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Print queues

A print queue (PrintList) is a named list of things waiting to be printed — labels for components, packets, or locations, or arbitrary uploaded documents. Manage queues at Print → Queue (/print/queue).

Queues

  • owner — the user who created the queue.
  • is_public — public queues (the default) are visible to everyone; private ones only to their owner and anyone in shared_with.
  • is_default — a user's default queue is the target when adding a label without picking one explicitly (e.g. from the MCP tools or a quick "print" action).

Adding items

An item (PrintItem) targets a component, packet, or location and is either a label or a document:

  • The intranet's "add to print queue" actions on component/packet/location pages create label items.
  • Uploading a file directly to a queue creates a document item.

Items start in queued status and move through printing → printed, or failed if rendering fails.

Rendering

POST /api/v1/print/render/ creates a PrintRenderJob for a queue (or a specific set of items) and dispatches it asynchronously via the background worker (django-q) — the request returns immediately with a queued job, so it's safe to call for large batches. The worker renders every item to a single PDF (via fpdf2) and attaches the result as a downloadable file once the job reaches ready (or failed, with an error message, if something went wrong). Rendered files expire automatically after a configured TTL.

Both signed-in users and service tokens can call the render endpoint — a service token needs the print:render scope and can only render from queues listed in its allowed_print_lists.

Formats

A render job picks a format, which controls the sheet layout: single (one label per output), or a full-sheet layout like a4_2x7, a4_3x7, a4_4x10 for printing many labels on a single A4 page of pre-cut label stock.

Automation

The whole flow — adding items and rendering — is available over MCP: add_to_print_queue, add_targets_to_print_queue (batch), remove_print_queue_item, create_print_queue, list_print_queues, list_print_queue_items. See MCP integration → Print queue.

  • Label templates — what a label actually looks like
  • Service tokens — scoping render access for unattended printers
  • Hardware — sending a rendered PDF (or a raw payload) to a physical printer