Forgelab Africa

Posted on Jun 1

Generate and Decode QR Codes via REST API — No Libraries, No Native Deps

#webdev #api #javascript #devtools

Every app that needs QR codes eventually reaches for a library. You install qrcode in Node.js, qrcode in Python, chillerlan/php-qrcode in PHP — and suddenly you have a different dependency tree per language, different output formats per platform, and one more thing to maintain.

Forgelab QR Code API handles this with one HTTP call. Generate PNG, SVG, or base64. Decode any QR image. Works from any language, any stack.

Quick start

Get a free API key at forgelab.africa — no credit card required.

Generate a QR code (PNG)

curl -X POST https://www.forgelab.africa/api/qr/generate \
  -H "X-API-Key: flqr_your_key" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"data": "https://yourapp.com/confirm?token=abc123", "format": "png"}' \
  --output qr.png

Generate a QR code (SVG — scales to any size)

curl -X POST https://www.forgelab.africa/api/qr/generate \
  -H "X-API-Key: flqr_your_key" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"data": "WIFI:T:WPA;S:MyNetwork;P:MyPassword;;", "format": "svg"}'

Get base64 output (embed directly in JSON responses)

curl -X POST https://www.forgelab.africa/api/qr/generate \
  -H "X-API-Key: flqr_your_key" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"data": "https://yourapp.com", "format": "base64"}'
# Returns: {"qr": "data:image/png;base64,..."}

Decode a QR code from an image

curl -X POST https://www.forgelab.africa/api/qr/decode \
  -H "X-API-Key: flqr_your_key" \
  -F "image=@scanned_qr.png"
# Returns: {"data": "https://yourapp.com/confirm?token=abc123"}

Node.js examples

Generate and save a QR code

const fs = require('fs');

async function generateQR(data, outputPath) {
  const res = await fetch('https://www.forgelab.africa/api/qr/generate', {
    method: 'POST',
    headers: {
      'X-API-Key': process.env.FORGELAB_QR_KEY,
      'Content-Type': 'application/json',
    },
    body: JSON.stringify({ data, format: 'png' }),
  });

  if (!res.ok) throw new Error(`QR generation failed: ${res.status}`);
  const buffer = Buffer.from(await res.arrayBuffer());
  fs.writeFileSync(outputPath, buffer);
}

await generateQR('https://myapp.com/invoice/INV-2024-001', 'invoice-qr.png');

Get base64 to embed in a JSON API response

async function getQRBase64(data) {
  const res = await fetch('https://www.forgelab.africa/api/qr/generate', {
    method: 'POST',
    headers: {
      'X-API-Key': process.env.FORGELAB_QR_KEY,
      'Content-Type': 'application/json',
    },
    body: JSON.stringify({ data, format: 'base64' }),
  });
  const json = await res.json();
  return json.qr; // "data:image/png;base64,..."
}

// Include in your own API response
app.get('/api/invoice/:id', async (req, res) => {
  const invoice = await getInvoice(req.params.id);
  const qrCode  = await getQRBase64(`https://myapp.com/invoice/${invoice.id}`);
  res.json({ ...invoice, qrCode });
});

Python example

import requests
import os

def generate_qr(data: str, fmt: str = "png") -> bytes:
    response = requests.post(
        "https://www.forgelab.africa/api/qr/generate",
        headers={
            "X-API-Key": os.environ["FORGELAB_QR_KEY"],
            "Content-Type": "application/json",
        },
        json={"data": data, "format": fmt},
    )
    response.raise_for_status()
    return response.content

with open("qr.png", "wb") as f:
    f.write(generate_qr("https://yourapp.com/reset?token=xyz"))

Real use cases

E-commerce — Generate a QR code per order so customers can scan and track shipment status without logging in.

Events — Issue digital tickets with unique QR codes. Decode on arrival to verify authenticity.

Restaurant menus — One QR per table linking to the menu URL. Regenerate anytime the menu changes.

Wi-Fi onboarding — Encode SSID and password in QR format (WIFI:T:WPA;S:...;P:...;;) so guests scan instead of type.

Invoice tracking — Embed a QR in generated PDF invoices (pairs naturally with the Forgelab Invoice API) so recipients can scan to view or pay online.

Pricing

Tier	Price	Calls/month
Free	$0	5 calls
Starter	$5/month	100 calls
Pro	$15/month	1,000 calls
Business	$30/month	10,000 calls

No credit card required for the free tier. API key issued instantly.

Why use an API instead of a library?

Libraries work fine for simple cases. The API is the better call when:

You ship in multiple languages and want one integration instead of per-language dependencies
You run in serverless or edge environments where native binaries are painful
You want QR generation to scale independently from your main service
You need both generate and decode in one consistent interface

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