pdf-it

A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server and Claude Code skill that turns markdown into PDFs that look like they were made on purpose. Cover page, table of contents, code blocks that hold across page breaks, page-numbered footer. One command from your Claude session to a file you can send to a client.

Why this exists

Every Claude Code research session ends the same way: a wall of useful markdown and no clean way to turn it into a PDF a person would actually want to read.

Chrome print: takes 30 seconds, output looks like a Word doc. Manual HTML conversion: 10 minutes per document. Pandoc: works but defaults look like a 2008 academic paper. None of it produces an artifact you would send to a client.

pdf-it is one command. The output is designed by default.

A 12-page sample is in examples/designing-ai-agent-uiux.pdf.

Works with

pdf-it is a standard Model Context Protocol server. Any client that supports MCP locally can use it.

Hard requirements on any client: Node.js 18 or newer, Google Chrome installed, the client must support MCP.

Install

npm install -g pdf-it-mcp

Or run on demand with npx pdf-it-mcp.

Requirements

• Node.js 18 or newer

• Google Chrome installed (used as the renderer, no extra download)

Configure

Claude Desktop

Edit claude_desktop_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "pdf-it": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "pdf-it-mcp"]
    }
  }
}

Claude Code

claude mcp add pdf-it -- npx -y pdf-it-mcp

Cursor

Add to ~/.cursor/mcp.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "pdf-it": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "pdf-it-mcp"]
    }
  }
}

Custom Chrome path

If Chrome lives somewhere non-standard:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "pdf-it": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "pdf-it-mcp"],
      "env": { "CHROME_PATH": "/path/to/chrome" }
    }
  }
}

Use

In any Claude session connected to the server, ask:

Save this as a PDF

Or any of these phrasings: export as PDF, make a PDF report from this, turn this into a PDF, /pdf. The skill picks up the request and routes it through pdf-it. The output lands in ~/Documents/pdf-it/ by default.

Tools

generate_pdf parameters

Templates

Skill

This package ships with a Claude Code skill at SKILL.md. Trigger phrases the skill responds to:

• save this as PDF

• export as PDF

• make a PDF report from this

• turn this into a PDF

• generate a PDF

• /pdf

See SKILL.md for the full skill spec.

Examples

The examples folder has a sample generated PDF (designing-ai-agent-uiux.pdf, 12 pages) and the cover and body screenshots used in this README.

Output

By default PDFs are written to ~/Documents/pdf-it/{slug}-{timestamp}.pdf. Pass output_path to override.

Design

System fonts where possible. Inter for body and headings, JetBrains Mono for code, page numbers, and metadata. Pure white paper, near-black ink, neutral hairline borders, no accent colors. Code blocks render without syntax highlighting on purpose: color choices in PDFs age badly.

If you want a different design language, fork the templates and adjust. They live in src/templates/ and are plain HTML and CSS rendered through Puppeteer.

How it works

1. Parse: markdown-it converts your markdown to HTML and auto-generates a table of contents from H1 and H2 headings.

2. Template: the HTML is wrapped in templated CSS (Inter for body, JetBrains Mono for code, neutral palette).

3. Render: Puppeteer launches your local Chrome in headless mode and prints the HTML to PDF with proper page-break logic.

4. Footer: pdf-lib adds a page-numbered footer programmatically, skipping cover and TOC pages.

5. Output: the PDF lands in ~/Documents/pdf-it/{slug}-{timestamp}.pdf.

Total time: 2-3 seconds for a 5-page document, 8-10 seconds for a 30-page document.

Recognition

Listed on npm, Glama, LobeHub, mcp.so, and mcpmux.

Disclaimer

This is an unofficial, community-built tool. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Anthropic PBC or Google LLC. Claude and Claude Code are trademarks of Anthropic PBC. Google Chrome is a trademark of Google LLC.

pdf-it runs locally and renders PDFs through the user's installed Chrome via Puppeteer. Use at your own risk. The author accepts no liability for issues arising from misuse, prompt injection, bugs, or rendering failures.

License

MIT. See LICENSE.

Built by Marsel Bait. Sixth shipped MCP. Tokyo-based. Open to senior product design roles, especially in AI-native companies.