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PDF.co MCP Server

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pdf_to_xlsx

Convert PDF files and scanned images into editable Excel spreadsheets (XLSX format) for data analysis and manipulation.

Instructions

Convert PDF and scanned images to XLSX (Excel 2007+) format.
Ref: https://developer.pdf.co/api-reference/pdf-to-excel/xlsx.md

Input Schema

TableJSON Schema
NameRequiredDescriptionDefault
urlYesURL to the source file. Supports publicly accessible links including Google Drive, Dropbox, PDF.co Built-In Files Storage. Use 'upload_file' tool to upload local files.
httpusernameNoHTTP auth user name if required to access source url. (Optional)
httppasswordNoHTTP auth password if required to access source url. (Optional)
pagesNoComma-separated page indices (e.g., '0, 1, 2-' or '1, 3-7'). Use '!' for inverted page numbers (e.g., '!0' for last page). Processes all pages if None. (Optional)
unwrapNoUnwrap lines into a single line within table cells when lineGrouping is enabled. Must be true or false. (Optional)
rectNoDefines coordinates for extraction (e.g., '51.8,114.8,235.5,204.0'). (Optional)
langNoLanguage for OCR for scanned documents. Default is 'eng'. See PDF.co docs for supported languages. (Optional, Default: 'eng')eng
line_groupingNoEnables line grouping within table cells when set to '1'. (Optional)0
passwordNoPassword of the PDF file. (Optional)
nameNoFile name for the generated output. (Optional)
api_keyNoPDF.co API key. If not provided, will use X_API_KEY environment variable. (Optional)

Implementation Reference

  • The primary MCP tool handler for 'pdf_to_xlsx'. Decorated with @mcp.tool() for automatic registration. Defines detailed input schema via Pydantic Field descriptions and implements the logic by calling the convert_to helper with format 'xlsx'.
    @mcp.tool()
    async def pdf_to_xlsx(
        url: str = Field(
            description="URL to the source file. Supports publicly accessible links including Google Drive, Dropbox, PDF.co Built-In Files Storage. Use 'upload_file' tool to upload local files."
        ),
        httpusername: str = Field(
            description="HTTP auth user name if required to access source url. (Optional)",
            default="",
        ),
        httppassword: str = Field(
            description="HTTP auth password if required to access source url. (Optional)",
            default="",
        ),
        pages: str = Field(
            description="Comma-separated page indices (e.g., '0, 1, 2-' or '1, 3-7'). Use '!' for inverted page numbers (e.g., '!0' for last page). Processes all pages if None. (Optional)",
            default="",
        ),
        unwrap: bool = Field(
            description="Unwrap lines into a single line within table cells when lineGrouping is enabled. Must be true or false. (Optional)",
            default=False,
        ),
        rect: str = Field(
            description="Defines coordinates for extraction (e.g., '51.8,114.8,235.5,204.0'). (Optional)",
            default="",
        ),
        lang: str = Field(
            description="Language for OCR for scanned documents. Default is 'eng'. See PDF.co docs for supported languages. (Optional, Default: 'eng')",
            default="eng",
        ),
        line_grouping: str = Field(
            description="Enables line grouping within table cells when set to '1'. (Optional)",
            default="0",
        ),
        password: str = Field(
            description="Password of the PDF file. (Optional)", default=""
        ),
        name: str = Field(
            description="File name for the generated output. (Optional)", default=""
        ),
        api_key: str = Field(
            description="PDF.co API key. If not provided, will use X_API_KEY environment variable. (Optional)",
            default="",
        ),
    ) -> BaseResponse:
        """
        Convert PDF and scanned images to XLSX (Excel 2007+) format.
        Ref: https://developer.pdf.co/api-reference/pdf-to-excel/xlsx.md
        """
        return await convert_to(
            "pdf",
            "xlsx",
            ConversionParams(
                url=url,
                httpusername=httpusername,
                httppassword=httppassword,
                pages=pages,
                unwrap=unwrap,
                rect=rect,
                lang=lang,
                line_grouping=line_grouping,
                password=password,
                name=name,
                api_key=api_key,
            ),
        )
  • Pydantic model defining the input parameters for conversion tools, including all fields used by pdf_to_xlsx (url, pages, password, etc.). Includes parse_payload method to build API payload.
    class ConversionParams(BaseModel):
        url: str = Field(
            description="URL to the source file. Supports publicly accessible links including Google Drive, Dropbox, PDF.co Built-In Files Storage. Use 'upload_file' tool to upload local files.",
            default="",
        )
        httpusername: str = Field(
            description="HTTP auth user name if required to access source url. (Optional)",
            default="",
        )
        httppassword: str = Field(
            description="HTTP auth password if required to access source url. (Optional)",
            default="",
        )
        pages: str = Field(
            description="Comma-separated page indices (e.g., '0, 1, 2-' or '1, 3-7'). Use '!' for inverted page numbers (e.g., '!0' for last page). Processes all pages if None. (Optional)",
            default="",
        )
        unwrap: bool = Field(
            description="Unwrap lines into a single line within table cells when lineGrouping is enabled. Must be true or false. (Optional)",
            default=False,
        )
        rect: str = Field(
            description="Defines coordinates for extraction (e.g., '51.8,114.8,235.5,204.0'). (Optional)",
            default="",
        )
        lang: str = Field(
            description="Language for OCR for scanned documents. Default is 'eng'. See PDF.co docs for supported languages. (Optional, Default: 'eng')",
            default="eng",
        )
        line_grouping: str = Field(
            description="Enables line grouping within table cells when set to '1'. (Optional)",
            default="0",
        )
        password: str = Field(
            description="Password of the PDF file. (Optional)", default=""
        )
        name: str = Field(
            description="File name for the generated output. (Optional)", default=""
        )
        autosize: bool = Field(
            description="Controls automatic page sizing. If true, page dimensions adjust to content. If false, uses worksheet’s page setup. (Optional)",
            default=False,
        )
    
