWT:

jwt.sign(
  {
    document_id: document_id,
    password: "secr3t"
    // ...
  },
  fs.readFileSync("./jwt.pem"),
  {
    algorithm: "RS256",
    expiresIn: 10 * 365 * 24 * 60 * 60 // 10 yrs
  }
);

User enters the password

If the password is neither included in the JWT or set via the Configuration#password option, the user will be asked to enter the password via a password prompt.

Password Prompt

Complete example with password handling

Below is a complete example showing how to load a password-protected PDF with proper error handling:

async function loadPasswordProtectedPDF(documentUrl, password) {
  try {
    const instance = await NutrientViewer.load({
      container: "#pspdfkit",
      document: documentUrl,
      password: password
    });
    console.log("Password-protected document loaded successfully");
    return instance;
  } catch (error) {
    if (error.message.includes("password")) {
      // Password was incorrect or document requires a password
      console.error("Password error:", error.message);
      // You could prompt the user for the correct password here
    } else {
      console.error("Failed to load document:", error.message);
    }
    throw error;
  }
}


// Usage
loadPasswordProtectedPDF("/documents/protected.pdf", "user-password")
  .then((instance) => {
    // Work with the loaded document
  })
  .catch((error) => {
    // Handle the error (show message to user, retry, etc.)
  });