Scribe
JavaScript OCR and text extraction for images and PDFs.
What is Scribe?
Scribe is a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that allows AI assistants like Claude, Cursor, and VS Code to javascript ocr and text extraction for images and pdfs.
JavaScript OCR and text extraction for images and PDFs.
This server falls under the Search & Data Extraction category on MCPgee, the world's largest MCP server directory with 33,000+ servers.
Features
- JavaScript OCR and text extraction for images and PDFs.
Use Cases
Maintainer
Works with
Installation
Manual Installation
npx scribe-jsConfiguration
Configuration Details
claude_desktop_config.json
Performance
Response Metrics
Resource Usage
How to Set Up and Use Scribe
Scribe.js is a JavaScript OCR library built on Tesseract WebAssembly that extracts text from images and PDFs entirely in-process, without requiring external services or native binary installations. It works in both Node.js and browser environments using ES modules, supports multi-language recognition, and can produce searchable PDFs with invisible text overlays. As an MCP server it enables AI assistants to read text from image files and scanned documents directly, making it useful for document processing pipelines, receipt parsing, and extracting text from screenshots or scanned PDFs.
Prerequisites
- Node.js 18+ with ES module support
- npm for installing the scribe.js-ocr package
- An MCP client such as Claude Desktop
- Image or PDF files accessible on disk that you want to process
Install the scribe.js-ocr package
Install the library from npm. The package name is scribe.js-ocr (with a dot and hyphen). No native binary dependencies are required — Tesseract runs via WebAssembly.
npm install scribe.js-ocrVerify basic text extraction works
Before configuring your MCP client, confirm the library works in your Node.js environment by running a quick test extraction on a sample image.
node --input-type=module <<'EOF'
import scribe from 'scribe.js-ocr';
const text = await scribe.extractText(['https://tesseract.projectnaptha.com/img/eng_bw.png']);
console.log(text);
EOFConfigure your MCP client
Add the scribe-js MCP server to your Claude Desktop configuration. The server is invoked via npx.
{
"mcpServers": {
"scribe-js": {
"command": "npx",
"args": ["scribe-js"]
}
}
}Restart your MCP client
Restart Claude Desktop (or your chosen MCP client) to load the new server configuration. The server will be available for text extraction requests.
Test OCR via a prompt
Ask Claude to extract text from an image or PDF file on your disk. Provide an absolute file path or a publicly accessible URL pointing to the document.
Scribe Examples
Client configuration
Claude Desktop configuration for the scribe-js OCR MCP server.
{
"mcpServers": {
"scribe-js": {
"command": "npx",
"args": ["scribe-js"]
}
}
}Prompts to try
Example prompts for extracting text from images and PDFs using the scribe-js OCR server.
- "Extract all text from /Users/me/Documents/receipt.png."
- "Read the text from this scanned PDF: /Users/me/Downloads/invoice.pdf"
- "OCR the image at https://example.com/screenshot.png and summarize the content."
- "Extract text from all PNG files in /Users/me/scans/ and combine them into a single document."
- "Read the handwritten notes in /Users/me/notes.jpg and transcribe them."Troubleshooting Scribe
npx scribe-js fails with 'Cannot use import statement' error
Scribe.js uses ES modules. Ensure you are running Node.js 18 or later ('node --version'). If using an older Node.js version, upgrade it. The package cannot be required with CommonJS require(); it must be imported with ES module syntax.
OCR returns garbled text or empty results
Tesseract accuracy depends on image quality. Ensure the image has sufficient resolution (at least 300 DPI for printed text). For non-English text, specify the language in the recognize options. Pre-process images to improve contrast if needed. Very small or stylized fonts may not recognize well.
Processing large PDFs is slow or runs out of memory
Large PDFs with many pages can be memory-intensive. Process them page by page by splitting the PDF first, or use the document API with explicit terminate() calls to free WebAssembly memory between batches: 'const doc = await scribe.openDocument([file]); ... await doc.terminate();'
Frequently Asked Questions about Scribe
What is Scribe?
Scribe is a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that javascript ocr and text extraction for images and pdfs. It connects AI assistants to external tools and data sources through a standardized interface.
How do I install Scribe?
Follow the installation instructions on the Scribe GitHub repository. Clone the repo, install dependencies, and add the server config to your AI client.
Which AI clients work with Scribe?
Scribe works with all major MCP-compatible AI clients including Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Cursor, VS Code (GitHub Copilot), Windsurf, and Cline.
Is Scribe free to use?
Yes, Scribe is open source and available under the AGPL-3.0 license. You can use it freely in both personal and commercial projects.
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Set Up Scribe 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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