# Getting Started > Create a first ReportingCloud document: merge a template to PDF with curl, with the .NET SDK in ASP.NET Core or MVC 5, or with the PHP, Java or Ruby SDK. - **Product:** ReportingCloud - **Section:** Documentation - **Kind:** Topic - **Path:** ReportingCloud > Getting Started - **1042 words** - **Web URL:** https://docs.textcontrol.com/reporting-cloud/getting-started/ - **LLMs URL:** https://docs.textcontrol.com/reporting-cloud/getting-started/llms.txt - **LLMs-Full URL:** https://docs.textcontrol.com/reporting-cloud/getting-started/llms-full.txt --- Once you have a ReportingCloud account and an API key, the next step is a first document. Each tutorial of Getting Started ends with a result you can open, a merged invoice or report as a PDF file or a web page that lists the templates in your storage, and assumes that you know your language and framework but have not sent a request to ReportingCloud before. Underneath, every tutorial sends HTTPS requests with JSON to the Web API at `https://api.reporting.cloud/`, where ReportingCloud merges templates with your data and returns the documents. Nothing is installed on a server. You choose how to send the request: with curl, or with one of the four SDKs that [SDKs](https://docs.textcontrol.com/reporting-cloud/sdks/llms-full.txt) describes, for .NET, PHP, Java and Ruby. ### Before You Begin - **A ReportingCloud account.** A 30-day trial account is enough for every tutorial. [Creating an Account](https://docs.textcontrol.com/reporting-cloud/installation/account/llms-full.txt) shows how to sign up in the ReportingCloud portal. A new trial account has the demo template `sample_invoice.tx` in its template storage, which every tutorial except ASP.NET Core merges, and it adds the ReportingCloud logo to every document it creates. - **An API key, or your user name and password.** The Web API, .NET and PHP tutorials authenticate with an API key that you create on the **Manage Account** page of the portal, as [API Keys](https://docs.textcontrol.com/reporting-cloud/installation/api-keys/llms-full.txt) describes, and read it from the environment variable `REPORTINGCLOUD_API_KEY`, so that it stays out of your code. The Java and Ruby SDKs have no option for an API key: their tutorials read the user name and password of the account from `REPORTINGCLOUD_USERNAME` and `REPORTINGCLOUD_PASSWORD`. - **The tools of your tutorial.** The ASP.NET Core tutorial was written with Visual Studio 2026 and .NET 10, the .NET Framework tutorial with Visual Studio 2022 and the .NET Framework 4.8. The PHP tutorial needs PHP 8.3 or later and Composer, the Java tutorial a JDK, Git and curl, the Ruby tutorial Ruby with RubyGems, and the Web API tutorial a bash shell with curl and jq. [Requirements](https://docs.textcontrol.com/reporting-cloud/installation/requirements/llms-full.txt) lists what each SDK needs. Every successful merge request counts 1 against the monthly document quota of your plan. ### Find the Right Page | If you want to | Read | Uses | |---|---|---| | See the request and response of a merge, whatever language you use later | [Web API](https://docs.textcontrol.com/reporting-cloud/getting-started/web-api/llms-full.txt) | curl and jq in a bash shell | | Create a PDF from C# objects in an ASP.NET Core application | [ASP.NET Core](https://docs.textcontrol.com/reporting-cloud/getting-started/dotnet/aspnet-core/llms-full.txt) in [.NET](https://docs.textcontrol.com/reporting-cloud/getting-started/dotnet/llms-full.txt) | `TXTextControl.ReportingCloud` from nuget.org, .NET 10 | | Use ReportingCloud from an existing ASP.NET MVC 5 application | [.NET Framework](https://docs.textcontrol.com/reporting-cloud/getting-started/dotnet/dotnet-framework/llms-full.txt) in [.NET](https://docs.textcontrol.com/reporting-cloud/getting-started/dotnet/llms-full.txt) | `TXTextControl.ReportingCloud` from nuget.org, .NET Framework 4.8 | | Create a PDF from a PHP script | [PHP](https://docs.textcontrol.com/reporting-cloud/getting-started/php/llms-full.txt) | `textcontrol/textcontrol-reportingcloud` from