GitHub - Sohaib-2/pdf-mcp-server: Comprehensive PDF manipulation toolkit. Merge, split, encrypt, optimize PDFs through natural language commands via MCP protocol. (original) (raw)

PDF MCP Server

GitHub stars GitHub issues GitHub license Python 3.8+

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.

Demo

🚀 Quick Start

Clone & Setup

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

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/

🔧 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"] } } }

  1. Restart Claude Desktop
  2. 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

Tool Description Example
merge_pdfs Combine multiple PDFs merge_pdfs(['doc1.pdf', 'doc2.pdf'], 'combined.pdf')
split_pdf Split into individual pages split_pdf('document.pdf', './pages/')
extract_pages Extract specific page ranges extract_pages('book.pdf', '1-5,10,15-20', 'excerpt.pdf')
rotate_pages Rotate pages by degrees rotate_pages('scan.pdf', '90', 'rotated.pdf', '1-3')

Security & Encryption

Tool Description Example
encrypt_pdf AES-256 encryption encrypt_pdf('file.pdf', 'secure.pdf', 'password123')
encrypt_pdf_basic Basic password protection encrypt_pdf_basic('doc.pdf', 'protected.pdf', 'pass', 'admin')
decrypt_pdf Remove password protection decrypt_pdf('locked.pdf', 'unlocked.pdf', 'password')

Optimization & Repair

Tool Description Example
optimize_pdf Compress for web/email optimize_pdf('large.pdf', 'small.pdf', 'high')
repair_pdf Fix corrupted PDFs repair_pdf('broken.pdf', 'fixed.pdf')
check_pdf_integrity Validate PDF structure check_pdf_integrity('suspicious.pdf')

Information & Analysis

Tool Description Example
get_pdf_info Detailed metadata (JSON) get_pdf_info('document.pdf')
update_pdf_metadata Modify title/author/etc update_pdf_metadata('file.pdf', 'updated.pdf', title='New Title')
inspect_pdf_structure Internal structure analysis inspect_pdf_structure('complex.pdf', detailed=True)
extract_pdf_attachments Extract embedded files extract_pdf_attachments('portfolio.pdf', './attachments/')

File Management

Tool Description Example
download_pdf Download from URL download_pdf('https://example.com/file.pdf', 'local.pdf')
open_pdf_preview Open with system viewer open_pdf_preview('report.pdf', browser=False)
get_file_info File size/path details get_file_info('document.pdf')
configure_pdf_workspace Set working directory configure_pdf_workspace('/path/to/workspace')
count_pdfs_in_directory List PDFs in folder count_pdfs_in_directory('./pdf_folder/')

System Management

Tool Description Purpose
get_server_status Check tool availability Verify PDFtk/QPDF installation
list_default_directories Show search paths Debug file resolution issues
get_pdf_tools_help Complete documentation In-app help reference

💬 Natural Language Examples

Document Management:

Security Operations:

File Optimization:

Advanced Analysis:

🗂️ File Path Handling

Flexible path resolution:

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:

Problem Solution
PDFtk not found Install PDFtk and add to PATH
QPDF error Install QPDF via package manager
File not found Use list_default_directories() to check search paths
Permission denied Run with appropriate file permissions
Invalid PDF Use check_pdf_integrity() to validate file

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:

🤝 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

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