LaTeX table to BBCode table API

Code examples

These examples send the sample as multipart/form-data and save the returned bytes unchanged. Set TABLECONVERT_API_KEY in your environment.

curl --fail-with-body --max-time 40 \
  'https://api.tableconvert.com/v2/convert/latex-to-bbcode' \
  --header "Authorization: Bearer $TABLECONVERT_API_KEY" \
  --form-string 'data=\begin{table}[!ht]
    \centering
    \begin{tabular}{|l|l|l|}
    \hline
        player & score & rank \\ \hline
        Ada & 950 & 1 \\ \hline
        Grace & 880 & 2 \\ \hline
    \end{tabular}
\end{table}' \
  --form-string 'output[minify]=false' \
  --output 'latex-to-bbcode.txt'

import os
from pathlib import Path
import requests

endpoint = "https://api.tableconvert.com/v2/convert/latex-to-bbcode"
headers = {"Authorization": "Bearer " + os.environ["TABLECONVERT_API_KEY"]}
fields = {
    "data": (None, "\\begin{table}[!ht]\r\n    \\centering\r\n    \\begin{tabular}{|l|l|l|}\r\n    \\hline\r\n        player & score & rank \\\\ \\hline\n        Ada & 950 & 1 \\\\ \\hline\n        Grace & 880 & 2 \\\\ \\hline\n    \\end{tabular}\r\n\\end{table}"),
    "output[minify]": (None, "false"),
}

response = requests.post(endpoint, headers=headers, files=fields, timeout=40)
response.raise_for_status()
Path("latex-to-bbcode.txt").write_bytes(response.content)

import { writeFile } from "node:fs/promises";

const form = new FormData();
form.set("data", "\\begin{table}[!ht]\r\n    \\centering\r\n    \\begin{tabular}{|l|l|l|}\r\n    \\hline\r\n        player & score & rank \\\\ \\hline\n        Ada & 950 & 1 \\\\ \\hline\n        Grace & 880 & 2 \\\\ \\hline\n    \\end{tabular}\r\n\\end{table}");
form.set("output[minify]", "false");

const response = await fetch("https://api.tableconvert.com/v2/convert/latex-to-bbcode", {
  method: "POST",
  headers: { Authorization: "Bearer " + process.env.TABLECONVERT_API_KEY },
  body: form,
  signal: AbortSignal.timeout(40_000),
});
if (!response.ok) {
  throw new Error("HTTP " + response.status + ": " + await response.text());
}
await writeFile("latex-to-bbcode.txt", Buffer.from(await response.arrayBuffer()));

Request parameters

This input extracts rows containing ampersand-separated table cells. It does not compile TeX or render an entire LaTeX document.

Send one source: data, file, or url. The examples below use the source mode appropriate for this format.

Output options

Generate table, row and cell BBCode tags for a forum that supports them. BBCode table syntax is not universally available in all forum installations.

Conversion rules

How the input is read

• Provide the tabular rows needed for conversion, with ampersands between cells and row terminators.
• The importer splits table text; it does not evaluate macros, packages, math or custom column definitions.
• Simplify multicolumn/multirow constructs and literal ampersands before extraction.
• Formatting commands can remain text in extracted cells; clean them when the destination expects plain values.

How the output is written

• The first row uses th tags and remaining rows use td tags.
• Confirm that the destination forum enables compatible table BBCode tags.
• The minify option removes whitespace aggressively, including spaces in values; inspect before enabling it.

When to use this API

Responses and errors

Check the response before retrying. A new HTTP request is a new conversion and may use credits again.

Limits, billing and versions

Local previews accept up to 200 KB. The current API implementation allows one uploaded file up to 50 MiB, limits each multipart text field to 1 MiB, and gives v2 conversion tasks a 30-second deadline. Deployment limits may be stricter. Read the returned error before retrying; some parser or renderer failures return HTTP 500.

Live calls follow the API credit policy. Failed conversions are refunded; a completed conversion is not undone if the download connection later fails.

References and format specifications

Format references explain the underlying syntax. The conversion rules and samples above describe TableConvert’s implementation.

• www.latex-project.org
• www.phpbb.com