Printing that runs itself, wherever the work happens
What can InkRelay be used for?
InkRelay connects any system that creates a document to the printer where someone needs it. Teams use it for kitchen order tickets, restaurant tickets across delivery platforms, event badges, warehouse pick lists, shared office printers, shipping labels and manifests, pharmacy and lab labels, factory work orders and AI assistants that print. A small agent runs on the computer next to the printers, and jobs arrive over the internet with live status, alerts and a full log.
Pick the scenario you are solving
- Restaurants and kitchensOnline, table QR and counter orders print as kitchen tickets with only what the chef needs.See how it works
- Food delivery platformsOne integration prints every new order at the right restaurant, in every city you serve.See how it works
- Events and conferencesCheck-in scans start a badge print, so it is ready before the attendee walks over.See how it works
- WarehousesPacking slips with rack and bin locations print on the warehouse floor, no computer needed.See how it works
- Corporate officesEmployees print from Chrome to the office printer. You see who sent what, and when a printer is down.See how it works
- Ecommerce and shippingLabels from your shipping partner print automatically, and the day's manifest is one click away.See how it works
- Pharmacies and clinicsYour pharmacy or lab system prints labels at the right counter, with a record of every print.See how it works
- ManufacturingYour MES or ERP prints travellers and part labels at the station where work begins.See how it works
- AI assistants and agentsClaude, Cursor and other agents print PDFs, labels and receipts through the InkRelay MCP server.See how it works
Restaurants and kitchens
Every order prints at the right station, the moment it is placed
Today: Staff watch a tablet, read orders aloud or rewrite them by hand. Busy hours mean missed special requests and orders that sit unseen.
- 1Order placed online, by table QR or at the counter
- 2Your ordering system sends one job to InkRelay
- 3Ticket prints on the 80 mm kitchen printer
- ESC/POS receipts sent as raw bytes
- Separate printers for grill, tandoor and bar
- Printed state confirms the kitchen got it
- Reprint a ticket without resending it
2 x Paneer tikka 1 x Dal makhani NO ONION 1 x Garlic naan NOTE: extra spicy, nut allergy 19:42 · dine in
via InkRelay
Food delivery platforms
Thousands of restaurants, each printing their own orders, nobody watching
Today: Restaurant staff keep a tablet open all day and accept orders by tapping. Orders get missed when the tablet is asleep, out of battery or behind the counter.
- 1Customer orders from a restaurant on your platform
- 2Your platform sends the ticket to that restaurant's printer
- 3Ticket prints at the counter with order number, items and requests
- Each restaurant's computer gets its own printers
- Jobs wait and print when an offline computer reconnects
- printer.offline webhooks tell ops which outlet to call
- Idempotency keys stop double tickets on retries
1 x Margherita, large 1 x Garlic bread REQUEST: cut in 8 slices Rider: Arjun · OTP 4471 Paid online
via InkRelay
Events and conferences
Scan at the door, collect your badge at the next counter
Today: Badges are printed in bulk the night before, sorted alphabetically and searched by hand. Walk-ins and name changes create a queue at the desk.
- 1Attendee's QR code is scanned at check-in
- 2Your registration system sends the badge to InkRelay
- 3Badge prints on the label printer at the collection counter
- PDF or ZPL badges, set per printer
- Route by counter: speakers, press, attendees
- Live status shows a printer that ran out of labels
- Test mode for rehearsals before the doors open
Product Lead, Northwind ACCESS: ALL DAYS + WORKSHOPS Badge 02417
via InkRelay
Warehouses
The office confirms an order, the warehouse gets a pick list on paper
Today: Someone at head office prints slips and carries or emails them over. Floor staff walk to a shared PC, search the order and print it themselves.
- 1Order is confirmed in your ERP or order system
- 2The system sends the packing slip to InkRelay
- 3Pick list prints in the warehouse, sorted by rack
- Printers keep their own paper, tray and duplex
- Works over any internet link, no ports to open
- Agent runs as a service and survives reboots
- Spooler errors come back with the real message
A-03-2 Steel bracket x 4 A-07-1 Hinge set x 2 C-12-4 Wall anchor x 20 Pack: box M · Ship by 16:00
via InkRelay
Corporate offices
Hundreds of people, one printer computer, and a log of every page
Today: Every laptop needs drivers for every printer. Nobody knows who printed what, failed jobs vanish, and IT hears about a dead printer from a queue of people.
