---
title: Document Conversion
description: Enable DOCX uploads on a self-hosted Documenso instance by running a Gotenberg sidecar that converts Word documents to PDF.
---

import { Accordion, Accordions } from 'fumadocs-ui/components/accordion';
import { Callout } from 'fumadocs-ui/components/callout';
import { Step, Steps } from 'fumadocs-ui/components/steps';
import { Tab, Tabs } from 'fumadocs-ui/components/tabs';

## Overview

Documenso can accept `.docx` uploads in addition to PDFs. When a user uploads a Word document, the Documenso server sends it to a [Gotenberg](https://gotenberg.dev) service which uses LibreOffice to convert it to PDF. The converted PDF is what gets stored, signed, and downloaded. The original DOCX is discarded.

This feature is **opt-in for self-hosted instances**. When the conversion service is not configured, DOCX uploads are rejected in the UI and only PDFs are accepted.

| Property                | Value                                                                |
| ----------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Conversion engine       | [Gotenberg](https://gotenberg.dev) + LibreOffice                     |
| Input format            | `.docx` (Office Open XML Word documents)                             |
| Output format           | PDF                                                                  |
| Network requirement     | Documenso must reach the Gotenberg HTTP API                          |
| Default request timeout | 30 seconds per file                                                  |
| Failure handling        | An internal circuit breaker opens for 30 seconds after a failure |

<Callout type="info">
  Only `.docx` is accepted. Legacy `.doc`, `.odt`, `.rtf`, and other LibreOffice-supported formats
  are rejected at the upload step even when Gotenberg is configured.
</Callout>

---

## Requirements

- A running Gotenberg 8 instance with the LibreOffice module (`gotenberg/gotenberg:8-libreoffice` or newer).
- Network reachability from the Documenso container to the Gotenberg HTTP API.
- A version of Documenso that includes the document conversion feature.

## Build the Gotenberg Image

The upstream `gotenberg/gotenberg:8-libreoffice` image works out of the box, but it ships only **metric-compatible font substitutes** (Carlito for Calibri, Liberation for Arial/Times/Courier). Layout widths are preserved but documents will look noticeably different from Word.

For better fidelity, especially for non-Latin scripts, build a derived image that adds Microsoft Core Fonts and additional language fonts. The Documenso repository ships a reference Dockerfile at [`docker/development/Dockerfile.gotenberg`](https://github.com/documenso/documenso/blob/main/docker/development/Dockerfile.gotenberg) that you can use as a starting point:

```dockerfile
FROM gotenberg/gotenberg:8-libreoffice

USER root

RUN echo "deb http://deb.debian.org/debian trixie contrib non-free" \
      > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/contrib.list \
    && echo "ttf-mscorefonts-installer msttcorefonts/accepted-mscorefonts-eula select true" \
      | debconf-set-selections \
    && apt-get update -qq \
    && DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive apt-get install -y -qq --no-install-recommends \
        ca-certificates \
        ttf-mscorefonts-installer \
        fonts-symbola \
        fonts-noto-extra \
        fonts-hosny-amiri \
        fonts-thai-tlwg \
        fonts-sil-padauk \
        fonts-sarai \
        fonts-samyak-taml \
        culmus \
        libfribidi0 \
        libharfbuzz0b \
    && fc-cache -f \
    && rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/* /tmp/* /var/tmp/*

USER gotenberg
```

<Callout type="warn">
  `ttf-mscorefonts-installer` accepts the Microsoft Core Fonts EULA on your behalf via debconf. By
  installing this image you are agreeing to those licence terms. Review them before publishing the
  image.
</Callout>

Build and publish the image to a registry you control:

```bash
docker build -t registry.example.com/documenso/gotenberg:8 \
  -f Dockerfile.gotenberg .
docker push registry.example.com/documenso/gotenberg:8
```

If you do not need extra fonts, skip the build step entirely and reference `gotenberg/gotenberg:8-libreoffice` directly in the next section.

## Deploy the Service

The Gotenberg service should run **alongside** your Documenso container, not exposed to the public internet. The conversion service has no built-in authorisation beyond HTTP Basic auth, so it should sit on a private network or behind your existing reverse proxy.

