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pdfdotco

PDF.co MCP Server

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by pdfdotco
README.md
# PDF.co MCP

PDF.co MCP Server provides [PDF.co API](https://pdf.co) functionality through the Model Context Protocol (MCP), enabling AI assistants to easily perform various PDF processing tasks.

## 🚀 Key Features

### 📄 PDF Conversion Tools
- **PDF → Various Formats**: Convert PDFs to JSON, CSV, Text, Excel (XLS/XLSX), XML, HTML, Images (JPG/PNG/WebP/TIFF)
- **Various Formats → PDF**: Convert documents (DOC/DOCX/RTF/TXT), spreadsheets (CSV/XLS/XLSX), images, web pages, HTML, emails (MSG/EML) to PDF
- **Excel Conversions**: Convert Excel files to CSV, JSON, HTML, TXT, XML, PDF

### 🛠️ PDF Editing & Modification
- **PDF Merging**: Combine multiple PDF files into one
- **PDF Splitting**: Split PDFs by specific pages or page ranges
- **Add Annotations & Images**: Add text, links, images, shapes to PDFs
- **Form Operations**: Read PDF form field information, fill forms, create new form elements

### 🔍 PDF Search & Analysis
- **Text Search**: Search text in PDFs (supports regular expressions)
- **Table Detection**: Find table locations and coordinates in PDFs
- **AI Invoice Parser**: Extract invoice data using AI
- **PDF Information**: Get detailed information including metadata, page count, security info

### 🔒 Security & Accessibility
- **Password Protection**: Add/remove password protection to PDFs
- **Searchability**: Make PDFs searchable via OCR or remove text layers
- **Attachment Extraction**: Extract attachments from PDFs

### 💼 File Management
- **File Upload**: Upload local files to PDF.co servers
- **Job Status Tracking**: Monitor progress and results of asynchronous operations

## ⚙️ Configuration

### 🔑 Get API Key
1. Sign up at [PDF.co website](https://pdf.co)
2. Get your API key from the dashboard

### 📦 Install UV
You need to install UV (a fast Python packaging tool) to use this MCP server:

#### macOS and Linux
```bash
curl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | sh
```

#### Windows
```powershell
powershell -ExecutionPolicy ByPass -c "irm https://astral.sh/uv/install.ps1 | iex"
```

#### Alternative Installation Methods
- **Homebrew**: `brew install uv`
- **PyPI with pipx**: `pipx install uv`
- **PyPI with pip**: `pip install uv`

For more installation options and details, see the [UV installation guide](https://docs.astral.sh/uv/getting-started/installation/).

### MCP Server Setup

#### Cursor IDE Configuration
Add the following to your `.cursor/mcp.json` file:

```json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "pdfco": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["pdfco-mcp"],
      "env": {
        "X_API_KEY": "YOUR_API_KEY_HERE"
      }
    }
  }
}
```

#### Claude Desktop Configuration
Add the following to your `claude_desktop_config.json` file:

```json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "pdfco": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["pdfco-mcp"],
      "env": {
        "X_API_KEY": "YOUR_API_KEY_HERE"
      }
    }
  }
}
```

## 🔧 Available Tools

### PDF Conversion Tools
- `pdf_to_json`: Convert PDF and scanned images into JSON representation with text, fonts, images, vectors, and formatting preserved
- `pdf_to_csv`: Convert PDF and scanned images into CSV representation with layout, columns, rows, and tables
- `pdf_to_text`: Convert PDF and scanned images to text with layout preserved
- `pdf_to_xls`: Convert PDF and scanned images to XLS (Excel 97-2003) format
- `pdf_to_xlsx`: Convert PDF and scanned images to XLSX (Excel 2007+) format
- `pdf_to_xml`: Convert PDF and scanned images to XML format
- `pdf_to_html`: Convert PDF and scanned images to HTML format
- `pdf_to_image`: Convert PDF and scanned images to various image formats (JPG, PNG, WebP, TIFF)

### Document to PDF Conversion Tools
- `document_to_pdf`: Convert various document types (DOC, DOCX, RTF, TXT, XLS, XLSX, CSV, HTML, JPG, PNG, TIFF, WEBP) into PDF
- `csv_to_pdf`: Convert CSV or spreadsheet files (XLS, XLSX) to PDF
- `image_to_pdf`: Convert various image formats (JPG, PNG, TIFF) to PDF
- `webpage_to_pdf`: Convert external webpage URL to PDF
- `html_to_pdf`: Convert HTML to PDF
- `email_to_pdf`: Convert email to PDF

