Open PDFs using DWS Viewer API

Use DWS Viewer API when you want DWS to authorize and meter viewer sessions for Nutrient Web SDK. DWS Viewer API can open DWS-managed documents or app-provided documents.

Open a DWS-managed document

For a DWS-managed document, pass the document’s session token in the configuration object passed to NutrientViewer.load():

NutrientViewer.load({
  container: "<container>",
  session: "<session_token>"
});

The <container> placeholder in the code above should be replaced by a CSS selector or a DOM element where Nutrient Web SDK will be mounted.

The <session_token> placeholder should be replaced by the session token obtained from DWS Viewer API’s dashboard(opens in a new tab) or through its API. Session tokens are used for authenticating Nutrient Web SDK clients when connecting to DWS Viewer API.

Open an app-provided document

If your browser app already has the document, create a DWS Viewer API browser session from your backend by omitting allowed_documents, and pass both session and document to NutrientViewer.load():

NutrientViewer.load({
  container: "<container>",
  session: "<session_token>",
  document: "/documents/example.pdf"
});

Omit licenseKey for this flow. For the complete backend and frontend flow, refer to the open app-provided documents guide.

For a cross-product overview of Web SDK, Document Engine, and DWS Viewer API document loading workflows, refer to the choose the right document opening and loading setup guide.

Accessing a password-protected document

To load password-protected PDFs, you can provide the password option in the configuration.

Alternatively, you’ll be asked to enter the password through a password prompt.

Loading options

Open files in any supported file format.

NutrientViewer.load() accepts the following configuration options:

• annotationTooltipCallback
• customRenderers
• electronicSignatures
• annotationPresets

• session (DWS Viewer API only)

• autoSaveMode
• baseUrl
• container

• disableForms
• disableHighQualityPrinting
• disableOpenParameters
• disableTextSelection

• document (DWS Viewer API app-provided documents)

• editableAnnotationTypes

• enableServiceWorkerSupport
• formFieldsNotSavingSignatures
• headless
• initialViewState

• instant (Server and DWS-managed Viewer API documents only)

• isEditableAnnotation
• isEditableComment

• locale
• maxDefaultZoomLevel
• maxPasswordRetries
• minDefaultZoomLevel

• password
• onPasswordRequired
• populateInkSignatures
• populateStoredSignatures
• preventTextCopy
• printMode
• renderPageCallback
• serverUrl
• signal
• stampAnnotationTemplates

• styleSheets
• theme
• toolbarItems
• toolbarPlacement

Example

NutrientViewer.load({
  container: "#pspdfkit",
  session: "<session_token>",
  // Add `document` here when opening an app-provided document.
  toolbarItems: NutrientViewer.defaultToolbarItems.filter(item => item.type !== "print"),
  initialViewState: new NutrientViewer.ViewState({
    sidebarMode: NutrientViewer.SidebarMode.THUMBNAILS
  })
})
  .then((instance) => {
    console.log("Document loaded successfully");
  })
  .catch((error) => {
    console.error("Failed to load document:", error);
  });