resume-pdf-mcp

Production-grade Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that compiles LaTeX resumes into PDFs.

GitHub: https://github.com/shashimehta03/mcp-resume

Works with Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Cursor, VS Code, and any MCP-compatible client.

What it does

Exposes MCP tools so your AI client can:

Security defaults: filename sanitization, path isolation, no shell interpolation, -no-shell-escape, size/timeout limits, stderr-only logging (LaTeX source is never logged in full).

Related MCP server: Resume Forge MCP

Complete setup checklist (follow in order)

Do every step once after cloning. Details for each step are in the sections below.

1. Install Node.js 20+ and a LaTeX engine (pdflatex and/or xelatex) — see Requirements

2. Clone the repo and run npm install then npm run build — see Clone and install

3. Confirm build output exists: dist/index.js and dist/templates/ must be present

4. Note your absolute paths: Node binary + clone folder — see What you must change after cloning

5. Configure your MCP host (pick one):

   • Claude Desktop → Configure Claude Desktop

   • Cursor → Configure Cursor

   • Claude Code → Configure Claude Code

6. Replace every example path in the config with your paths (Windows: use \\ in JSON)

7. Do not leave npm start running — Claude/Cursor start the server themselves

8. Fully quit and reopen the host app (Claude: tray → Quit, not just close the window)

9. Verify the server is running (Claude: Settings → Developer → resume-pdf = running)

10. Use Chat mode (Claude Desktop) — Cowork/Code may ignore this MCP server

11. Smoke-test in chat: ask Claude/Cursor to call the version tool

12. Optional: run npm run test:tools locally to confirm TeX works without an MCP host

After you change code later: npm run build → quit/reopen the MCP host again.

Requirements

1. Node.js 20+ (22 LTS recommended)

2. A LaTeX engine on PATH

   • Windows: MiKTeX or TeX Live (pdflatex / xelatex)

   • macOS: brew install --cask mactex-no-gui (or BasicTeX)

   • Linux: texlive-xetex / texlive-latex-recommended

Verify:

node -v
pdflatex --version
# and/or
xelatex --version

Clone and install (do this first)

git clone https://github.com/shashimehta03/mcp-resume.git
cd mcp-resume
npm install
npm run build

Confirm the build:

# Windows PowerShell
Test-Path .\dist\index.js
Test-Path .\dist\templates\index.json

# macOS / Linux
ls dist/index.js dist/templates/index.json

Optional local env file (MCP hosts do not auto-load .env — still set env in their JSON):

cp .env.example .env

You do not need to keep npm start running for Claude/Cursor. Those apps spawn the server themselves. Only run npm start / npm run test:tools for local smoke tests.

What you must change after cloning

Repo examples keep sample paths on purpose. After clone, change them to your machine.

More notes: examples/README.md.

Find your paths

Windows (PowerShell):

# Node
(Get-Command node).Source

# Project (run from inside the clone)
(Get-Location).Path

# Real Claude config path on Microsoft Store / MSIX installs
$pkg = (Get-AppxPackage -Name "*Claude*").PackageFamilyName
Join-Path $env:LOCALAPPDATA "Packages\$pkg\LocalCache\Roaming\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json"

macOS / Linux:

which node
pwd   # from inside the clone
# Config is usually:
# ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json   (macOS)

Windows JSON tip: every backslash in a path must be doubled: E:\\mcp_resume\\dist\\index.js.

Configure Claude Desktop

1) Build the project

npm install
npm run build

2) Open the config Claude actually reads

In Claude Desktop:

Settings → Desktop app → Developer → Edit Config

That opens claude_desktop_config.json.

Windows Microsoft Store / MSIX builds (important)

“Edit Config” may open:

%APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

…but the app often reads:

%LOCALAPPDATA%\Packages\Claude_*\LocalCache\Roaming\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

Edit the LocalCache file (or copy your finished config into both).
If you only edit the %APPDATA% file, Claude may ignore your server with no error.
Details: MSIX config path issue.

3) Add the server (merge into existing JSON)

If the file already has preferences / coworkUserFilesPath, keep them. Only add or update the top-level mcpServers key (do not paste a second { ... } object).

Valid shape (copy, then replace paths):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "resume-pdf": {
      "command": "C:\\Program Files\\nodejs\\node.exe",
      "args": ["E:\\mcp_resume\\dist\\index.js"],
      "cwd": "E:\\mcp_resume",
      "env": {
        "OUTPUT_DIR": "E:\\mcp_resume\\output",
        "TEMP_DIR": "E:\\mcp_resume\\temp",
        "TEMPLATES_DIR": "E:\\mcp_resume\\dist\\templates",
        "DEFAULT_ENGINE": "pdflatex",
        "LOG_LEVEL": "info",
        "NODE_ENV": "production"
      }
    }
  }
}

What to change in that block (defaults left above on purpose):

macOS / Linux example (same keys — only paths change):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "resume-pdf": {
      "command": "/usr/local/bin/node",
      "args": ["/Users/YOU/mcp-resume/dist/index.js"],
      "cwd": "/Users/YOU/mcp-resume",
      "env": {
        "OUTPUT_DIR": "/Users/YOU/mcp-resume/output",
        "TEMP_DIR": "/Users/YOU/mcp-resume/temp",
        "TEMPLATES_DIR": "/Users/YOU/mcp-resume/dist/templates",
        "DEFAULT_ENGINE": "xelatex",
        "LOG_LEVEL": "info"
      }
    }
  }
}

Repo template: examples/claude-desktop-config.json.