### Excel Conversion Tools
- `excel_to_csv`: Convert Excel(XLS, XLSX) to CSV
- `excel_to_json`: Convert Excel(XLS, XLSX) to JSON
- `excel_to_html`: Convert Excel(XLS, XLSX) to HTML
- `excel_to_txt`: Convert Excel(XLS, XLSX) to TXT
- `excel_to_xml`: Convert Excel(XLS, XLSX) to XML
- `excel_to_pdf`: Convert Excel(XLS, XLSX) to PDF

### PDF Editing Tools
- `pdf_add_annotations_images_fields`: Add text, images, forms, other PDFs, fill forms, links to external sites and external PDF files. You can update or modify PDF and scanned PDF files
- `pdf_merge`: Merge PDF from two or more PDF, DOC, XLS, images, even ZIP with documents and images into a new PDF
- `pdf_split`: Split a PDF into multiple PDF files using page indexes or page ranges

### PDF Form Tools
- `read_pdf_forms_info`: Extracts information about fillable PDF fields from an input PDF file
- `fill_pdf_forms`: Fill existing form fields in a PDF document
- `create_fillable_forms`: Create new fillable form elements in a PDF document

### PDF Search Tools
- `find_text`: Find text in PDF and get coordinates. Supports regular expressions
- `find_table`: Find tables in PDF and get their coordinates

### PDF Analysis Tools
- `ai_invoice_parser`: AI Invoice Parser: Extracts data from invoices using AI
- `extract_attachments`: Extracts attachments from a source PDF file
- `pdf_info_reader`: Get detailed information about a PDF document - number of pages, metadata, security, form fields, and more

### PDF Security Tools
- `pdf_add_password`: Add password protection to a PDF file
- `pdf_remove_password`: Remove password protection from a PDF file

### PDF Searchability Tools
- `pdf_make_searchable`: Convert scanned PDF documents or image files into a text-searchable PDF. Runs OCR and adds an invisible text layer that can be used for text search
- `pdf_make_unsearchable`: Make existing PDF document non-searchable by removing the text layer from it

### File Management Tools
- `upload_file`: Upload a file to the PDF.co API
- `get_job_check`: Check the status and results of a job. Status can be: working, success, failed, aborted, or unknown
- `wait_job_completion`: Wait for a job to complete

## 📖 Usage Examples

### Convert PDF to Text
```
Convert this PDF file to text: https://example.com/document.pdf
```

### Merge Multiple Images into PDF
```
Create a PDF from these images: image1.jpg, image2.png, image3.jpg
```

### Search for Specific Text in PDF
```
Find the word "contract" in this PDF document
```

### Fill PDF Form Fields
```
Fill the name field in this PDF form with "John Doe"
```

### Convert Web Page to PDF
```
Convert https://example.com webpage to PDF
```

### Extract Invoice Data
```
Extract invoice information from this PDF using AI
```

### Add Password Protection
```
Add password protection to this PDF file
```


## 📞 Support & Contact

- **PDF.co**: https://pdf.co
- **PDF.co API Documentation**: https://developer.pdf.co
- **Issue Reports**: Please report issues through GitHub Issues

## 📄 License

This project is distributed under the MIT License.

---

**Note**: A valid PDF.co API key is required to use this tool. Create a free account at [PDF.co](https://pdf.co) to get your API key.

TDQS

B3.2/5.0

Scored across 38 tools

Disambiguation4/5

Most tools have clearly distinct purposes, especially the conversion tools which are differentiated by output format. However, some overlap exists: document_to_pdf covers many of the same inputs as csv_to_pdf and image_to_pdf, and fill_forms overlaps with the fields functionality in pdf_add_annotations_images_fields. These are minor ambiguities that descriptions mostly resolve.

Naming Consistency4/5

The naming is largely consistent, with conversion tools following a clear `source_to_target` pattern (e.g., pdf_to_json, excel_to_csv). Many operation tools use a verb_noun or object_verb pattern, but there are deviations like `read_pdf_forms_info` vs `pdf_info_reader` and the long compound name `pdf_add_annotations_images_fields`. Overall, the conventions are readable and predictable, with only minor inconsistencies.

Tool Count2/5

With 38 tools, the server exceeds the recommended range for a well-scoped MCP server. While the broad domain of PDF processing may justify many operations, the count feels heavy and includes some redundancy (e.g., document_to_pdf overlaps with csv_to_pdf and image_to_pdf). The set could be consolidated to reduce cognitive load.

Completeness3/5

The tool set covers major PDF workflows: conversion to/from many formats, forms creation and filling, text extraction, OCR, and password protection. However, there are notable gaps, such as no page-level editing (rotate, delete, reorder), no attachment management beyond extraction, and no form flattening or digital signature capabilities. These omissions could cause dead ends for some agents.

Maintenance

ActivityStale
ResponsivenessNo issues