PDF Reader MCP Server

A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server for extracting and processing content from PDF documents. This server provides secure, efficient, and flexible PDF content extraction capabilities following the MCP specification.

Features

• Text Extraction: Extract plain text from PDF documents with formatting preservation

• Metadata Extraction: Extract document metadata (title, author, dates, page count, etc.)

• Page-Level Processing: Extract content from specific pages or page ranges

• PDF Validation: Validate PDF file integrity and readability

• Security-First: Input validation and sandboxed processing

• Type-Safe: Full TypeScript implementation with comprehensive type definitions

Related MCP server: MCP Docling Server

Why Choose This MCP Server?

🎯 Specialized PDF Tools

• 4 dedicated tools for different PDF processing needs (text, metadata, pages, validation)

• Granular control - extract specific pages, preserve formatting, or get structured output

• Flexible page ranges - support for "1-5", "1,3,5", or "all" syntax

🛡️ Enterprise-Grade Security

• Directory traversal protection prevents unauthorized file access

• File size limits (configurable up to 100MB by default)

• Processing timeouts prevent resource exhaustion

• Memory usage controls (500MB limit by default)

• No temporary file persistence - secure processing without data leakage

⚡ Production-Ready Architecture

• Robust error handling with standardized MCP error codes (-32602 to -32605)

• Structured logging with Winston for monitoring and debugging

• Comprehensive input validation using Zod schemas

• Type-safe TypeScript implementation with full type definitions

• Concurrent processing support for multiple PDF operations

🔧 Developer Experience

• Easy configuration via environment variables

• Flexible deployment - works with 70+ MCP-compatible clients

• Clear documentation with real-world examples

• Modern tech stack - TypeScript, pdf-parse, pdf-lib

• Test coverage with Vitest for reliability

📊 Performance Optimized

• Efficient PDF processing optimized for text-based documents

• Configurable resource limits to match your infrastructure

• Minimal dependencies for faster startup and lower memory footprint

• Streaming support for large document processing

Installation

Usage

As MCP Server

Start the server:

Client Configuration

This MCP server can be used with various AI applications and development tools. Below are configuration instructions for the most popular clients:

Claude Desktop

Add this configuration to your Claude Desktop config file:

Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

VS Code and VS Code-based Editors

For VS Code, Cursor, Windsurf, and other VS Code-based editors, install an MCP extension:

1. Install the MCP extension from the marketplace

2. Add this configuration to your settings.json:

ChatGPT Desktop

For ChatGPT Desktop (available since OpenAI's MCP adoption in March 2025):

1. Go to Settings → Integrations → MCP Servers

2. Add new server with:

   • Name: PDF Reader

   • Command: node /path/to/pdf-reader-mcp/dist/index.js

Claude Code

Option 1: Command Line (Recommended)

Unix/macOS:

Windows:

Option 2: Configuration File Configure in your project's .claude/settings.json:

Other Clients

For other MCP-compatible applications (Microsoft Copilot Studio, Replit, Zed, etc.), refer to the official MCP documentation for client-specific configuration instructions.

Available Tools

1. extract_pdf_text

Extract text content from PDF documents.

Parameters:

• file_path (required): Path to the PDF file

• pages (optional): Page range ("1-5", "1,3,5", or "all")

• preserve_formatting (optional): Whether to preserve text formatting

• include_metadata (optional): Whether to include document metadata

2. extract_pdf_metadata

Extract metadata and document information from PDF files.

Parameters:

• file_path (required): Path to the PDF file

3. extract_pdf_pages

Extract content from specific pages or page ranges.

Parameters:

• file_path (required): Path to the PDF file

• page_range (required): Page range to extract

• output_format (optional): "text" or "structured"

4. validate_pdf

Validate PDF file integrity and readability.

Parameters:

• file_path (required): Path to the PDF file

Configuration

Environment variables:

• PDF_MAX_FILE_SIZE: Maximum file size in bytes (default: 104857600 = 100MB)

• PDF_PROCESSING_TIMEOUT: Processing timeout in milliseconds (default: 60000)

• PDF_MAX_MEMORY_USAGE: Maximum memory usage in bytes (default: 524288000 = 500MB)

• LOG_LEVEL: Logging level (default: 'info')

Security

• Input validation for all file paths

• Directory traversal protection

• File size and memory limits

• Processing timeouts

• No temporary file persistence

Error Handling

The server provides comprehensive error handling with specific error codes:

• -32602: Validation errors

• -32603: File access errors

• -32604: Size/resource errors

• -32605: Format errors

Performance

• Supports files up to 100MB

• Memory usage limited to 500MB

• Concurrent processing support

• Optimized for text-based PDFs

License

MIT