What it is
Stirling PDF is an application for everyday PDF work: editing, signing, redaction, conversion, splitting, merging, compression, and automation. The main idea is to process documents under your control instead of uploading them to random online services.
It can be used as a desktop app, browser UI, or server with a private API, which matters for contracts, invoices, personal data, and internal documents.
What is inside
The repository contains the application, Docker images, API, UI operations, no-code pipelines, documentation, API docs, and installation options. It uses Task as a unified command runner for dev/test/build commands.
A practical flow is to run Stirling PDF on your server, open the web interface, upload a document, perform an operation, and download the result. Automation can use the API.
PDF processing flow
This snippet shows the document staying under owner control.
Upload PDF -> Choose operation -> Process locally -> Download result
Examples: merge, split, redact, convert, signStrengths and limits
The strength is privacy and breadth. One tool covers many PDF tasks, and self-hosting avoids sending documents to external sites.
The limitation is server responsibility. Team use needs access control, limits, updates, temporary-file handling, and awareness that PDF processing can be CPU/RAM heavy.