I built a tool that generates a Table of Contents from any PDF
I recently built a small web app that automatically generates a Table of Contents from uploaded PDFs.
The idea came from a problem I kept running into while reading long documents (reports, ebooks, documentation). Many PDFs either don't have a TOC or have a poorly structured one, which makes navigation painful.
So I built a tool that:
• Uploads a PDF
• Analyzes headings and structure
• Automatically generates a clean Table of Contents
• Makes it easier to navigate long documents
For privacy reasons, uploaded documents are not stored on the server or in a database. They are only processed to generate the TOC.
Right now it's just an MVP, so there are a few limitations:
• Max PDF size: 100MB
• 5 uploads per day per user
I'm mostly trying to validate whether this is actually useful before investing more time into building it out.
If you regularly work with PDFs (researchers, students, lawyers, analysts, etc.), I'd love to hear:
• Would this be useful to you?
• What features would make it significantly more helpful?
• Any tools that already solve this well?
If you want to try it out, it is live at tableofcontentsgenerator.com
Thanks!
Clean and useful. The PDF utility space has a lot of tools that over-engineer the problem - this one looks like it solves the specific thing well.
A few niches that pay well for PDF tools: legal teams (contracts), researchers (papers), consultants (reports). The pricing for legal/enterprise use cases is usually much higher than consumer - if you find that your users are mostly professionals, the $0 free tier might be leaving money on the table.
What does the actual user look like for you right now? Are they researchers, business users, students?
Hi everyone! 👋
I'm an indie maker from Delhi, selling my side project SachCheck AI – a simple Hindi fact-checker tool for fake news.
Features:
Tech: Single-file HTML/JS, Vercel deploy, keyword-based simulation (easy to upgrade to real API like Grok/Gemini later)
Metrics: Zero revenue/users yet (early MVP), but strong niche potential in India (fake news is a big problem)
Price: $1,000–$1,500 (₹80,000–₹1.2 lakh) OBO, negotiable
What's included: Full code on request, deploy guide, screenshots
Why selling: Flipping this side project to focus on the next idea
DM me for live demo link, code preview, screenshots, or any questions. Happy to talk!
Thanks!
Pawan
Interesting idea. Navigating long PDFs can definitely be painful when there isn’t a clear structure.
One situation where I could see this being very useful is with technical documentation or research reports where the document is 100+ pages and you’re trying to quickly jump to specific sections. Automatically generating a structured TOC could save a lot of time there.
A feature that might make it even more useful would be exporting the generated TOC as clickable bookmarks inside the PDF itself, so the document becomes easier to navigate even outside the tool.
Curious — how well does the system handle documents where headings aren’t perfectly formatted (for example when the structure isn’t consistent)?
This is such a thoughtful little tool, and honestly something I’ve wished existed more than once.
Long PDFs can feel like wandering through a forest without a map, and a clean, auto‑generated TOC makes such a difference for focus and flow.
I also appreciate the privacy‑first approach.
Looking forward to trying it out - it feels genuinely useful.
Thank you very much. It's really nice to find out that another person finds it very useful. Are there any other features you think may make the app better?
I think the core idea is already very strong, a clean TOC makes such a difference when reading long PDFs.
One thing that might be helpful is a way to quickly preview the detected structure before exporting it, just to confirm that the headings were interpreted correctly.
But honestly, even as it is now, it already solves a real pain point. I’m glad you built it.
Hi, thank you very much for the reply. It already does that. Once the user uploads their pdf, it takes them to the editor where they can review the generated table of contents before download.