Generate QR Code Natively

Create QR codes fully offline on the local machine (no third-party QR API calls).

When to use

• User asks to generate a QR code from text, URL, wallet address, or payload
• Privacy-sensitive workflows where data should stay local
• Fast automation pipelines that should not depend on external services

Required tools / APIs

• No external API required
• Bash CLI option: qrencode
• Node.js option: qrcode package

Install options:

# Ubuntu/Debian
sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install -y qrencode

# Node.js
npm install qrcode

Skills

generate_qr_with_bash

Generate PNG and terminal QR directly from shell.

# Encode text into PNG
DATA="https://example.com/report?id=123"
qrencode -o qrcode.png -s 8 -m 2 "$DATA"

# Print QR in terminal (UTF-8 block mode)
qrencode -t UTF8 "$DATA"

# SVG output
qrencode -t SVG -o qrcode.svg "$DATA"

generate_qr_with_nodejs

import QRCode from 'qrcode';

const data = process.argv[2] || 'https://example.com';

async function main() {
  await QRCode.toFile('qrcode.png', data, {
    errorCorrectionLevel: 'M',
    margin: 2,
    width: 512
  });

  const svg = await QRCode.toString(data, { type: 'svg', margin: 2 });
  await import('node:fs/promises').then(fs => fs.writeFile('qrcode.svg', svg));

  const terminal = await QRCode.toString(data, { type: 'terminal' });
  console.log(terminal);
  console.log('Saved: qrcode.png, qrcode.svg');
}

main().catch(err => {
  console.error('QR generation failed:', err.message);
  process.exit(1);
});

Run:

node generate-qr.js "https://example.com/invoice/abc"

Agent prompt

You are generating QR codes locally without calling external QR APIs.
Use Bash (qrencode) for quick CLI generation or Node.js (qrcode package) for programmatic control.
Return:
1) command/code used,
2) output filenames (png/svg),
3) brief validation note (e.g., "scan test recommended").
If dependency is missing, provide the install command and retry.

Best practices

• Keep payload concise for better scan reliability
• Use at least error correction level M for general use
• Export PNG for compatibility and SVG for scalable print/web usage
• Validate with a scanner after generation

Troubleshooting

• qrencode: command not found → install qrencode via package manager
• Node import error → ensure npm install qrcode completed
• Dense/unclear QR image → increase image size/box size and reduce payload length

See also

• pdf-manipulation.md — combine generated QR images into documents