@cyanheads/docgen-mcp-server

Overview

Generate documents from an agent: render HTML, markdown, or template data to PDF, export rows to Excel, and fill PDF forms. Everything renders locally on a bundled stack (pdf-lib, exceljs, marked).

Tools

Resources

All document data is also reachable via the tool surface — docgen_get_document is the tool-only twin of this resource.

Related MCP server: md2pdf-mcp

Capability reference

docgen_render_pdf tool

• Provide exactly one source: { html }, { markdown }, or { template, data } for {{key}} interpolation. pageOptions controls page size/orientation, CSS-length margins, headers/footers ({{page}}, {{total}}, {{date}}) and page numbers.

• Returns a DocumentEnvelope with pageCount; degraded: true means CSS, images or scripts were dropped, or characters were replaced with ?. The lightweight engine renders headings, paragraphs, lists and tables.

• Typed failures: invalid_source, template_render_failed, document_too_large, render_timeout.

docgen_export_spreadsheet tool

• Supply at least one sheet with a unique name (1–31 characters) and scalar rows[]; empty rows yield a header-only sheet. Optional columns[] sets headers, type (string / number / date / boolean), width and Excel format.

• Omitted columns use all row keys in first-seen order. Boolean columns accept true/1/yes/on and false/0/no/off, case-insensitive; other strings stay text.

• Returns a DocumentEnvelope with sheetCount. Typed failures: empty_workbook, invalid_sheet_name, document_too_large, render_timeout.

docgen_fill_form tool

• Provide exactly one sourcePdf: { base64 } or { url } (public https serving application/pdf), plus fields mapping exact, case-sensitive AcroForm field names to values. Flat or XFA-only PDFs return not_a_form.

• Obtain exact names and choice options with docgen_list_form_fields before filling an unfamiliar PDF.

• Returns a DocumentEnvelope with pageCount and unmatchedFields[] for names with no matching field.

• flatten: true makes the filled values non-editable (default false).

docgen_list_form_fields tool

• Accepts the same sourcePdf base64-or-URL source as docgen_fill_form. Returns { fields: [{ name, type, required, options? }] } without modifying the PDF or storing a document.

• Types: text, checkbox, dropdown, optionList, radioGroup, signature, button. Only dropdown, optionList and radioGroup entries include options; signatures and buttons are discovery only.

• Nested names retain their exact paths. PDFs without AcroForm fields return not_a_form.

docgen_get_document tool

• Supply the documentId an earlier render/export/fill returned (doc_ plus 24 url-safe characters).

• Re-fetches its DocumentEnvelope without rendering again; an expired or unknown id returns document_expired.

docgen://document/{documentId} resource

• Use the documentId from a render/export/fill result (doc_ plus 24 url-safe characters).

• Returns a base64 blob with the document's MIME type and JSON metadata (documentId, byteSize, pageCount/sheetCount, createdAt, ttlSecondsRemaining). Reads the same store as docgen_get_document; expired or unknown ids return document_expired.

Features

Built on @cyanheads/mcp-ts-core: stdio and Streamable HTTP transports, pluggable auth (none / jwt / oauth), swappable storage (in-memory, filesystem, Supabase, Cloudflare KV/R2/D1), structured logging with optional OpenTelemetry tracing.

docgen-specific:

• No external API — a bundled rendering stack (pdf-lib, exceljs, marked), so renders are local and deterministic with no upstream to fail

• One shared DocumentEnvelope across the four document delivery tools; field inspection returns its inventory directly

• Bounded renders — a byte ceiling (DOCGEN_MAX_DOCUMENT_BYTES) and a timeout (DOCGEN_RENDER_TIMEOUT_MS) turn a runaway render into a typed error instead of a hang

• Tenant-scoped, expiring storage — a document id resolves only for the tenant that created it, and documents expire rather than accumulate

• SSRF-guarded form fetch — both form tools check every address, including each redirect hop, and block private, loopback and link-local destinations

