Download as PDF

The Download as PDF action opens the browser’s print dialog, where the user can save the page as a PDF (Chrome: “Save as PDF”; Safari: “Save as PDF” or “Export as PDF”; Firefox: “Save to PDF”).

This action is off by default. The print dialog is always reachable via Cmd/Ctrl+P, and many sites prefer not to advertise PDF as a primary artifact.

Enable it

starlightLlmActions({
  actions: {
    printPdf: true,
  },
})

How it works

The action calls window.print(). Anything you’d see in a printed page — including the print/PDF snapshot notice — will appear in the resulting PDF.

Pair with the print snapshot notice

The most common reason to enable this action is to combine it with the print/PDF snapshot notice, so PDFs that escape your site point readers back to the canonical page:

starlightLlmActions({
  actions: {
    printPdf: true,
  },
  printNotice: {
    branding: {
      logo: { src: '/logo.svg', alt: 'Acme', height: '1.5rem' },
      siteName: 'Acme DOCS',
    },
    warning: {
      message: [
        'This is a point-in-time export and may be outdated.',
        'Internal use only — do not redistribute.',
      ],
    },
  },
})

The notice prints regardless of how the user reaches the print dialog, so even users who hit Cmd/Ctrl+P without ever opening the dropdown still get the disclaimer in their PDF.

See Print/PDF snapshot notice for the full configuration.

Why it’s off by default

Three reasons:

1. Discoverability isn’t the problem. Cmd/Ctrl+P already works. Adding a dropdown item doesn’t unlock new behavior, it just surfaces it.
2. Some teams don’t want PDFs as a deliverable. Stale PDFs in shared drives are a known support headache. Defaulting the button off lets teams opt in deliberately.
3. Surface area. The dropdown is meant to feel light. Off-by-default keeps the “Open in…” providers as the focal point.