Find and Replace Text

Purpose

This API allows you to find specific text patterns and replace them throughout a PDF document.

Quick Reference

Property	Value
Method	POST
Request URL (Download)	https://{zohoapis_domain}/pdfeditor/api/v1/pdf/content/replace
Request URL (Store)	https://{zohoapis_domain}/pdfeditor/api/v1/pdf/content/replace/store
Request URL (Callback)	https://{zohoapis_domain}/pdfeditor/api/v1/pdf/content/replace/callback

Body Parameters

Parameter	Value	Mandatory/Optional	Description
file	File or String	Mandatory	Upload the PDF file from your local drive or desktop. If the PDF file is available via a publicly accessible web URL, you can provide the URL using the same parameter.
input_options	{ "replacements": [ { ... } ], "case_sensitive": true, "whole_word": false, "include_bookmarks": false, "include_comments": false, "page_range": "all" }	Mandatory	Specify the find/replace pairs and search behavior.
password	String	Optional	If the input PDF is password protected, specify the password to unlock it.
output_settings	{ "name": "<document_name>", "folder_id": "<folder_id>", "overwrite_existing_file": true \| false }	Mandatory for store variant	name – Specify the name for the modified PDF document. folder_id – Specify the ID of the WorkDrive folder in which to store the output file. overwrite_existing_file(optional) – Set to true to overwrite an existing file with the same name in the folder.
callback	{ "invoke_url": "<callback_url>", "timeout": 60, "retry_interval": 60, "headers": { "header_name": "header_value" }, "http_method_type": "post" }	Mandatory for callback variant	Specify the callback delivery configuration for the /callback variant.

input_options Parameters

Parameter	Data Type	Possible Values	Default Value
replacements	JSON Array	Array of find/replace objects. See replacements Parameters.	–
case_sensitive	Boolean	true, false	true
whole_word	Boolean	true, false	false
include_bookmarks	Boolean	true, false	false
include_comments	Boolean	true, false	false
page_range	String	all, 1-5, 1,3,5, odd, even	all

replacements Parameters

Parameter	Data Type	Possible Values	Default Value
find	String	Text to search for	–
replace	String	Replacement text	–

callback Parameters

Parameter	Data Type	Possible Values	Default Value
invoke_url	String	URL. Maximum length: 300 characters.	–
timeout	Integer	10 to 120 seconds	60 seconds
retry_interval	Integer	60 to 28800 seconds	60 seconds
headers	JSON Object	Maximum 10 keys. Allowed characters for keys: alphabets, numbers, hyphen, underscore, dot. Maximum key length: 100. Maximum value length: 2500.	–
http_method_type	String	put, post	post

Notes and Limits

The maximum file size allowed for the input PDF is 50 MB.
By default, the search operates on page body text only. Use include_bookmarks and include_comments to extend the search scope.
Form fields are not searched by this API.
The store variant requires a Zoho WorkDrive account.
To use the download or callback variants, an OAuth token should be generated with the following scopes: ZohoWriter.pdfEditor.ALL
To use the store variant, an OAuth token should be generated with the following scopes: ZohoWriter.pdfEditor.ALL, WorkDrive.files.ALL, WorkDrive.organization.ALL

Possible Errors

Refer to the following pages for the list of possible errors for this API:

General Errors

Download Variant Sample Request

Copiedcurl --location --request POST "https://{zohoapis_domain}/pdfeditor/api/v1/pdf/content/replace" \
  --header "Authorization: Zoho-oauthtoken xxx.yyy.zzz" \
  --form 'file=@/Users/username/Documents/Original.pdf' \
  --form 'password="pdf_password"' \
  --form 'input_options={"replacements": [{"find": "confidential", "replace": "public"}, {"find": "draft", "replace": "final"}], "case_sensitive": true, "whole_word": false, "include_bookmarks": true, "include_comments": true, "page_range": "1-10"}'

Store Variant Sample Request

Copiedcurl --location --request POST "https://{zohoapis_domain}/pdfeditor/api/v1/pdf/content/replace/store" \
  --header "Authorization: Zoho-oauthtoken xxx.yyy.zzz" \
  --form 'file=@/Users/username/Documents/Original.pdf' \
  --form 'password="pdf_password"' \
  --form 'input_options={"replacements": [{"find": "confidential", "replace": "public"}], "case_sensitive": true, "whole_word": false, "include_bookmarks": true, "include_comments": true, "page_range": "1-10"}' \
  --form 'output_settings={"name": "Replaced_Text.pdf", "folder_id": "<folder_id>", "overwrite_existing_file": true}'

Callback Variant Sample Request

Copiedcurl --location --request POST "https://{zohoapis_domain}/pdfeditor/api/v1/pdf/content/replace/callback" \
  --header "Authorization: Zoho-oauthtoken xxx.yyy.zzz" \
  --form 'file=@/Users/username/Documents/Original.pdf' \
  --form 'password="pdf_password"' \
  --form 'input_options={"replacements": [{"find": "confidential", "replace": "public"}], "case_sensitive": true, "whole_word": false, "include_bookmarks": true, "include_comments": true, "page_range": "1-10"}' \
  --form 'callback={"invoke_url": "https://www.example.com/v1/api/callback/savecallback", "timeout": 120, "retry_interval": 60, "http_method_type": "post"}'

Download Variant Sample Response

Copied{
  "status": "inprogress",
  "status_check_url": "https://pdf.zoho.com/pdfeditor/api/v1/pdf/content/replace/job/e9051e30fd7f0093cba4247d1f831e03e945a127bde429ed6e9ef3a703b15a6060b830256c650cb88a3f687773c33076"
}

Download Variant Success Response

Copied{
  "status": "success",
  "download_url": "https://pdf.zoho.com/pdfeditor/api/v1/pdf/content/replace/download/b7f3e5c9a1d4e8f2b6a9c3e7f1d5a9b3",
  "response_generated_time": 1780912499331
}

Store Variant Sample Response

Copied{
  "status": "inprogress",
  "status_check_url": "https://pdf.zoho.com/pdfeditor/api/v1/pdf/content/replace/job/2ae74c719bdb14ed9941fe351ade742439bf75ab0fb8fdf0a68b57a7a60cbd54ab7cb7bea5d0fafb4d2560a90331aaf8",
  "document_id": "hf3e60435a4c7576f4d21a16cfc292a4c64a9",
  "document_url": "https://workdrive.zoho.com/file/hf3e60435a4c7576f4d21a16cfc292a4c64a9"
}

Store Variant Success Response

Copied{
  "status": "success",
  "document_id": "hf3e60435a4c7576f4d21a16cfc292a4c64a9",
  "document_url": "https://workdrive.zoho.com/file/hf3e60435a4c7576f4d21a16cfc292a4c64a9",
  "response_generated_time": 1780912529135
}

Callback Variant Sample Response

Copied{
  "status": "inprogress",
  "status_check_url": "https://pdf.zoho.com/pdfeditor/api/v1/pdf/content/replace/job/1d358192770dc68d173ca34b8f7c9dcb121ad0bf3d6307b7387be79e76dacf586f9d62cd253c26020f8c3dcf79d51b6b"
}

Callback Variant Success Response

Copied{
  "status": "success",
  "callback_response": {
    "invoked_time": 1780912655806,
    "http_status_code": 200,
    "message": {
      "download_url": "https://pdf.zoho.com/pdfeditor/api/v1/pdf/content/replace/download/b7f3e5c9a1d4e8f2b6a9c3e7f1d5a9b3",
      "response_generated_time": 1780912656237
    }
  }
}