Forem: Rahil Vahora

PDFWorkSpace (Local, In-Browser PDF toolkit) - Reaching 5k+ Users and What's Coming Next

Rahil Vahora — Sat, 07 Mar 2026 11:34:24 +0000

A few weeks ago I started building PDFWorkSpace — a simple tool to help people work with PDFs faster and in-browser so no need to upload your private document to someone else server.

Today the project crossed 5k+ users, which honestly feels surreal for something that started as a small side project.

pdfwork.space

Why I Built PDFWorkSpce

I kept running into the same annoying problem: most PDF tools online are either upload your private PDFs to servers, slow, bloated, or locked behind paywalls.

So I decided to build something different:

no-upload, no-server, no drama (privacy++)
fast and simple
focused on real use cases
local, in-browser

The goal was straightforward: make working with PDFs frictionless.

Early Traction

Over the past few weeks the platform reached:

5,000+ users
steady organic traffic ( reddit, dev.io, whatsapp, discord )
users from multiple countries
consistent daily usage

Most of the growth has been organic, which is the best validation you can get when building a product.

What’s Coming in V2

We’re currently working on PDFWork V2, which will launch once we hit 7,000 users.

V2 will introduce one of the most powerful features for working with PDFs, designed to make document workflows significantly easier.

I can’t reveal everything yet, but the goal is to push PDF tools beyond the usual “merge/split/compress” utilities.

Lessons From Building This

A few things became very clear while building this:

People still need simple tools that just work
Speed matters more than feature overload
Shipping fast is better than waiting for perfection

Small tools solving real problems can reach users surprisingly quickly.

Try It Out

If you work with PDFs often, give it a try:

https://pdfwork.space

Feedback is always welcome.

And if you’re building something yourself — keep shipping.

Build a Client-Side PDF Engine with GitHub Copilot CLI

Rahil Vahora — Sat, 14 Feb 2026 11:38:50 +0000

This is a submission for the GitHub Copilot CLI Challenge

What I Built

I built pdfwork.space
— a fully client-side PDF editing and processing toolkit that runs entirely inside the browser, locally.

No uploads.
No backend document processing, (You can check devtools, network tab)
No sensitive file leaving your device.

Most online PDF tools upload your sensitive documents to their servers. Even with deletion promises, your files are processed elsewhere.

pdfwork.space removes that layer completely.

Core Features :

Edit PDF visually, literally do anything
Convert PDF to any format
Convert any format to PDF
Merge multiple PDFs
Split PDFs by page range
Compress large PDFs
Page-level editing & manipulation
Drag-and-drop workflow
Offline-first experience
SEO and performance optimized
Bring your API and do anything with PDF(Chat, Q&A, Summarize, etc)

Advanced Feature: Worker-Powered Batch Tools

One of the most important engineering decisions was implementing a Web Worker–based batch processing system.

This allows:

Running multiple PDF operations in parallel
Heavy processing without freezing the UI
Smooth experience even with large files
Scalable architecture for future expansion

Demo

Checkout live : Pdf WorkSpace

My Experience with GitHub Copilot CLI

GitHub Copilot CLI had a direct architectural impact on this project.

It wasn’t just autocomplete — it helped accelerate thinking and experimentation.

Copilot CLI assisted with:

Helping me to take architecture decision faster and with real-scenario examples
Designing and structuring the Web Worker batch processing architecture
Generating optimized scaffolding for complex client-side file handling
Refactoring performance-critical sections faster
Improving SEO and Lighthouse score after applying a focused prompt
Iterating on improvements directly from the terminal without breaking flow

One of my favorite moments was improving performance and SEO significantly after applying a simple, well-structured Copilot CLI prompt. It saved time I would otherwise spend manually researching and testing optimizations.

Copilot CLI felt less like a helper and more like a productivity multiplier — especially when working on complex browser APIs and performance tuning.

A Small Tip from My Side (Developer to Developer)

Use Copilot CLI beyond generation — use it for validation and optimization.