4) Fully quit and reopen Claude

Closing the window is not enough. Use the tray / menu bar → Quit, confirm no Claude process is left, then start Claude again.
MCP servers are loaded only at startup.

5) Verify

1. Settings → Developer → Local MCP servers

2. Select resume-pdf

3. Status should be running (not failed / disconnected)

4. If failed: open View Logs on that server

5. Start a new Chat (not Cowork, not Code)

6. Ask:

Call the resume-pdf version tool and show the result.

To steer Claude every time:

Always use resume-pdf MCP tools (compile_resume, validate_resume, compile_template)
for any resume/LaTeX/PDF work. Do not compile LaTeX yourself in the sandbox.

PDFs land in your OUTPUT_DIR (for example <clone>/output).

Optional: install as a Claude Desktop Extension

If the JSON mcpServers entry does not stay connected on your Claude build:

npm run build
npm run install:claude

Then fully quit/reopen Claude and check Settings → Developer / Extensions for Resume PDF (enabled).

Before relying on that helper on another machine, point these at your clone (repo defaults are examples — leave them until you change them):

• mcpb/manifest.json → user_config.*.default

• mcpb/server/index.js → fallback RESUME_PDF_MCP_ROOT

Configure Cursor

1. Open Cursor MCP settings (or project .cursor/mcp.json / global MCP config, depending on your Cursor version).

2. Add a server entry like:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "resume-pdf": {
      // CHANGE: "node" is usually fine in Cursor if Node is on PATH
      "command": "node",

      // CHANGE: absolute path to YOUR clone
      "args": ["E:/mcp_resume/dist/index.js"],

      "env": {
        // CHANGE these to YOUR clone paths
        "OUTPUT_DIR": "E:/mcp_resume/output",
        "TEMP_DIR": "E:/mcp_resume/temp",
        "DEFAULT_ENGINE": "pdflatex"
      }
    }
  }
}

See also examples/cursor-mcp.json.

Restart Cursor / reload MCP servers after saving.

Configure Claude Code

Add to your Claude Code MCP config (see examples/claude-code-mcp.json):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "resume-pdf": {
      "command": "node",
      // CHANGE: YOUR clone's dist entry
      "args": ["./dist/index.js"],
      // CHANGE: YOUR clone directory
      "cwd": "/absolute/path/to/mcp-resume",
      "env": {
        "DEFAULT_ENGINE": "xelatex",
        "OUTPUT_DIR": "./output",
        "TEMP_DIR": "./temp"
      }
    }
  }
}

Or from the project folder:

claude mcp add resume-pdf -- node ./dist/index.js

(Adjust to your Claude Code version’s exact mcp add syntax.)

Environment variables

Copy .env.example. Values below are defaults — change only if you need to.

MCP hosts pass these via the env block in their JSON config (they do not automatically load .env).

How to use (from the AI chat)

Once the server is running in the client:

Compile raw LaTeX

Use compile_resume with engine pdflatex and this LaTeX:

\documentclass{article}
\begin{document}
Hello from resume-pdf-mcp
\end{document}

Validate first

Use validate_resume on this LaTeX before compiling: ...

Use a template

Use list_templates, then compile_template with template_name "modern-simple"
and variables for name, email, summary, skills, experience, education.

Example payload shape: examples/sample-template-request.json.

Expected success response

{
  "success": true,
  "pdf_path": ".../output/resume.pdf",
  "tex_path": ".../output/resume.tex",
  "compilation_logs": "...",
  "execution_time": 0.82
}

Local testing (without Claude)

npm test                 # unit + integration
npm run test:coverage
npm run test:tools       # hits all tools; watch USAGE logs on stderr
npm run test:smoke       # compile minimal-ats template once

Docker

docker compose build
docker compose run --rm resume-pdf-mcp

Image includes TeX Live. See docs/docker.md.

For Claude Desktop via Docker, point command at docker and pass your compose/run args (stdio must stay attached).

Project layout

src/          TypeScript source (tools, services, latex, config)
dist/         Build output (what MCP hosts should run)
mcpb/         Claude Desktop extension manifest + launcher
examples/     Sample MCP configs and requests
docs/         Installation, usage, architecture, contributing
tests/        Vitest suite
output/       Generated PDFs/TeX (gitignored contents)
temp/         Compile workspaces (gitignored contents)

Architecture:

Tool → ResumeService → LatexCompiler → FileSystemService → XeLaTeX/pdfLaTeX

Troubleshooting

Logs (Windows MSIX):

%LOCALAPPDATA%\Packages\Claude_*\LocalCache\Roaming\Claude\logs\mcp-server-resume-pdf.log

Documentation

• Installation

• Usage

• Docker

• Development

• Architecture

• Contributing

Development scripts

npm run dev            # tsx stdio server
npm run build
npm start
npm run lint
npm run typecheck
npm run install:claude # install local Claude Desktop extension helper

License

MIT — see LICENSE.

Links

• Repository: https://github.com/shashimehta03/mcp-resume

• Issues: https://github.com/shashimehta03/mcp-resume/issues