Layout Debug vs PDF Reader MCP
A side-by-side look at the Layout Debug and PDF Reader MCP MCP servers: transport, auth, tools, quality signals, and the config to install either one in Claude, Cursor, Windsurf or VS Code.
Verdict: choose Layout Debug for developer tools work as a local process; choose PDF Reader MCP for developer tools as a local process. You can also run both side by side in one mcpServers block.
Which MCP server should you choose?
Choose Layout Debug when
- You need dedicated capabilities in the Developer Tools domain.
- You prefer a local stdio subprocess transport.
Choose PDF Reader MCP when
- You need dedicated capabilities in the Developer Tools domain.
- You prefer a local stdio subprocess transport.
- You want tools like
inspect, outline, read.
Feature & specification comparison
Rows where the two servers differ are marked.
| Spec | ||
|---|---|---|
| Category | Developer Tools | Developer Tools |
| Quality signal | 37/100 · Fair | 69/100 · Great |
| 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 | None listed |
| Verified owner |
Tools & capabilities
Layout Debug tools
No tool names declared yet. Check the project README from the listing page.
PDF Reader MCP tools 4
inspectDocument and media evidence when Markdown is not enough. video_timeline (bounded scene/cue timeline) and render_frame (actual decoded frames), and cite_check (quote/location support, not semantic truth), are anymd Pro; PDF operations: inspect (page facts, metadata), render_page (PNG images), extract_regions (crop bounding boxes), ocr_pages / analyze_regions (configured OCR or vision provider), structure (JSON with document map, elements, geometry; profile quality|research adds trust and accessibility reports), compare (page-level diff of sources[0] vs sources[1]).outlineReturn a document heading tree with stable node ids, title paths, page/slide/chapter ranges and Markdown byte ranges. PDF bookmarks or detected headings, Word headings, PowerPoint slides, EPUB chapters and headings, HTML and Markdown. format json (default) or tree. Pass a node id to read to fetch that section.readRead any document as clean Markdown: PDF, Word (DOCX), PowerPoint (PPTX), Excel (XLSX/XLS/ODS), CSV, EPUB, HTML or a web URL, Markdown/text, images (metadata + OCR), audio/video (metadata, chapters, subtitles). Pages/slides/sheets carry <!-- page N --> style markers for citation. Long documents stop at max_tokens (default 20000) and end with a cursor to continue; choose pages with pages: "1-5,8". A directory returns its readable files.searchSearch documents for text: one file, many files, whole directories (recursive, .gitignore aware), or URLs, across every format read supports. Returns each hit as file + page/slide/sheet + a snippet with the match in bold. mode auto (default) finds the exact phrase and falls back to BM25-ranked passages when there is none; literal or ranked force one. Narrow directories with glob, e.g. "*.pdf".
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.
Layout Debug
{
"mcpServers": {
"layout-debug": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"layout-debug-mcp"
]
}
}
}
PDF Reader MCP
{
"mcpServers": {
"pdf-reader-mcp": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"@sylphx/anymd"
]
}
}
}
Frequently asked questions
Layout Debug is categorized under Developer Tools and uses a local stdio subprocess. PDF Reader MCP belongs to Developer Tools and uses a local stdio subprocess. Pick Layout Debug for developer tools work and PDF Reader MCP for developer tools.
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.
Layout Debug has no declared pricing — check the project's own site. PDF Reader MCP 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 layout-debug and pdf-reader-mcp as separate keys in the same mcpServers object, and your assistant will call tools from either one.
On AllMCPs, Layout Debug has a quality signal of 37/100 (Fair) with 0 views, 0 installs and 2 GitHub stars. PDF Reader MCP has 69/100 (Great) with 2 views, 0 installs and 1,040 GitHub stars.