Feed it:

Lighthouse reports
Performance bottlenecks
Large functions for refactor suggestions
Architecture snippets for improvement

A go-to backend template for express

Rahil Vahora — Mon, 16 Jun 2025 13:16:49 +0000

🚀 Just launched a go-to backend template for startups!

Over the last few weeks, I put together a clean, production-ready boilerplate to speed up backend development for any startup idea. If you're tired of repeating the same setup for every project—this one's for you.

🧱 Tech Stack:

Express.js + TypeScript
PostgreSQL + Prisma ORM
Zod validation
JWT Auth + Nodemailer
Helmet, CORS, Rate Limiter, HPP for security
Swagger Docs + Prettier + ESLint + Husky
Hot reload, clean folder structure, and more

🔧 Ready out of the box with:

Secure Auth flows
Email template support
Rate-limiting
Linting, formatting, and Git hooks
Prisma + PostgreSQL integration
.env setup, nodemon/tsx/ts-node-dev modes

📂 Clean folder structure and full documentation included.

👉 Check it out on GitHub:
https://github.com/rahil1202/backend-express-prisma-typescript-template

Would love feedback or contributions! 🛠️

How to Redirect Users Dynamically and Pass State Like a Pro

Rahil Vahora — Tue, 18 Feb 2025 13:47:48 +0000

Mastering React Router: useNavigate & useLocation for Seamless Navigation

🔹 Introduction

In modern React applications, handling dynamic navigation and redirections is a must. Imagine this scenario:

🔹 A user tries to apply on the job link without logging in.

🔹 They are redirected to the login page.

🔹 After login, they should return to their job application page but guess what they land on the home page.

To achieve this, React Router provides two powerful hooks:

✅ useNavigate - For programmatic navigation.

✅ useLocation - To access the current route and retrieve stored state.

In this article, we’ll explore why useNavigate and useLocation are essential, how they work, and how to use them to store and retrieve state during redirections.

🚀 What is `useNavigate`?

useNavigate is a React Router hook that allows you to programmatically navigate between pages.

📌 Basic Usage

import { useNavigate } from "react-router-dom";

const Home = () => {
    const navigate = useNavigate();

    return (
        <div>
            <h1>Home Page</h1>
            <button onClick={() => navigate("/dashboard")}>Go to Dashboard</button>
        </div>
    );
};

✅ Clicking the button redirects the user to /dashboard.

📌 Navigating with State

Sometimes, we want to pass additional data when navigating.

navigate("/dashboard", { state: { userId: 123, role: "admin" } });

🚀 What is `useLocation`?

useLocation lets us access the current route details, including:

pathname – The current page URL.
state – Data stored when navigating.

📌 Basic Usage

import { useLocation } from "react-router-dom";

const Dashboard = () => {
    const location = useLocation();

    return (
        <div>
            <h1>Dashboard</h1>
            <p>Current URL: {location.pathname}</p>
            <p>Data from Previous Page: {JSON.stringify(location.state)}</p>
        </div>
    );
};

✅ If navigated using:

navigate("/dashboard", { state: { userId: 123, role: "admin" } });

📌 The dashboard retrieves the user data from location.state.

🚀 Real-World Example: Redirecting Users After Login

Let's say a job portal allows users to apply for jobs, but they must log in first.

🛠 Scenario

1️⃣ A user clicks "Apply for Job" but is not logged in.

2️⃣ They are redirected to the login page.

3️⃣ After login, they should return to the job application page.

🔹 Step 1: Store Intended Route Before Redirecting (`JobDetails.js`)

import { useNavigate } from "react-router-dom";

const JobDetails = () => {
    const navigate = useNavigate();

    const handleApply = () => {
        navigate("/login", { state: { redirectTo: "/job-details/123" } });
    };

    return (
        <div>
            <h1>Software Engineer Job</h1>
            <button onClick={handleApply}>Apply Now</button>
        </div>
    );
};

export default JobDetails;

✅ What Happens?

