pkpass-to-pdf

A CLI tool to convert Apple Wallet .pkpass files to PDF documents.

Disclaimer

This is a one-shot AI-written tool (planned by GPT 5.1, executed by Opus 4.5). I needed a quick way to turn a .pkpass into a PDF to sell a ticket on TicketSwap, could not find a reliable tool, and put this up in case someone else needs it.

Built with Bun and TypeScript.

Features

• Parses .pkpass files (ZIP archives containing pass data)
• Extracts all pass information: organization, description, fields, barcode
• Generates a formatted PDF with:
  • Pass header with logo and organization name
  • Primary, secondary, and auxiliary fields
  • QR code from the barcode data
  • Back fields (additional information)
  • Pass metadata (serial number, relevant date)
• Supports all pass types: boarding passes, event tickets, coupons, store cards, generic passes

Installation

# Clone or download the project
cd pkpass-to-pdf

# Install dependencies
bun install

Usage

Interactive Mode

bun run start

You'll be prompted to enter the path to your .pkpass file.

Command Line

bun run src/cli.ts path/to/your/pass.pkpass

The PDF will be saved in the same directory with the same filename but .pdf extension.

Build Standalone Executable

bun run build

This creates a standalone pkpass-to-pdf binary that can be run without Bun installed:

./pkpass-to-pdf path/to/your/pass.pkpass

Sample Output

You can see how a generated PDF looks like here: sample-event.pdf.

Development

Project Structure

src/
├── cli.ts      # CLI entry point
├── pkpass.ts   # PKPASS file parsing
├── pdf.ts      # PDF generation
└── types.ts    # TypeScript type definitions

test/
├── fixtures/   # Test fixture files
├── create-fixture.ts  # Creates sample .pkpass for testing
└── smoke.test.ts      # Smoke tests

Run Tests

bun test

Create Test Fixture

bun run create-fixture

Dependencies

• jszip - ZIP file extraction
• pdf-lib - PDF generation
• qrcode - QR code generation
• prompts - Interactive CLI prompts

PKPASS File Format

A .pkpass file is a ZIP archive containing:

• pass.json - Pass data and field definitions
• logo.png / logo@2x.png - Logo image
• icon.png / icon@2x.png - Icon image
• strip.png / strip@2x.png - Strip image (optional)
• background.png - Background image (optional)
• Other assets as needed

The tool extracts all available data and images to create a comprehensive PDF representation of the pass.

License

MIT.