bundlebuild

Court bundles from a YAML index. Merge the PDFs, stamp continuous page numbers, generate a hyperlinked index and PDF bookmarks, and pre-flight everything so the missing exhibit is found at your desk rather than at the registry.

title: Bundle of Documents
case: HC/OC 123/2026
parties: Alpha Pte Ltd v Beta Pte Ltd
output: out/bundle.pdf
stamp: { prefix: "AB" }          # stamps AB-1, AB-2, ...

sections:
  - title: Pleadings
    documents:
      - { tab: "1", title: Statement of Claim, date: 2026-03-02, file: docs/soc.pdf }
      - { tab: "2", title: Defence,            date: 2026-03-23, file: docs/defence.pdf }
  - title: Correspondence
    documents:
      - { tab: "3", title: Letter of demand,   date: 2025-11-14, file: docs/lod.pdf, pages: "1-2" }

$ bundlebuild check bundle.yaml
[WARN ] tab 3: undated; index will show 'Undated'
[WARN ] tab 4: no text layer on any page; OCR before filing
5 documents, 10 pages, 0 error(s), 2 warning(s)

$ bundlebuild build bundle.yaml
wrote out/bundle.pdf: 1 index page(s) + 10 bundle page(s), 5 tabs
index: out/bundle.index.json

Why

Bundle assembly is paid-product territory (Bundledocs, Opus 2, Casedo) and the free alternative is a paralegal with Acrobat and an afternoon. The mechanics are not hard: pypdf merges and annotates, reportlab draws. What is missing is a tool that treats the index as the source of truth and checks the inputs before anyone prints 800 pages.

Related MCP server: mcp-document-intelligence

What it does

Install

pip install -e ".[dev]"     # library + CLI + tests
pip install -e ".[mcp]"     # adds the MCP server

Python 3.11+. Pure Python; no Ghostscript, no Acrobat, no Java.

CLI

bundlebuild init [bundle.yaml]      # write a template manifest
bundlebuild check bundle.yaml       # pre-flight; exit 1 on errors
bundlebuild build bundle.yaml       # check, then build; exit 1 on errors
bundlebuild build bundle.yaml --skip-check

MCP server

{ "mcpServers": { "bundlebuild": { "command": "bundlebuild-mcp" } } }

Tools: manifest_template, check_bundle(manifest_path), build_bundle(manifest_path). The assistant's job is to help write the manifest from a folder of documents; the build is deterministic and local.

Manifest reference

Conventions and limits

• The index is not page-numbered; bundle page 1 is the first content page. If your practice direction requires the index within the numbering, open an issue; it is a small change but it should be a deliberate one.

• Existing page numbers on the source documents are not removed. Stamps are placed in the margin; if a source document already prints in that corner, choose a different stamp.position.

• Rotated source pages are stamped in the page's own coordinate space, so the stamp rotates with the page. This is the correct behaviour for landscape exhibits inserted into a portrait bundle.

• No OCR. check tells you which pages lack a text layer; OCR them with whatever you use (ocrmypdf is good) and re-run.

• No conversion from Word/email/images. Convert first, then bundle.

Related projects

citecheck consumes the authorities sidecar. chronology entries cite bundle page references produced here. See also sg-deadline.

License

MIT.