Agent-friendly output:

• Dual-surface delivery — every envelope field appears in both structuredContent and the markdown output, including the documentId, resource URI, size, and TTL

• Inline by size — inlineBase64 is populated only at or under DOCGEN_INLINE_MAX_BYTES; larger documents are delivered through the resource URI

• Partial-fill reporting — docgen_fill_form returns unmatchedFields[] so the agent sees which field names didn't match

• Typed errors with recovery hints (invalid_source, template_render_failed, document_too_large, render_timeout, not_a_form, source_unfetchable, document_expired, …); semantic validation uses ValidationError (-32007) and malformed arguments InvalidParams (-32602)

Getting started

Add the following to your MCP client configuration file. No API keys are required.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "docgen-mcp-server": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "bunx",
      "args": ["@cyanheads/docgen-mcp-server@latest"],
      "env": {
        "MCP_TRANSPORT_TYPE": "stdio",
        "MCP_LOG_LEVEL": "info"
      }
    }
  }
}

Or with npx (no Bun required):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "docgen-mcp-server": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@cyanheads/docgen-mcp-server@latest"],
      "env": {
        "MCP_TRANSPORT_TYPE": "stdio",
        "MCP_LOG_LEVEL": "info"
      }
    }
  }
}

Or with Docker:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "docgen-mcp-server": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "docker",
      "args": [
        "run", "-i", "--rm",
        "-e", "MCP_TRANSPORT_TYPE=stdio",
        "ghcr.io/cyanheads/docgen-mcp-server:latest"
      ]
    }
  }
}

For Streamable HTTP, set the transport and start the server:

MCP_TRANSPORT_TYPE=http MCP_HTTP_PORT=3010 bun run start:http
# Server listens at http://localhost:3010/mcp

Documents are delivered by the docgen://document/{id} resource (and inline base64 when small enough) over every transport. The envelope's downloadUrl field is reserved for a future HTTP download route and is not emitted in this version.

Prerequisites

• Bun v1.4.0 or higher (or Node.js v24+); development uses Bun v1.4.3.

Installation

1. Clone the repository:

git clone https://github.com/cyanheads/docgen-mcp-server.git

2. Navigate into the directory:

cd docgen-mcp-server

3. Install dependencies:

bun install

4. Configure environment:

cp .env.example .env
# edit .env to override any defaults

Configuration

All configuration is optional — docgen runs with no required environment variables.

See .env.example for the full list of optional overrides.

The default in-memory storage drops every document on restart, and earlier ids then return document_expired. To keep documents across restarts, point STORAGE_PROVIDER_TYPE at a persistent backend.

Running the server

Local development

• Build and run:

  # One-time build
  bun run rebuild
  
  # Run the built server
  bun run start:stdio
  # or
  bun run start:http

• Run checks and tests:

  bun run devcheck   # Lint, format, typecheck, security, changelog sync
  bun run test       # Vitest test suite
  bun run lint:mcp   # Validate MCP definitions against spec

Docker

docker build -t docgen-mcp-server .
docker run --rm -e MCP_TRANSPORT_TYPE=http -p 3010:3010 docgen-mcp-server

The Dockerfile defaults to HTTP transport, stateless session mode, and logs to /var/log/docgen-mcp-server. OpenTelemetry peer dependencies are installed by default — build with --build-arg OTEL_ENABLED=false to omit them.

Project structure

Development guide

See CLAUDE.md/AGENTS.md for development guidelines and architectural rules. The short version:

• Handlers throw, framework catches — no try/catch in tool logic

• Use ctx.log for request-scoped logging, ctx.state for tenant-scoped storage

• Register new tools and resources in src/index.ts's createApp() arrays

• One shared DocumentEnvelope across all delivery tools — keep the writers and reader interchangeable

Contributing

Issues are welcome. Run checks and tests before submitting:

bun run devcheck
bun run test

License

Apache-2.0 — see LICENSE for details.