The user is redirected to /login.
The intended route (/job-details/123) is stored in location.state.

🔹 Step 2: Retrieve Stored Route After Login (`Login.js`)

import { useNavigate, useLocation } from "react-router-dom";
import { useContext } from "react";
import { authContext } from "../context/AuthContext";

const Login = () => {
    const navigate = useNavigate();
    const location = useLocation();
    const { login } = useContext(authContext);

    const redirectTo = location.state?.redirectTo || "/";

    const handleLogin = () => {
        login("mockAccessToken"); // Simulating login
        alert("Login successful!");

        navigate(redirectTo, { replace: true });
    };

    return (
        <div>
            <h1>Login Page</h1>
            <button onClick={handleLogin}>Login</button>
        </div>
    );
};

export default Login;

✅ What Happens?

location.state?.redirectTo retrieves the intended page.
If it exists, the user is redirected back to /job-details/123.
If no stored state, the user goes to the homepage (/).

🔥 Summary: How `useNavigate` and `useLocation` Work Together

Step	Action	Stored Data	Accessed Via
1️⃣	User clicks "Apply Now"	`{ redirectTo: "/job-details/123" }`	`useNavigate("/login", { state: { redirectTo: "/job-details/123" } })`
2️⃣	User is redirected to `/login`	`{ redirectTo: "/job-details/123" }` is stored	Available in `useLocation().state`
3️⃣	After login, user is redirected back	`location.state?.redirectTo

🔥 Example: Passing Product Data Instead of Redirects

Instead of passing redirection paths, we can pass other state values.

📌 Step 1: Send Product Data ({% raw %}`Product.js`)

navigate("/checkout", { state: { productId: "123", price: 299 } });

📌 Step 2: Retrieve Data (`Checkout.js`)

const location = useLocation();
console.log(location.state?.productId, location.state?.price);

✅ No global state or URL parameters needed!

🎯 Final Thoughts

React Router’s useNavigate and useLocation are essential for:

✅ Redirecting users dynamically (e.g., after login).

✅ Storing & retrieving state without global state management.

✅ Passing data between components easily.

💡 Now that you understand these hooks, how will you use them in your next React project?

🔥 Drop a comment below if you have any questions! 🚀

Forem: Rahil Vahora

PDFWorkSpace (Local, In-Browser PDF toolkit) - Reaching 5k+ Users and What's Coming Next

Why I Built PDFWorkSpce

Early Traction

What’s Coming in V2

Lessons From Building This

Try It Out

Build a Client-Side PDF Engine with GitHub Copilot CLI

What I Built

Core Features :

Advanced Feature: Worker-Powered Batch Tools

Demo

My Experience with GitHub Copilot CLI

A Small Tip from My Side (Developer to Developer)

A go-to backend template for express

How to Redirect Users Dynamically and Pass State Like a Pro

🔹 Introduction

🚀 What is useNavigate?

📌 Basic Usage

📌 Navigating with State

🚀 What is useLocation?

📌 Basic Usage

🚀 Real-World Example: Redirecting Users After Login

🛠 Scenario

🔹 Step 1: Store Intended Route Before Redirecting (JobDetails.js)

🔹 Step 2: Retrieve Stored Route After Login (Login.js)

🔥 Summary: How useNavigate and useLocation Work Together

🔥 Example: Passing Product Data Instead of Redirects

📌 Step 1: Send Product Data ({% raw %}Product.js)

📌 Step 2: Retrieve Data (Checkout.js)

🎯 Final Thoughts

🚀 What is `useNavigate`?

🚀 What is `useLocation`?

🔹 Step 1: Store Intended Route Before Redirecting (`JobDetails.js`)

🔹 Step 2: Retrieve Stored Route After Login (`Login.js`)

🔥 Summary: How `useNavigate` and `useLocation` Work Together

📌 Step 1: Send Product Data ({% raw %}`Product.js`)

📌 Step 2: Retrieve Data (`Checkout.js`)