Provides type-safe implementation with comprehensive type definitions for PDF processing operations
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
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:
Install the MCP extension from the marketplace
Add this configuration to your
settings.json
:
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:
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 filepages
(optional): Page range ("1-5", "1,3,5", or "all")preserve_formatting
(optional): Whether to preserve text formattinginclude_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 filepage_range
(required): Page range to extractoutput_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
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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