gist-pdf

While I was writing GitHub Gists for my Docker and Kubernetes teaching notes, I kept wishing my students had a clean, offline copy they could read while preparing for exams. So I built gist-pdf, a tool that turns any GitHub Gist into a nicely formatted PDF.

It started as a Rust CLI (with a UX I modeled on Claude Code), and then I added a web version too, with a Next.js frontend, a Go backend, and headless Chrome doing the actual rendering. Once the CLI felt solid, I wanted it to be easy to install, so I packaged it properly. I wrote and now maintain my own Homebrew tap and formula (brew tap krushiraj/gist-pdf && brew install gist-pdf), and I also shipped it via APT, Cargo, prebuilt binaries, and Docker.

The distribution side is where I learned the most. Authoring my own Homebrew formula, an APT package, and Cargo/Docker builds for the same tool gave me a real feel for the whole package-management lifecycle, not just the code.

How you can use it

• Install it with Homebrew: brew tap krushiraj/gist-pdf && brew install gist-pdf
• Convert a Gist: gist-pdf <gist-url> -o notes.pdf
• Or just use the web app if you would rather not install anything.

It is open source (MIT), so feel free to poke around or use it for your own notes.