PDF MCP Server

Transform PDF manipulation with AI-powered natural language commands through Claude integration

Comprehensive PDF toolkit that integrates seamlessly with Claude AI via MCP (Model Context Protocol). Perform complex PDF operations using simple conversational commands - merge, split, encrypt, optimize, and analyze PDFs effortlessly.

🚀 Quick Start

Clone & Setup

git clone https://github.com/Sohaib-2/pdf-mcp-server.git
cd pdf-mcp-server

Option 1: With Virtual Environment (Recommended)

python -m venv .venv
# Windows
.venv\Scripts\activate
# macOS/Linux  
source .venv/bin/activate

pip install -r requirements.txt

Option 2: Without Virtual Environment

pip install fastmcp requests pathlib

Install PDF Tools

PDFtk:

# Ubuntu/Debian
sudo apt-get install pdftk
# macOS
brew install pdftk-java
# Windows: Download from https://www.pdflabs.com/tools/pdftk-the-pdf-toolkit/

QPDF:

# Ubuntu/Debian
sudo apt-get install qpdf
# macOS
brew install qpdf
# Windows: Download from https://qpdf.sourceforge.io/

Related MCP server: Nutrient Document Engine MCP Server

🔧 Claude Desktop Integration

1. Locate Claude config file:

   • Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

   • macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

2. Add PDF MCP Server:

With Virtual Environment:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "pdf-tools": {
      "command": "C:\\path\\to\\pdf-mcp-server\\.venv\\Scripts\\python.exe",
      "args": ["C:\\path\\to\\pdf-mcp-server\\server.py"]
    }
  }
}

Without Virtual Environment:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "pdf-tools": {
      "command": "python",
      "args": ["C:\\path\\to\\pdf-mcp-server\\server.py"]
    }
  }
}

macOS/Linux with venv:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "pdf-tools": {
      "command": "/path/to/pdf-mcp-server/.venv/bin/python",
      "args": ["/path/to/pdf-mcp-server/server.py"]
    }
  }
}

3. Restart Claude Desktop

4. Start using natural language:

   • "Merge these 3 PDFs into one document"

   • "Encrypt my report with password protection"

   • "Extract pages 1-10 from this manual"

📚 Complete Tool Reference

Core Operations

Security & Encryption

Optimization & Repair

Information & Analysis

File Management

System Management

💬 Natural Language Examples

Document Management:

• "Combine all my research papers into one bibliography"

• "Split this 100-page manual into chapters"

• "Extract the executive summary from pages 2-4"

Security Operations:

• "Encrypt this contract with military-grade protection"

• "Remove password from this locked document"

• "Add owner permissions to prevent editing"

File Optimization:

• "Optimize all PDFs in my downloads folder"

• "Fix this corrupted presentation file"

Advanced Analysis:

• "Show me detailed metadata about this academic paper"

• "Analyze the internal structure for security audit"

🗂️ File Path Handling

Flexible path resolution:

• Absolute: C:\Documents\file.pdf

• Relative: ../pdfs/document.pdf

• Filename only: report.pdf (searches default directories)

Default search order:

1. PDF_WORKSPACE environment variable

2. ~/Documents/PDFs

3. ~/Downloads

4. ~/Desktop

5. Current working directory

⚙️ Configuration

Custom workspace:

configure_pdf_workspace('/path/to/your/pdfs')

Check installation:

get_server_status()  # Verify PDFtk and QPDF availability

🛠️ Troubleshooting

Common issues:

Debug commands:

get_server_status()           # Check tool installation
list_default_directories()    # Verify search paths  
get_pdf_info('file.pdf')      # Validate PDF structure

🏗️ Architecture

pdf-mcp-server/
├── server.py              # FastMCP server with 16 tools
├── pdftk_tools.py         # PDFtk CLI wrapper
├── qpdf_tools.py          # QPDF CLI wrapper  
├── utils.py               # File utilities & path resolution
└── requirements.txt       # Python dependencies

Built with:

• FastMCP - MCP server framework

• PDFtk - PDF manipulation

• QPDF - Advanced PDF processing

🤝 Contributing

1. Fork the repository

2. Create feature branch: git checkout -b feature/amazing-feature

3. Commit changes: git commit -m 'Add amazing feature'

4. Push to branch: git push origin feature/amazing-feature

5. Open Pull Request

📄 License

This project is licensed under the MIT License

👨‍💻 Author

Sohaib-2 - GitHub

🌟 Acknowledgments

• Anthropic for MCP Protocol

• PDFtk and QPDF teams

• Open source community for inspiration

⭐ Star this repo if it helped you! | 🐛 Report issues | 💡 Request features