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

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

npm install
npm run build

Usage

As MCP Server

Start the server:

npm start

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

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "pdf-reader": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/path/to/pdf-reader-mcp/dist/index.js"],
      "env": {
        "PDF_MAX_FILE_SIZE": "104857600",
        "LOG_LEVEL": "info"
      }
    }
  }
}

VS Code and VS Code-based Editors

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

Install the MCP extension from the marketplace
Add this configuration to your settings.json:

{
  "mcp.servers": {
    "pdf-reader": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/path/to/pdf-reader-mcp/dist/index.js"]
    }
  }
}

ChatGPT Desktop

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

Go to Settings → Integrations → MCP Servers
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:

# Add the MCP server directly via command line
claude mcp add pdf-reader node /path/to/pdf-reader-mcp/dist/index.js

# With environment variables
claude mcp add pdf-reader -e PDF_MAX_FILE_SIZE=104857600 -e LOG_LEVEL=info -- node /path/to/pdf-reader-mcp/dist/index.js

# Set scope (optional: --scope local|project|user)
claude mcp add --scope project pdf-reader node /path/to/pdf-reader-mcp/dist/index.js

Windows:

rem Add the MCP server directly via command line
claude mcp add pdf-reader node C:\path\to\pdf-reader-mcp\dist\index.js

rem With environment variables
claude mcp add pdf-reader -e PDF_MAX_FILE_SIZE=104857600 -e LOG_LEVEL=info -- node C:\path\to\pdf-reader-mcp\dist\index.js

rem Set scope (optional: --scope local|project|user)
claude mcp add --scope project pdf-reader node C:\path\to\pdf-reader-mcp\dist\index.js

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

{
  "mcp": {
    "servers": {
      "pdf-reader": {
        "command": "node",
        "args": ["/path/to/pdf-reader-mcp/dist/index.js"]
      }
    }
  }
}

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

This server cannot be installed

security - not tested

license - not found

quality - not tested

How are these scores calculated?

local-only server

The server can only run on the client's local machine because it depends on local resources.

A Model Context Protocol server that extracts and processes content from PDF documents, providing text extraction, metadata retrieval, page-level processing, and PDF validation capabilities.

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