Improving Puppeteer Performance

Other Questions Puppeteer
1

I am working on a web application that produces extensive PDF documents, potentially exceeding 100 pages in length. The process I currently follow includes: 1. Generating HTML through nunjucks templates. 2. Launching a Puppeteer instance. 3. Creating the cover page of the PDF (as shown in the example below). 4. Generating the subsequent pages of the PDF. 5. Merging all pages into a single document and storing it in a buffer.

import { PDFDocument } from 'pdf-lib';

const htmlContent = await nunjucks.render(...);

const browserInstance = await puppeteer.launch({
  args: ['--disable-dev-shm-usage', '--no-first-run', '--no-sandbox', '--no-zygote', '--single-process'],
  headless: true
});

const newPage = await browserInstance.newPage();

await newPage.setContent(`${htmlContent}`, { waitUntil: 'networkidle0' });

const initialPage: Buffer = await newPage.pdf({
  ... someOptions,
  pageRanges: '1'
});

const additionalPages: Buffer = await newPage.pdf({
  ... someOptions,
  pageRanges: '2-',
  footerTemplate: ...,
});

const completeDocument = await PDFDocument.create();
const coverDocument = await PDFDocument.load(initialPage);
const [coverPage] = await completeDocument.copyPages(coverDocument, [0]);
completeDocument.addPage(coverPage);

const mainDocument = await PDFDocument.load(additionalPages);
for (let index = 0; index < mainDocument.getPageCount(); index++) {
    const [currentPage] = await completeDocument.copyPages(mainDocument, [index]);
    completeDocument.addPage(currentPage);
}

const finalPdfBytes = Buffer.from(await completeDocument.save());
// Handle the bytes as necessary

As the PDF size increases, the processing time and memory consumption also rise significantly, which leads to delays in the API response. What strategies can I implement to enhance the performance? Are there alternative tools available that could help prevent the API from hanging?

2

Improving performance with Puppeteer for generating large PDF documents involves optimizing the existing process and considering alternative methods or tools. Below are several suggestions to enhance performance:

1. Optimize Puppeteer Options:

  • Increase Resource Limits: Adjust the args in Puppeteer's launch to better utilize available system resources. For example, you can try maximizing the shared memory limit by specifying a tmpfs partition where Puppeteer writes to disk.
  • Use Headless Mode Efficiently: Continue using headless mode, but ensure other arguments don't conflict. If you're running into resource constraints, consider using a tool like Docker to run Puppeteer in a container with specific resource allocations.

2. Break Down Processing:

  • Incremental Page Loading: Instead of loading the entire document in one go, consider processing it incrementally. Generate and store each page separately and combine them at the end. This can help reduce memory usage at any single point in time.

3. Use Stream Processing With pdf-lib:

  • Using Streams: When handling large documents, utilizing streams instead of buffers can enhance performance. Libraries like pdf-lib allow you to modify PDFs without loading the whole document into memory at once, potentially reducing memory consumption.

4. Consider Alternative Tools:

  • Alternative PDF Libraries: Tools like pdfkit for PDF creation or ghostscript may offer better performance for your specific use case and can be considered if Puppeteer's capabilities become a bottleneck.
  • Service-Oriented Approach: Consider utilizing external services specialized in document generation, which may offer better optimization for large documents with standard APIs.

Optimizing performance, especially when working with heavy resources like large PDFs, often involves a combination of these strategies. Testing each suggestion in parts will allow you to determine the best solution for your application's specific requirements.

3

To boost Puppeteer's performance in generating large PDFs, consider these tweaks:

1. Puppeteer Optimization:

  • --disable-dev-shm-usage can be replaced with a custom tmpfs mount to increase shared memory.
  • Use Docker to allocate specific resources if running into limits.

2. Break it Down:

  • Process PDFs in chunks to minimize memory use. Merge pages incrementally.

3. Stream Processing:

  • Utilize streams instead of buffers for PDF handling with libraries like pdf-lib.

4. Explore Alternatives:

  • Try pdfkit or ghostscript for potentially better performance.
  • Consider using specialized document generation services.

Experiment with these steps to find the optimal solution for your setup.

4

To enhance the performance of Puppeteer when generating extensive PDF documents, consider implementing the following strategies:

1. Optimize Puppeteer Settings:

  • Enhanced Options: Make use of Puppeteer's options like --no-sandbox, but also experiment with optimizing resource allocations. Employ a larger shm-size by mounting a tmpfs in a Docker container to alleviate --disable-dev-shm-usage constraints.
  • Headless Mode: Stick to headless mode to lower overhead. Confirm that launch arguments are not causing conflicts, and consider resource-specific containers for efficiency.

2. Segmented Processing:

  • Incremental Loading: Instead of processing the entire document in one step, load and merge pages incrementally. This minimizes memory consumption.

3. Use Stream Processing:

  • Streamlining with pdf-lib: Use streams rather than buffers for managing large document data. This reduces memory usage significantly and enhances performance.

4. Investigate Alternative Tools:

  • Different PDF Libraries: Libraries like pdfkit, or utilities like ghostscript, might offer improved performance for your requirements.
  • Use External Services: Consider external document generation services that are optimized for handling large files efficiently.

By integrating these strategies, you can enhance Puppeteer’s performance in handling large PDF outputs, minimizing processing times and resource usage.