- 1Employee prints a PDF from Chrome with the InkRelay extension
- 2The job goes to the computer the printers are attached to
- 3It prints, and the employee sees it was printed
- Every sign-in gets its own print-only key
- Jobs record the key that sent them
- One click retry from recent jobs
- Alerts when a printer or computer goes offline
09:14 priya Q3 report.pdf printed 09:16 daniel Contract.pdf printed 09:21 amara Invoice.pdf error 09:22 amara Invoice.pdf retried
via InkRelay
Ecommerce and shipping
Approve the order, the shipping label is already printing
Today: Each label is downloaded as a PDF, opened and printed by hand. At peak, people dig through a pile of labels to find the latest one.
- 1Order is approved and the carrier returns a label
- 2Your store or app sends the label to InkRelay
- 3It prints on the 4x6 label printer in order, one per parcel
- PDF labels or raw ZPL for thermal printers
- Batch hundreds of labels from your own code
- Print the manifest from any computer with the extension
- Webhooks mark each parcel as printed
R. Sharma 14 Lake View Road Pune 411001 AWB 7739 2210 5581 COD: no
via InkRelay
Pharmacies and clinics
Prescription and specimen labels print at the counter that needs them
Today: Staff copy details onto handwritten labels or print from one shared desk, which slows the queue and invites mistakes.
- 1A prescription is filled or a sample is collected
- 2Your system sends the label to InkRelay
- 3Label prints at the dispensing or collection counter
- Small label sizes set once per printer
- Roles keep members from changing printers
- Audit log of every setting change
- Stored files are deleted after 7 days
Amoxicillin 500 mg 1 capsule 3 times a day Take after food Qty 15
via InkRelay
Manufacturing
Work orders and barcode labels at every station on the line
Today: Supervisors print a stack of work orders each morning and walk them to the line. Changes during the shift mean reprinting and walking again.
- 1A work order is released or a part is completed
- 2Your system sends the document to InkRelay
- 3It prints at the station that does the work
- Agent for Windows, Linux and Raspberry Pi
- Name printers by station, not by model
- Jobs queue through network blips
- Live state for every job on the dashboard
Part 44-210 · Qty 120 Station 3: CNC Due: shift B ||| ||||| || |||| |||
via InkRelay
AI assistants and agents
Ask your assistant to print, and it reaches a real printer
Today: An agent can draft the pick list or the label, but a person still has to open it, find the printer and press print.
- 1You ask: "Print today's pick list on the warehouse printer"
- 2The assistant calls InkRelay through MCP
- 3It prints, and the assistant confirms the job finished
- MCP server: npx -y @inkrelay/mcp
- Agent Skill for coding agents
- Free test printers for trying it safely
- Scoped keys limit what the agent can do
list_printers -> 4 online print_pdf -> queued wait_for_print_job -> done Printed on Warehouse A4.
via InkRelay
The same outcome, whatever you print
- Documents print where the work happens, without anyone pressing print
- Every job reports its state, from queued to printed
- Offline printers and computers raise alerts before people notice
- A log of every job, every key and every setting change
Live in three steps
- 1
Install the agent
One installer for Windows, macOS or Linux. The agent shows a short code; approve it in your dashboard at /device. No passwords on shop floor machines.
- 2
Turn printers live
Pick which printers your API may use, give them friendly names and set default paper, tray and duplex.
- 3
Send a job
One POST with a PDF or raw bytes. Follow it to done in the dashboard or with signed webhooks.
Questions
Not sure your setup fits? Describe it in chat and we will tell you.
Do I need to write code to use InkRelay?
For automated printing, your system makes one API call per document, and the TypeScript and Python SDKs do most of the work. For people printing from a browser, the Chrome extension needs no code at all.
What happens if the internet or the computer goes down?
Jobs wait in the queue and are sent when the computer reconnects. If you subscribe to webhooks, you get printer.offline and computer.offline events so someone can check the site.
Which printers work?
Any printer the computer can already print to: office lasers, receipt printers, thermal label printers and more. Send PDFs, or raw ZPL and ESC/POS for label and receipt printers.
Can I try it before connecting real printers?
Yes. Test keys print to virtual A4, Letter, 80 mm receipt and 4x6 label printers that behave like real ones. Test mode is free on every plan.
Have a printing workflow in mind?
Try it free with test printers, or tell us about your setup.