        html: str = Field(
            description="Input HTML code to be converted. To convert the link to a PDF use the /pdf/convert/from/url endpoint instead.",
            default="",
        )
        templateId: str = Field(
            description="Set to the ID of your HTML template. You can find and copy the ID from HTML to PDF Templates.",
            default="",
        )
        templateData: str = Field(
            description="Set it to a string with input JSON data (recommended) or CSV data.",
            default="",
        )
        margins: str = Field(
            description="Set to CSS style margins like 10px, 5mm, 5in for all sides or 5px 5px 5px 5px (the order of margins is top, right, bottom, left). (Optional)",
            default="",
        )
        paperSize: str = Field(
            description="A4 is set by default. Can be Letter, Legal, Tabloid, Ledger, A0, A1, A2, A3, A4, A5, A6 or a custom size. Custom size can be set in px (pixels), mm or in (inches) with width and height separated by space like this: 200 300, 200px 300px, 200mm 300mm, 20cm 30cm or 6in 8in. (Optional)",
            default="",
        )
        orientation: str = Field(
            description="Set to Portrait or Landscape. Portrait is set by default. (Optional)",
            default="",
        )
        printBackground: bool = Field(
            description="true by default. Set to false to disable printing of background. (Optional)",
            default=True,
        )
        mediaType: str = Field(
            description="Uses print by default. Set to screen to convert HTML as it appears in a browser or print to convert as it appears for printing or none to set none as mediaType for CSS styles. (Optional)",
            default="",
        )
        DoNotWaitFullLoad: bool = Field(
            description="false by default. Set to true to skip waiting for full load (like full video load etc. that may affect the total conversion time). (Optional)",
            default=False,
        )
        header: str = Field(
            description="User definable HTML for the header to be applied on every page header. (Optional)",
            default="",
        )
        footer: str = Field(
            description="User definable HTML for the footer to be applied on every page footer. (Optional)",
            default="",
        )
    
        worksheetIndex: str = Field(
            description="Index of the worksheet to convert. (Optional)", default=""
        )
    
        def parse_payload(self, async_mode: bool = True):
            payload = {
                "async": async_mode,
            }
            if self.url:
                payload["url"] = self.url
            if self.httpusername:
                payload["httpusername"] = self.httpusername
            if self.httppassword:
                payload["httppassword"] = self.httppassword
            if self.pages:
                payload["pages"] = self.pages
            if self.unwrap:
                payload["unwrap"] = self.unwrap
            if self.rect:
                payload["rect"] = self.rect
            if self.lang:
                payload["lang"] = self.lang
            if self.line_grouping:
                payload["lineGrouping"] = self.line_grouping
            if self.password:
                payload["password"] = self.password
            if self.name:
                payload["name"] = self.name
            if self.autosize:
                payload["autosize"] = self.autosize
    
            if self.html:
                payload["html"] = self.html
            if self.templateId:
                payload["templateId"] = self.templateId
            if self.templateData:
                payload["templateData"] = self.templateData
            if self.margins:
                payload["margins"] = self.margins
            if self.paperSize:
                payload["paperSize"] = self.paperSize
            if self.orientation:
                payload["orientation"] = self.orientation
            if self.printBackground:
                payload["printBackground"] = self.printBackground
            if self.mediaType:
                payload["mediaType"] = self.mediaType
            if self.DoNotWaitFullLoad:
                payload["DoNotWaitFullLoad"] = self.DoNotWaitFullLoad
            if self.header:
                payload["header"] = self.header
            if self.footer:
                payload["footer"] = self.footer
    
            if self.worksheetIndex:
                payload["worksheetIndex"] = self.worksheetIndex
    
