Engineering notes on generating PDFs with Typst: what we measured, what it costs, and why PageRush works the way it does.
Once Typst compiles an invoice in milliseconds, the network and the database decide how fast the API feels. We measured each leg from India and moved the compute to match.
We measured where the cost of producing a PDF goes. Compiling turned out to be the cheap part and moving the finished PDF the expensive one. Here is the breakdown and why 2 GB of memory is the sweet spot.
Most PDF APIs run Chrome behind the scenes. We measured what a typesetting compiler buys instead, from a 4 ms invoice to a 300-page report in under four seconds.
