An MCP server that provides tools for reading, writing, and manipulating PDF files, including text extraction, metadata retrieval, and merging or splitting documents. It also enables users to create PDFs from plain text and convert specific pages or
What is PDF?
PDF is a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that allows AI assistants like Claude, Cursor, and VS Code to mcp server that provides tools for reading, writing, and manipulating pdf files, including text extraction, metadata retrieval, and merging or splitting documents. it also enables users to create pdfs...
An MCP server that provides tools for reading, writing, and manipulating PDF files, including text extraction, metadata retrieval, and merging or splitting documents. It also enables users to create PDFs from plain text and convert specific pages or
This server falls under the File Systems category on MCPgee, the world's largest MCP server directory with 33,000+ servers.
Features
- An MCP server that provides tools for reading, writing, and
Use Cases
Maintainer
Works with
Installation
Manual Installation
npx pdfConfiguration
Configuration Details
claude_desktop_config.json
Performance
Response Metrics
Resource Usage
How to Set Up and Use PDF
The pdf-mcp server provides AI assistants with a comprehensive set of tools for working with PDF files, including reading and extracting text, retrieving document metadata, creating new PDFs from plain text, merging multiple PDFs, splitting documents into individual pages, and rendering pages as images. Built on Node.js, it integrates directly into Claude Code and Claude Desktop so you can manipulate PDF documents through natural language without switching tools. It is ideal for document processing workflows, content extraction pipelines, and automated report generation.
Prerequisites
- Node.js 18+ installed
- npm available on your PATH
- An MCP-compatible client: Claude Desktop or Claude Code
- pdf-mcp installed and globally linked via npm link
Clone and install pdf-mcp
Clone the repository, install Node.js dependencies, and register the pdf-mcp command globally so MCP clients can launch it.
git clone https://github.com/angshuman/pdf-mcp.git
cd pdf-mcp
npm install
npm linkAdd to Claude Code
Register the server with Claude Code using the mcp add command — Claude Code will then be able to launch and communicate with pdf-mcp.
claude mcp add pdf-mcp -- pdf-mcpConfigure Claude Desktop
Add the pdf-mcp server to your claude_desktop_config.json so Claude Desktop can launch it on startup.
{
"mcpServers": {
"pdf-mcp": {
"command": "pdf-mcp"
}
}
}Verify the tools are available
Restart your MCP client and ask the assistant to list available PDF tools to confirm the server is running correctly.
Extract text from a PDF
Use the pdf_read tool to extract all text or a specific page from a PDF file. Pass the file path and optionally a 1-based page number.
PDF Examples
Client configuration
Claude Desktop configuration using the globally installed pdf-mcp command. For direct script reference, use node with the path to server.js.
{
"mcpServers": {
"pdf-mcp": {
"command": "pdf-mcp"
}
}
}Prompts to try
Natural language prompts that map to pdf-mcp tool calls your AI assistant can execute.
- "Extract all text from /documents/report.pdf"
- "Get the metadata and page count for /documents/contract.pdf"
- "Merge /docs/part1.pdf and /docs/part2.pdf into /docs/combined.pdf"
- "Split /docs/book.pdf into individual pages in the /docs/pages/ folder"
- "Render page 1 of /docs/invoice.pdf as a PNG image"Troubleshooting PDF
pdf-mcp command not found after npm link
Ensure the global npm bin directory is on your PATH. Run npm bin -g to find the directory and add it to your PATH in ~/.zshrc or ~/.bashrc. Alternatively, use the full path to server.js with node in the config.
pdf_read returns empty text for a PDF
Some PDFs contain only scanned images rather than embedded text. The pdf_read tool extracts text-layer content only — for image-based PDFs, use pdf_page_to_image to render the page and then apply OCR separately.
pdf_merge fails with file not found errors
Provide absolute file paths to all PDF tools. Relative paths may resolve differently depending on the working directory of the MCP server process. Use full paths like /home/user/docs/file.pdf.
Frequently Asked Questions about PDF
What is PDF?
PDF is a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that mcp server that provides tools for reading, writing, and manipulating pdf files, including text extraction, metadata retrieval, and merging or splitting documents. it also enables users to create pdfs from plain text and convert specific pages or It connects AI assistants to external tools and data sources through a standardized interface.
How do I install PDF?
Follow the installation instructions on the PDF GitHub repository. Clone the repo, install dependencies, and add the server config to your AI client.
Which AI clients work with PDF?
PDF works with all major MCP-compatible AI clients including Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Cursor, VS Code (GitHub Copilot), Windsurf, and Cline.
Is PDF free to use?
Yes, PDF is open source and available under the ISC License license. You can use it freely in both personal and commercial projects.
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★ 723Enables reading, searching, and metadata extraction from PDF files without loading the entire content into the context window. It provides efficient tools for text cleaning, page-specific extraction, and context-aware search results.
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★ 643Provides comprehensive filesystem operations (read, write, list, create, delete, move files and directories) through the Model Context Protocol with Streamable HTTP transport and built-in security through configurable root directory restrictions.
Browse More File Systems MCP Servers
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Set Up PDF in Your Editor
Choose your AI client for step-by-step setup instructions.
Quick Config Preview
Add this to your claude_desktop_config.json or .cursor/mcp.json
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