<Tabs items={['Docker Compose', 'Kubernetes', 'External Instance']}>
<Tab value="Docker Compose">

Add a `gotenberg` service to the `compose.yml` you use for Documenso:

```yaml
services:
  gotenberg:
    image: registry.example.com/documenso/gotenberg:8
    # Or use upstream directly:
    # image: gotenberg/gotenberg:8-libreoffice
    restart: unless-stopped
    environment:
      GOTENBERG_API_BASIC_AUTH_USERNAME: ${GOTENBERG_USERNAME}
      GOTENBERG_API_BASIC_AUTH_PASSWORD: ${GOTENBERG_PASSWORD}
    command:
      - gotenberg
      - --api-enable-basic-auth
      - --libreoffice-deny-private-ips
      - --api-timeout=500s
      - --libreoffice-auto-start
      - --libreoffice-start-timeout=300s
      - --pdfengines-disable-routes
      - --webhook-disable
    healthcheck:
      test: ['CMD', 'curl', '-fsS', 'http://localhost:3000/health']
      interval: 10s
      timeout: 5s
      retries: 5
      start_period: 20s

  documenso:
    # existing config
    environment:
      NEXT_PRIVATE_DOCUMENT_CONVERSION_URL: http://gotenberg:3000
      NEXT_PRIVATE_DOCUMENT_CONVERSION_USERNAME: ${GOTENBERG_USERNAME}
      NEXT_PRIVATE_DOCUMENT_CONVERSION_PASSWORD: ${GOTENBERG_PASSWORD}
    depends_on:
      gotenberg:
        condition: service_healthy
```

Do **not** publish Gotenberg's port (`3000`) to the host. Documenso reaches it over the internal Docker network using the service name (`http://gotenberg:3000`).

</Tab>
<Tab value="Kubernetes">

Create a Deployment, Service, and Secret. Example manifests:

```yaml
apiVersion: v1
kind: Secret
metadata:
  name: gotenberg-auth
  namespace: documenso
stringData:
  username: documenso
  password: replace-me-with-a-strong-password
---
apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: Deployment
metadata:
  name: gotenberg
  namespace: documenso
spec:
  replicas: 1
  selector:
    matchLabels: { app: gotenberg }
  template:
    metadata:
      labels: { app: gotenberg }
    spec:
      containers:
        - name: gotenberg
          image: registry.example.com/documenso/gotenberg:8
          args:
            - gotenberg
            - --api-enable-basic-auth
            - --libreoffice-deny-private-ips
            - --api-timeout=500s
            - --libreoffice-auto-start
            - --libreoffice-start-timeout=300s
            - --pdfengines-disable-routes
            - --webhook-disable
          env:
            - name: GOTENBERG_API_BASIC_AUTH_USERNAME
              valueFrom: { secretKeyRef: { name: gotenberg-auth, key: username } }
            - name: GOTENBERG_API_BASIC_AUTH_PASSWORD
              valueFrom: { secretKeyRef: { name: gotenberg-auth, key: password } }
          ports:
            - containerPort: 3000
          readinessProbe:
            httpGet: { path: /health, port: 3000 }
          livenessProbe:
            httpGet: { path: /health, port: 3000 }
            initialDelaySeconds: 30
---
apiVersion: v1
kind: Service
metadata:
  name: gotenberg
  namespace: documenso
spec:
  selector: { app: gotenberg }
  ports:
    - port: 3000
      targetPort: 3000
```

Then reference the in-cluster URL from Documenso's environment:

```
NEXT_PRIVATE_DOCUMENT_CONVERSION_URL=http://gotenberg.documenso.svc.cluster.local:3000
NEXT_PRIVATE_DOCUMENT_CONVERSION_USERNAME=documenso
NEXT_PRIVATE_DOCUMENT_CONVERSION_PASSWORD=replace-me-with-a-strong-password
```

</Tab>
<Tab value="External Instance">

Documenso does not have to colocate with Gotenberg. You can point it at any reachable Gotenberg deployment: a managed instance, a shared internal service, or a Gotenberg-compatible API.

```bash
NEXT_PRIVATE_DOCUMENT_CONVERSION_URL=https://gotenberg.internal.example.com
NEXT_PRIVATE_DOCUMENT_CONVERSION_USERNAME=documenso
NEXT_PRIVATE_DOCUMENT_CONVERSION_PASSWORD=replace-me-with-a-strong-password
```

The remote instance must:

- Expose the LibreOffice route `/forms/libreoffice/convert`.
- Be reachable from the Documenso container with low enough latency that the 30 second per-request timeout is comfortable.
- Be on a private network or require authentication. Uploaded documents are sent to it as multipart form data and may contain sensitive content.