            return payload
  • Pydantic model for the output response returned by the pdf_to_xlsx tool and other services.
    class BaseResponse(BaseModel):
        status: str
        content: Any
        credits_used: int | None = None
        credits_remaining: int | None = None
        tips: str | None = None
  • Helper function invoked by pdf_to_xlsx to route to the PDF.co API endpoint /pdf/convert/to/xlsx via the generic request function.
    async def convert_to(
        _from: str, _to: str, params: ConversionParams, api_key: str | None = None
    ) -> BaseResponse:
        return await request(f"{_from}/convert/to/{_to}", params, api_key=api_key)
  • Core helper that performs the HTTP POST to PDF.co API, handles response, and constructs BaseResponse. Used indirectly by pdf_to_xlsx.
    async def request(
        endpoint: str,
        params: ConversionParams,
        custom_payload: dict | None = None,
        api_key: str | None = None,
    ) -> BaseResponse:
        payload = params.parse_payload(async_mode=True)
        if custom_payload:
            payload.update(custom_payload)
    
        try:
            async with PDFCoClient(api_key=api_key) as client:
                url = f"/v1/{endpoint}"
                print(f"Requesting {url} with payload {payload}", file=sys.stderr)
                response = await client.post(url, json=payload)
                print(f"response: {response}", file=sys.stderr)
                json_data = response.json()
                return BaseResponse(
                    status="working",
                    content=json_data,
                    credits_used=json_data.get("credits"),
                    credits_remaining=json_data.get("remainingCredits"),
                    tips=f"You **should** use the 'wait_job_completion' tool to wait for the job [{json_data.get('jobId')}] to complete if a jobId is present.",
                )
        except Exception as e:
            return BaseResponse(
                status="error",
                content=f"{type(e)}: {[arg for arg in e.args if arg]}",
            )
Behavior2/5

Does the description disclose side effects, auth requirements, rate limits, or destructive behavior?

No annotations are provided, so the description carries the full burden of behavioral disclosure. It states the conversion action but lacks details on permissions, rate limits, error handling, or output behavior (e.g., file generation, download links). The reference link hints at external docs, but the description itself does not disclose critical traits like whether it's a read-only or destructive operation, or how results are delivered.

Agents need to know what a tool does to the world before calling it. Descriptions should go beyond structured annotations to explain consequences.

Conciseness4/5

Is the description appropriately sized, front-loaded, and free of redundancy?

The description is concise with two sentences: one stating the purpose and one providing a reference link. It is front-loaded with the core functionality. The reference link, while useful, could be considered extraneous if the goal is pure conciseness, but it does not significantly bloat the text.

Shorter descriptions cost fewer tokens and are easier for agents to parse. Every sentence should earn its place.

Completeness2/5

Given the tool's complexity, does the description cover enough for an agent to succeed on first attempt?

Given the complexity (11 parameters, no annotations, no output schema), the description is incomplete. It lacks details on behavioral aspects like authentication needs (implied by 'api_key' but not explained), output handling (e.g., how the XLSX file is returned), and error scenarios. For a tool with many parameters and no structured output info, the description should provide more context to guide effective use.

Complex tools with many parameters or behaviors need more documentation. Simple tools need less. This dimension scales expectations accordingly.

Parameters3/5

Does the description clarify parameter syntax, constraints, interactions, or defaults beyond what the schema provides?

Schema description coverage is 100%, so the schema already documents all 11 parameters thoroughly. The description adds no parameter-specific information beyond what the schema provides, such as examples or usage tips for parameters like 'pages' or 'rect'. However, since schema coverage is high, the baseline score of 3 is appropriate, as the description does not compensate but also does not detract.

Input schemas describe structure but not intent. Descriptions should explain non-obvious parameter relationships and valid value ranges.

Purpose4/5

Does the description clearly state what the tool does and how it differs from similar tools?

The description clearly states the tool's purpose: 'Convert PDF and scanned images to XLSX (Excel 2007+) format.' It specifies the verb (convert), source resources (PDF and scanned images), and target format (XLSX). However, it does not explicitly differentiate from sibling tools like 'pdf_to_csv' or 'pdf_to_xls', which offer similar conversion to different formats.

Agents choose between tools based on descriptions. A clear purpose with a specific verb and resource helps agents select the right tool.

Usage Guidelines3/5

Does the description explain when to use this tool, when not to, or what alternatives exist?

The description implies usage for converting PDFs/images to Excel format, but provides no explicit guidance on when to use this tool versus alternatives like 'pdf_to_csv' or 'pdf_to_xls'. The reference link offers external documentation, but within the description itself, there is no mention of prerequisites, exclusions, or comparative contexts with sibling tools.

Agents often have multiple tools that could apply. Explicit usage guidance like "use X instead of Y when Z" prevents misuse.

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