---
title: Shell script
description: Convert a file from the command line with curl and jq, with cleanup on failure.
---

`convt-api.sh` takes a file and a target format and saves every output in the current directory. It needs Bash, `curl` 7.76 or newer and `jq`.

```bash convt-api.sh lineNumbers expandable
#!/usr/bin/env bash
# usage: convt-api.sh <file> <input-format> <target-format>
set -euo pipefail

API=${CONVT_API:-https://convt-api-production.up.railway.app}
FILE=$1 FROM=$2 TO=$3
AUTH="Authorization: Bearer ${CONVT_API_KEY:?set CONVT_API_KEY}"
BYTES=$(wc -c < "$FILE" | tr -d ' ')

api() { curl -sS --fail-with-body -H "$AUTH" "$@"; }

RESERVED=$(api "$API/v1/jobs" -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d "$(jq -n --arg from "$FROM" --arg to "$TO" --argjson bytes "$BYTES" \
    '{input_format: $from, target_format: $to, input_bytes: $bytes}')")
JOB=$(jq -r .job.id <<< "$RESERVED")

# Release the reservation if anything below fails.
trap 'api -X POST "$API/v1/jobs/$JOB/cancel" > /dev/null || true' ERR

curl -sS --fail-with-body -X PUT -T "$FILE" "$(jq -r .upload_url <<< "$RESERVED")"
api -X POST "$API/v1/jobs/$JOB/start" > /dev/null

for _ in $(seq 660); do
  JOB_JSON=$(api "$API/v1/jobs/$JOB")
  STATUS=$(jq -r .status <<< "$JOB_JSON")
  case $STATUS in succeeded|failed|cancelled) break ;; esac
  sleep 1
done

if [ "$STATUS" != succeeded ]; then
  echo "job $JOB $STATUS: $(jq -r '.error_code // "timed out"' <<< "$JOB_JSON")" >&2
  false
fi

# Outputs are named input.<ext>; save them under the input's own name.
STEM=$(basename "${FILE%.*}")
api "$API/v1/jobs/$JOB/download" | jq -r '.outputs[] | "\(.name)\t\(.url)"' |
  while IFS=$'\t' read -r NAME URL; do
    NAME=$(basename "$NAME")
    NAME=${NAME/#input/$STEM}
    curl -sS --fail-with-body -o "$NAME" "$URL"
    echo "saved $NAME"
  done
```

```console
$ chmod +x convt-api.sh
$ ./convt-api.sh slides.pptx pptx pdf
saved slides.pdf
```

The input format is an argument because shell scripts have no clean way to map extensions. Find ids on the [Formats](/docs/reference/formats) page or with `curl https://convt-api-production.up.railway.app/v1/formats`.