APEX PSI vs PDF Verify (PDF Agent Stack)
A side-by-side look at the APEX PSI and PDF Verify (PDF Agent Stack) MCP servers: transport, auth, tools, quality signals, and the config to install either one in Claude, Cursor, Windsurf or VS Code.
Verdict: choose APEX PSI for cryptography work as a local process; choose PDF Verify (PDF Agent Stack) for cryptography as a local process. You can also run both side by side in one mcpServers block.
Which MCP server should you choose?
Choose APEX PSI when
- You need dedicated capabilities in the Cryptography domain.
- You prefer a local stdio subprocess transport.
- You want tools like
seal, verify, anchor.
Choose PDF Verify (PDF Agent Stack) when
- You need dedicated capabilities in the Cryptography domain.
- You prefer a local stdio subprocess transport.
- You have the keys it needs:
PDF_VERIFY_TRUST_ANCHORS, PDF_VERIFY_VERAPDF. - You want tools like
verify_signatures, verify_integrity, detect_pades_level.
Feature & specification comparison
Rows where the two servers differ are marked.
| Spec | ||
|---|---|---|
| Category | Cryptography | Cryptography |
| Quality signal | 60/100 · Good | 52/100 · Good |
| Install command | Confirmed | Confirmed |
| Transport | Local subprocess (stdio) | Local subprocess (stdio) |
| Auth | Not declared | Not declared |
| Pricing | Not declared | Not declared |
| Required env vars | None listed | PDF_VERIFY_TRUST_ANCHORSPDF_VERIFY_VERAPDF |
| Verified owner | Community listing | Community listing |
| GitHub stars | 1 | 0 |
| Directory activity | 1 views 0 installs 0 upvotes | 0 views 0 installs 0 upvotes |
| Tools | 5 | 7 |
| Full listing | View APEX PSI | View PDF Verify (PDF Agent Stack) |
Tools & capabilities
APEX PSI tools 5
sealStamp a cryptographic receipt on content. Writes to the APEX PSI append-only ledger with SHA-256 hash, Ed25519 signature, and post-quantum LMS-W4-SHA256 signature. Proves existence and integrity at a point in time — not the truth of the contents.verifyConfirm a seal's integrity against the APEX PSI append-only ledger. Accepts a receipt object (from the seal tool) or a raw SHA-256 hash. Reports whether the hash is present and anchored — integrity, not the truth of the original content.anchorRead the Bitcoin (OpenTimestamps) anchoring state of the ledger's pending Merkle roots, or — only when action:'anchor' is passed explicitly — request that pending roots be aggregated and submitted to the OTS calendars. Defaults to 'status' (read-only) so a routine call never triggers a batch write. An anchor becomes confirmed only when a real Bitcoin block is found.citeGenerate a citation for a sealed receipt in APA, BibTeX, or MLA format, citing the APEX PSI ledger entry.verify_chainIndependently verify a chain of receipts against the APEX PSI ledger. Recomputes each hash's presence and integrity and reports Merkle chain continuity. Returns a verification report — a recomputation result, not an opinion or a certification.
PDF Verify (PDF Agent Stack) tools 7
verify_signaturesCryptographic verification, trust chain evaluation against trust anchors, revocation checking (embedded OCSP/CRL or online), RFC 3161 timestamp verificationverify_integrityTamper detection: incremental updates, changes after signing, **DocMDP certification violations assessed per P value** (below), and an object-level diff of the revision chain (which objects each update added, rewrote or freed). Incremental updates are legal, so the diff says what to review — no ver…detect_pades_levelPAdES baseline level (B-B / B-T / B-LT / B-LTA) with content-validated LTV dataidentify_conformanceDeclared PDF/A / PDF/UA conformance from XMP metadatavalidate_conformancePDF/A (ISO 19005) and PDF/UA (ISO 14289) validation: veraPDF when installed, built-in rule subset otherwisevalidate_clausesConstraints mapped from ISO 32000-1/-2 clauses — the specification body itself, which the PDF/A and PDF/UA profiles do not coverevaluate_policyDeterministic 4-value trust verdict (trust_and_use / use_with_caution / human_review_required / reject) from a fixed rule table over the verification facts, with domain profiles (contract, financial, legal, medical, government). The judge is code; the narrative is the LLM
Ready-to-paste client configs
Paste either block (or both) into your client config, e.g. claude_desktop_config.json or ~/.cursor/mcp.json. We only show a config when the install command is confirmed.
APEX PSI
{
"mcpServers": {
"apex-psi": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"apex-psi-mcp"
]
}
}
}
PDF Verify (PDF Agent Stack)
{
"mcpServers": {
"pdf-verify-pdf-agent-stack": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"@shuji-bonji/pdf-verify-mcp@latest"
],
"env": {
"PDF_VERIFY_TRUST_ANCHORS": "YOUR_PDF_VERIFY_TRUST_ANCHORS_HERE",
"PDF_VERIFY_VERAPDF": "YOUR_PDF_VERIFY_VERAPDF_HERE"
}
}
}
}
Frequently asked questions
APEX PSI is categorized under Cryptography and uses a local stdio subprocess. PDF Verify (PDF Agent Stack) belongs to Cryptography and uses a local stdio subprocess. Pick APEX PSI for cryptography work and PDF Verify (PDF Agent Stack) for cryptography.
Copy the mcpServers block from the config section on this page into your client's config (for example claude_desktop_config.json or ~/.cursor/mcp.json), then fully restart the client.
APEX PSI has no declared pricing — check the project's own site. PDF Verify (PDF Agent Stack) has no declared pricing — check the project's own site. If a server needs environment variables such as API keys, define them under the env key in your client's MCP config.
Yes. MCP clients support multiple servers: add apex-psi and pdf-verify-pdf-agent-stack as separate keys in the same mcpServers object, and your assistant will call tools from either one.
On AllMCPs, APEX PSI has a quality signal of 60/100 (Good) with 1 views, 0 installs and 1 GitHub stars. PDF Verify (PDF Agent Stack) has 52/100 (Good) with 0 views, 0 installs and 0 GitHub stars.