PDF Generation

A publish triggers automatic PDF generation. The PDF is the official record and downloadable by the public.

How It Works

  1. Publishing an agenda starts PDF generation in the background.
  2. The system gathers the public items, breaks, and preamble into a formatted document.
  3. Only public attachments are included; private attachments and closed-session details are excluded.
  4. Markdown attachments appear inline.
  5. The finished PDF is stored and linked to the agenda version.
Info

Generation doesn't hold up the publish. If it fails, the agenda is still published — regenerate the PDF later without republishing.

Versioning

Each agenda version gets its own PDF. Publishing v2 creates a new PDF; v1's PDF stays available. Each is stored under its meeting and version.

Auto-Regeneration

Once an agenda is published, the packet PDF automatically stays current with the published item content. Livy queues a background rebuild whenever any of these changes is saved:

  • An item is republished (its title, description, recommended action, or duration changes in the published copy).
  • A public attachment on a published item is added, replaced, edited, deleted, or switched between public and private.
  • The meeting itself is edited in a way the PDF shows (title, body, date, start time, location, or header text).

The rebuild runs in the background, so your change saves fast; the new PDF replaces the old one within a couple seconds. If generation fails (for example, a storage problem), the previous PDF stays in place and the next change that triggers a rebuild will retry.

What does NOT rebuild automatically: structural changes like adding or removing items, reordering sections, or editing section descriptions. Those require an explicit republish, which creates a new agenda version (v+1) with a fresh PDF.

Configuration

PDF layout and content options live in the meeting-level settings (under Settings → Meeting). Logos and colors come from the org-level branding settings (under Settings → Org). For a tour, see Configuring branding & PDF defaults.

Related

  • Agendas — how the snapshot the PDF is built from gets created
  • Agenda Items — item-level publishes that can leave the PDF stale
SearchEmbeddable Widgets
PDF Generation - Livy Docs — Livy