</Tab>
</Tabs>

## Recommended Gotenberg Flags

The flags in the examples above are not arbitrary. Each one matters for a production deployment.

| Flag                              | Why it matters                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       |
| --------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `--api-enable-basic-auth`         | Requires HTTP Basic credentials on every API route. Without this, anyone with network access to the container can convert arbitrary documents.                                                                                                                       |
| `--libreoffice-deny-private-ips`  | Rejects any outbound fetch LibreOffice tries to make to private, loopback, link-local, or cloud-metadata addresses while processing a document. Mitigates SSRF via malicious `.docx` files that embed `TargetMode="External"` references. Requires Gotenberg 8.32.0. |
| `--api-timeout=500s`              | Server-side request ceiling. Documenso aborts at 30 s by default, so this is a safety net for very large documents.                                                                                                                                                  |
| `--libreoffice-auto-start`        | Starts LibreOffice at container boot so the first request is not slow.                                                                                                                                                                                               |
| `--libreoffice-start-timeout=300s`| Allows LibreOffice up to 5 minutes to come up under load.                                                                                                                                                                                                            |
| `--pdfengines-disable-routes`     | Disables the PDF engines routes Documenso does not use. Shrinks the attack surface.                                                                                                                                                                                  |
| `--webhook-disable`               | Disables webhook callbacks. Documenso uses synchronous requests only.                                                                                                                                                                                                |

## Configure Documenso

Set the following environment variables on the Documenso container and restart it.

### Required

| Variable                              | Description                                                            |
| ------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `NEXT_PRIVATE_DOCUMENT_CONVERSION_URL`| Base URL of the Gotenberg service (e.g., `http://gotenberg:3000`). Leave unset to disable the feature. |

### Optional

| Variable                                    | Default | Description                                                                                  |
| ------------------------------------------- | ------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `NEXT_PRIVATE_DOCUMENT_CONVERSION_USERNAME` |         | HTTP Basic auth username. Set when Gotenberg runs with `--api-enable-basic-auth`.            |
| `NEXT_PRIVATE_DOCUMENT_CONVERSION_PASSWORD` |         | HTTP Basic auth password. Set together with the username.                                    |
| `NEXT_PRIVATE_DOCUMENT_CONVERSION_TIMEOUT_MS`| `30000` | Per-request timeout in milliseconds. Increase for very large documents.                      |

<Callout type="info">
  When `NEXT_PRIVATE_DOCUMENT_CONVERSION_URL` is set, the public flag
  `NEXT_PUBLIC_DOCUMENT_CONVERSION_ENABLED` is derived automatically on server start. You do not
  need to set it yourself, and setting it manually has no effect.
</Callout>

### Example `.env` Snippet

```bash
# Document conversion (DOCX -> PDF)
NEXT_PRIVATE_DOCUMENT_CONVERSION_URL=http://gotenberg:3000
NEXT_PRIVATE_DOCUMENT_CONVERSION_USERNAME=documenso
NEXT_PRIVATE_DOCUMENT_CONVERSION_PASSWORD=replace-me-with-a-strong-password
# NEXT_PRIVATE_DOCUMENT_CONVERSION_TIMEOUT_MS=60000
```

## Verify the Setup

{/* prettier-ignore */}
<Steps>
<Step>
### Restart the Documenso container

Restart so the new environment variables are picked up.

</Step>
<Step>
### Confirm Gotenberg is healthy

From a shell inside the Documenso container or another container on the same network:

```bash
curl -fsS http://gotenberg:3000/health
```

The endpoint is exempt from basic auth and should return `200 OK`.

</Step>
<Step>
### Upload a test DOCX

In the Documenso web UI, open **Documents** and try uploading a small `.docx` file. The upload dropzone should accept it, and after a few seconds the editor should open with the converted PDF.

</Step>
<Step>
### Check the server logs

Successful conversions log a `document_conversion_attempt` event with `result: "success"`, the duration, and the file size. Failures log the same event with `result: "error"` and an error code (`CONVERSION_SERVICE_UNAVAILABLE`, `CONVERSION_FAILED`, or `UNSUPPORTED_FILE_TYPE`).

