MCP server for GroupDocs.Comparison — compare documents and inspect source info via AI agents.
Quick Install
Automated & IDE SetupCopy the AI prompt to install this server into Claude Code, Cursor, or another agent — or use 1-click editor setup below.
Manual Client & Custom JSON ConfigExpand JSON ▾
Client Config & Setup
Choose your client or environment
Target File:
💡 Paste the JSON block into your client's configuration file under mcpServers, then restart the application.
Documentation Overview
GroupDocs.Comparison MCP Server
MCP server that exposes GroupDocs.Comparison as AI-callable tools for Claude, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, and other MCP agents.
Installation
One-click installs pre-fill every supported setting: edit the placeholder documents folder after install (output defaults to the same folder); an empty GROUPDOCS_LICENSE_PATH runs in evaluation mode - point it at your license to lift limits.
More clients - ready-made configs for Claude Code, Codex CLI, Visual Studio 2022, Cursor, Windsurf, Cline, and JetBrains Rider live in
install/generated/.
Requires .NET 10 SDK.
Run directly with dnx (recommended — no install step):
Pulls the latest stable release on every invocation. To pin to a specific
version (recommended for shared configs and CI), append @<version>:
Or install as a global dotnet tool:
Or run via Docker:
Native prerequisites
The underlying GroupDocs engine uses System.Drawing (GDI+) for some
operations. When you run the server natively (via dnx or the global
dotnet tool) on Linux or macOS, install the native libgdiplus library first:
| Platform | Setup |
|---|---|
| Windows | Nothing — GDI+ is built into the OS. |
| Linux | sudo apt-get install -y libgdiplus libfontconfig1 ttf-mscorefonts-installer |
| macOS | brew install mono-libgdiplus |
| Docker | Nothing — the image already bundles libgdiplus. |
Skipping this on Linux/macOS surfaces as DllNotFoundException: libgdiplus in
the tool response. The simplest zero-setup option on Linux/macOS is the
Docker image.
Available MCP Tools
| Tool | Description |
|---|---|
Compare | Compares two documents (source vs target) and produces a marked-up result file, plus a change-count summary and a structured JSON list of the changes (type, page, the changed fragment, surrounding source/target text, table cell, style changes). Use when the user wants the rendered diff document. Supports PDF, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, ODT, RTF, TXT, HTML, and 30+ more formats; optional sourcePassword / targetPassword cover protected documents. |
AnalyzeChanges | Returns the differences between two documents as structured data only — the same JSON change list as Compare, but without rendering or saving a result file. Cheaper than Compare; use when the user wants to summarize, explain, or reason about what changed rather than obtain the marked-up file. Optional sourcePassword / targetPassword. |
GetDocumentInfo | Inspects a single source document and returns file type, page count, file size, and per-page dimensions as JSON — without performing a comparison. Useful as a pre-flight check before deciding whether to compare or which formats to expect. Optional password for protected documents. |
Example prompts for AI agents
Once the server is wired up to your MCP client (Claude Desktop, Cursor, VS Code Copilot, …), try:
The client picks Compare when the user wants the rendered diff file,
AnalyzeChanges when they only want to know what changed (summary /
analysis, no file), and GetDocumentInfo for inspection-only questions.
Licensing
The MCP server itself is MIT; the underlying GroupDocs.Comparison engine requires a license for production use. Without one the server runs in evaluation mode:
- Comparison output may carry evaluation watermarks / notices.
- A single server process can open at most 15 documents; further calls fail with an evaluation-cap error until the server restarts.
There are two ways to license the server.
License file — point GROUPDOCS_LICENSE_PATH at your GroupDocs.Total.lic. Works offline.
Metered (pay-per-use) — set both GROUPDOCS_METERED_PUBLIC_KEY and
GROUPDOCS_METERED_PRIVATE_KEY. You are billed for what you actually process, which suits AI
agents well because their usage is bursty and hard to predict up front. If both a metered key pair
and a license file are configured, metered wins and the file is ignored.
Metered mode needs outbound connectivity. Usage is reported to GroupDocs servers, so air-gapped or firewalled deployments must allow that egress — or use a license file instead.
Call the get_license_status tool at any time to see which mode is active, and — under
metered — the consumed quantity and remaining credit.
Keeping the private key out of your config
The metered private key is a secret. MCP client configs are plain files on disk, and a
project-scoped .mcp.json is committed by convention, so prefer, in order:
- Set the variables in your OS environment and leave them out of the config entirely. An
stdio MCP server inherits its client's environment, so this works in every client.
On macOS note that an app launched from Finder does not inherit shell exports — use
launchctl setenv, or launch the client from a terminal. - Reference them indirectly if your client supports it (Claude Code expands
${VAR}; VS Code uses${env:VAR}and${input:...}). - A literal value in a user-scoped config (for example
~/.claude.json) is acceptable for a single developer. - Never commit a literal key in a project-scoped
.mcp.json.
For Docker, forward the values without writing them into any file:
Configuration
| Variable | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|
GROUPDOCS_MCP_STORAGE_PATH | Base folder for input and output files | current directory |
GROUPDOCS_MCP_OUTPUT_PATH | (Optional) separate folder for output files | GROUPDOCS_MCP_STORAGE_PATH |
GROUPDOCS_LICENSE_PATH | Path to GroupDocs license file | (evaluation mode) |
GROUPDOCS_METERED_PUBLIC_KEY | Metered public key. Requires the private key too; takes precedence over the license file | (unset) |
GROUPDOCS_METERED_PRIVATE_KEY | Metered private key. Secret - see Licensing | (unset) |
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