Packagist | | Create a PDF from a Java program | [Java](https://docs.textcontrol.com/reporting-cloud/getting-started/java/llms-full.txt) | The Java SDK, built from its GitHub source with `javac` | | Create a PDF from a Ruby script | [Ruby](https://docs.textcontrol.com/reporting-cloud/getting-started/ruby/llms-full.txt) | The gem `txtextcontrol-reportingcloud` from RubyGems | [SDKs](https://docs.textcontrol.com/reporting-cloud/sdks/llms-full.txt) describes the four SDKs in full and compares them. ### Where to Start If ReportingCloud is new to you: 1. Create a trial account and an API key, as [Creating an Account](https://docs.textcontrol.com/reporting-cloud/installation/account/llms-full.txt) and [API Keys](https://docs.textcontrol.com/reporting-cloud/installation/api-keys/llms-full.txt) describe. 2. Merge the demo invoice with [Web API](https://docs.textcontrol.com/reporting-cloud/getting-started/web-api/llms-full.txt). One curl command shows what every SDK sends, and the response shows what it receives. 3. Continue with the tutorial for your language: [.NET](https://docs.textcontrol.com/reporting-cloud/getting-started/dotnet/llms-full.txt), [PHP](https://docs.textcontrol.com/reporting-cloud/getting-started/php/llms-full.txt), [Java](https://docs.textcontrol.com/reporting-cloud/getting-started/java/llms-full.txt) or [Ruby](https://docs.textcontrol.com/reporting-cloud/getting-started/ruby/llms-full.txt). 4. Read [Mail Merge](https://docs.textcontrol.com/reporting-cloud/mail-merge/llms-full.txt) to design templates and data of your own. ### Pages in This Section - [Web API](https://docs.textcontrol.com/reporting-cloud/getting-started/web-api/llms-full.txt): merge the demo template `sample_invoice.tx` with invoice data using curl and save the PDF. - [.NET](https://docs.textcontrol.com/reporting-cloud/getting-started/dotnet/llms-full.txt): merge templates with C# objects in an ASP.NET Core application on .NET 10 or an ASP.NET MVC 5 application on the .NET Framework. - [PHP](https://docs.textcontrol.com/reporting-cloud/getting-started/php/llms-full.txt): merge the demo invoice with the PHP SDK, and send a template from your disk with the request. - [Java](https://docs.textcontrol.com/reporting-cloud/getting-started/java/llms-full.txt): build the Java SDK, merge the demo invoice and send the template with the request. - [Ruby](https://docs.textcontrol.com/reporting-cloud/getting-started/ruby/llms-full.txt): install the gem, merge the demo invoice and send the template with the request. --- ## In This Section - [.NET](https://docs.textcontrol.com/reporting-cloud/getting-started/dotnet/llms-full.txt): Merge templates to PDF from C# with the TXTextControl.ReportingCloud NuGet package, in an ASP.NET Core app on .NET 10 or an ASP.NET MVC 5 app on .NET Framework. - [Java](https://docs.textcontrol.com/reporting-cloud/getting-started/java/llms-full.txt): Build the ReportingCloud Java SDK from source with javac, merge sample_invoice.tx to PDF with mergeDocument and send a downloaded template with the request. - [PHP](https://docs.textcontrol.com/reporting-cloud/getting-started/php/llms-full.txt): Install textcontrol/textcontrol-reportingcloud with Composer, merge sample_invoice.tx to PDF with mergeDocument and send a DOCX template with the request. - [Ruby](https://docs.textcontrol.com/reporting-cloud/getting-started/ruby/llms-full.txt): Install the txtextcontrol-reportingcloud gem, merge sample_invoice.tx to PDF with merge_document and send a downloaded template with the request from Ruby. - [Web API](https://docs.textcontrol.com/reporting-cloud/getting-started/web-api/llms-full.txt): Merge the demo template sample_invoice.tx with invoice JSON at /v1/document/merge using curl, then decode the Base64 response into a PDF with jq and base64. --- ## Nearby - **Previous:** [Upgrading to a Subscription](https://docs.textcontrol.com/reporting-cloud/installation/subscription/llms-full.txt) - **Next:** [Web API](https://docs.textcontrol.com/reporting-cloud/getting-started/web-api/llms-full.txt)