</Step>
</Steps>

## Security Considerations

- **Treat the conversion service as untrusted internal infrastructure.** Documents pass through Gotenberg in plain form. Run it on a private network and require HTTP Basic auth.
- **Run with `--libreoffice-deny-private-ips`.** Without this flag, a malicious `.docx` can trigger LibreOffice to fetch URLs from your internal network (SSRF).
- **Disable unused routes.** `--pdfengines-disable-routes` and `--webhook-disable` reduce attack surface. Documenso only uses the LibreOffice convert route.
- **Do not expose Gotenberg to the public internet.** Even with basic auth, this is a document-processing service with a non-trivial CPU and memory footprint; exposing it invites abuse.
- **Rotate credentials.** Rotating the basic auth secret is a config change in both Gotenberg and Documenso, followed by a restart of each.

## Resource Sizing

Conversion is CPU- and memory-bound on LibreOffice. As a starting point:

| Workload                      | Suggested resources                  |
| ----------------------------- | ------------------------------------ |
| Light (a few DOCX per minute) | 1 vCPU, 1 GB RAM                     |
| Moderate (sustained uploads)  | 2 vCPU, 2 GB RAM                     |
| Heavy / multi-tenant          | Horizontally scale Gotenberg replicas behind a load balancer |

Gotenberg is stateless. Each container handles one or more concurrent requests independently. Scale horizontally rather than vertically once a single replica is saturated.

## Troubleshooting

<Accordions type="multiple">
  <Accordion title="DOCX uploads are rejected with 'Only PDF and DOCX files are allowed'">
    The Documenso server does not see `NEXT_PRIVATE_DOCUMENT_CONVERSION_URL`. Check the value is set
    on the running container (`docker exec documenso printenv | grep DOCUMENT_CONVERSION`) and
    restart after changing it.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Uploads fail with 'Document conversion service is currently unavailable'">
    Documenso could not reach Gotenberg. Verify:

    - The URL in `NEXT_PRIVATE_DOCUMENT_CONVERSION_URL` is resolvable from the Documenso container
      (use the Docker service name or in-cluster DNS, not `localhost`).
    - Gotenberg's `/health` endpoint returns `200`.
    - Basic auth credentials match between the two services.

    After repeated failures, an internal circuit breaker opens for 30 seconds. Subsequent uploads
    will fail fast during that window; this is intentional and self-recovers.

  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Uploads fail with 'Failed to convert document to PDF'">
    Gotenberg was reachable but returned a non-2xx response. Check the Gotenberg container logs:

    ```bash
    docker compose logs -f gotenberg
    ```

    Common causes: corrupted `.docx` file, exotic embedded objects LibreOffice cannot render, or a
    file that genuinely exceeded the conversion timeout. Increase
    `NEXT_PRIVATE_DOCUMENT_CONVERSION_TIMEOUT_MS` for very large documents.

  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Converted PDFs look different from the Word document">
    LibreOffice is not byte-identical to Microsoft Word. Layout, font metrics, and complex elements
    (Charts, SmartArt, ActiveX controls) may differ. To improve fidelity:

    - Use the custom Dockerfile in this guide to install Microsoft Core Fonts and additional
      language fonts.
    - Make sure any custom fonts referenced by your documents are installed in the Gotenberg image.
    - For pixel-perfect output, ask users to export to PDF from Word before uploading.

  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Form controls in the DOCX appear blank or missing">
    Documenso disables Gotenberg's `exportFormFields` flag during conversion. Word content controls
    (`<w:sdt>`) become static graphics in the output PDF, which prevents Documenso's later
    flattening step from making them invisible. This is intentional. Use Documenso fields
    (signature, text, date, etc.) for anything that needs to be filled in by signers.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Conversion is slow on the first request">
    LibreOffice starts lazily by default. Pass `--libreoffice-auto-start` to Gotenberg so it warms
    up at container boot. Allow up to a minute on first start before considering the service
    unhealthy.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="The circuit breaker keeps opening">
    Repeated failures open an in-process circuit breaker for 30 seconds. If you see this in
    production, the underlying problem is the Gotenberg service. Check its logs, resource usage,
    and connectivity. The breaker is per-process and resets on restart.
  </Accordion>
</Accordions>

---

## See Also

- [Upload Documents (User Guide)](/docs/users/documents/upload) - End-user view of DOCX uploads
- [Environment Variables](/docs/self-hosting/configuration/environment) - Full configuration reference
- [Docker Compose Deployment](/docs/self-hosting/deployment/docker-compose) - Compose-based deployment patterns
- [Gotenberg Documentation](https://gotenberg.dev/docs/getting-started/introduction) - Upstream Gotenberg docs
