libre-mcp

A stdio MCP server for controlling LibreOffice (Writer, Calc & Impress) from Claude Code and other MCP clients — create and edit documents, spreadsheets, and presentations; run formulas; and export to PDF, DOCX, XLSX, PPTX, and more. macOS and Linux.

Full docs: libre-mcp.krondor.org

Install

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/krondor-corp/libre-mcp/main/install.sh | bash

Installs a prebuilt, self-contained binary to ~/.local/bin (no Python needed on the host). Update in place with libre-mcp update.

From a source checkout instead (needs uv):

make install      # build + install the binary to ~/.local/bin

Related MCP server: mcp-office-parser

Connect it to your coding tool

libre-mcp is a stdio MCP server, so any MCP-capable client can run it. Make sure libre-mcp is on your PATH (or use its absolute path).

Claude Code

claude mcp add libre -- libre-mcp

Cursor — ~/.cursor/mcp.json (global) or .cursor/mcp.json (project):

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

Claude Desktop — Settings → Developer → Edit Config (claude_desktop_config.json):

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

VS Code (GitHub Copilot) — .vscode/mcp.json, or code --add-mcp '{"name":"libre","command":"libre-mcp"}':

{
  "servers": {
    "libre": { "type": "stdio", "command": "libre-mcp" }
  }
}

Windsurf — ~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json: same mcpServers shape as Cursor.

Restart the client (or reload its MCP config) and libre's tools appear.

Requirements

LibreOffice must be installed:

• macOS: /Applications/LibreOffice.app

• Debian/Ubuntu: apt install libreoffice-writer libreoffice-calc python3-uno

• Other Linux (TDF/opt builds): bundle their own Python — nothing extra.

Paths are auto-discovered; override with LIBRE_MCP_SOFFICE_PATH / LIBRE_MCP_PYTHON_PATH if LibreOffice lives somewhere unusual.

Usage

Ask your MCP client to work with documents, spreadsheets, or presentations. The typical flow is create/open → edit → export (e.g. build a deck and save it as .pptx); documents stay open (referenced by doc_id) until closed.

Slide graphics (and Writer page boxes) position by percent (0-100) and take hex colors — enough to build themed, graphic-rich decks and branded documents (letterheads, reports, one-pagers). Full arguments: the tool reference.

Live editing & concurrency

The server drives one headless/visible LibreOffice in an isolated profile — its own process, separate from your everyday LibreOffice. That has two consequences worth knowing:

• To watch edits live, edit the window the server opens (live mode, show: true) — it shares the server's document model, so you and the agent see each other's changes instantly. Opening the same file in your own LibreOffice gives you a separate in-memory copy; the two processes can't see each other's unsaved edits (local LibreOffice has no real-time co-editing — that's a cloud/Collabora feature). The only bridge between two instances is the file on disk: save in one, reopen in the other.

• The agent won't clobber your in-flight edits. Every document carries a revision counter bumped on any change (agent or human); a tool that would edit a document you changed since the agent last looked is refused with a conflict warning until the agent re-reads it. Likewise close_document refuses to discard unsaved changes unless you pass force.

Links

• Documentation

• Development

• Releases

Acknowledgements

Built on the work of others:

• LibreOffice and The Document Foundation — the office suite and its UNO / PyUNO automation API that does all the real work.

• Model Context Protocol and the Python MCP SDK.

• PyInstaller, uv, and git-cliff for packaging and releases.

• confit — the model for this project's release and docs setup.