@mcp-z/mcp-pdf

MCP server for creative PDF generation with full emoji, Unicode, and offline support

Common uses

Generate PDFs from text or layouts
Render PDF pages as images
Measure text before layout

Transports

MCP supports stdio and HTTP.

Stdio

config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "pdf": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@mcp-z/mcp-pdf"]
    }
  }
}

HTTP

config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "pdf": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "http://localhost:9010/mcp",
      "start": {
        "command": "npx",
        "args": ["-y", "@mcp-z/mcp-pdf", "--port=9010"]
      }
    }
  }
}

start is an extension used by npx @mcp-z/cli up to launch HTTP servers for you.

Authentication

No OAuth or API keys required.

How to use

bash

# List tools
mcp-z inspect --servers pdf --tools

# Create a simple PDF
mcp-z call pdf pdf-document '{"content":["Hello from MCP"]}'

Available tools

pdf-resume

Generate professional resumes from JSON Resume format.

Parameters:

filename (string, optional) - Filename for the PDF (defaults to "resume.pdf")
resume (object, required) - JSON Resume schema
sections (object, optional) - Section ordering and field templates
layout (object, optional) - Spatial arrangement (single-column or two-column)
styling (object, optional) - Typography and spacing options
font (string, optional) - Custom font
pageSize (string, optional) - Page size (default: "LETTER")
backgroundColor (string, optional) - Page background color

Resume schema sections:

basics - Name, contact, summary, location
work - Work experience with highlights
education - Degrees and institutions
projects - Personal/professional projects
skills - Skills grouped by category
awards, certificates, languages, volunteer, publications, interests, references

Section configuration

Control which sections appear and in what order using sections.sections:

await client.callTool('pdf-resume', {
  resume: { /* JSON Resume data */ },
  sections: {
    sections: [
      { source: 'basics', render: 'header' },
      { source: 'basics.summary', title: 'Summary' },
      { source: 'work', title: 'Experience' },
      { source: 'skills', title: 'Skills' },
      { source: 'education', title: 'Education' }
    ]
  }
});

Section config properties:

source (string, required) - Path to data in resume schema (e.g., basics, work, meta.customField)
render (string, optional) - Built-in renderer. Use header explicitly or to force a renderer
title (string, optional) - Section heading (omit for no title)
template (string, optional) - LiquidJS template for custom rendering

Available renderers:

header - Name + contact line from basics (never auto-inferred)
entry-list - Arrays with position/institution/organization
keyword-list - Arrays with keywords
language-list - Arrays with language
credential-list - Arrays with awarder/issuer/publisher
reference-list - Arrays with reference
text - String or string array

Example: custom section order with meta fields

await client.callTool('pdf-resume', {
  resume: {
    basics: { name: 'Jane Doe', email: 'jane@example.com' },
    work: [{ /* ... */ }],
    meta: { valueProp: 'Full-stack engineer with 10+ years experience...' }
  },
  sections: {
    sections: [
      { source: 'basics', render: 'header' },
      { source: 'meta.valueProp', title: 'Value Proposition' },
      { source: 'work', title: 'Experience' }
    ]
  }
});

Field templates

Field templates use LiquidJS syntax to customize how fields are rendered.

Available field templates:

location - {{ city }}{% if region %}, {{ region }}{% endif %}
dateRange - {{ start | date: 'MMM YYYY' }} - {{ end | date: 'MMM YYYY' | default: 'Present' }}
degree - {{ studyType }}{% if area %}, {{ area }}{% endif %}
credential - {{ title | default: name }}{% if awarder %}, {{ awarder }}{% endif %}
language - {{ language }}{% if fluency %} ({{ fluency }}){% endif %}
skill - {{ name }}: {{ keywords | join: ', ' }}
contactLine - {{ items | join: ' | ' }}

Date format tokens:

YYYY, YY, MMMM, MMM, MM, M, DD, D

Available filters:

date - Format a date string
default - Fallback for empty values
tenure - Calculate duration
join - Join array elements

Example: French resume

await client.callTool('pdf-resume', {
  filename: 'cv-francais.pdf',
  resume: { /* JSON Resume data */ },
  sections: {
    fieldTemplates: {
      dateRange: "{{ start | date: 'MM/YYYY' }} - {{ end | date: 'MM/YYYY' | default: 'Present' }}",
      location: '{{ city }}'
    }
  }
});

Example: verbose date format

await client.callTool('pdf-resume', {
  filename: 'resume.pdf',
  resume: { /* JSON Resume data */ },
  sections: {
    fieldTemplates: {
      dateRange: "{{ start | date: 'MMMM YYYY' }} to {{ end | date: 'MMMM YYYY' | default: 'Present' }}"
    }
  }
});

Two-column resume layout

await client.callTool('pdf-resume', {
  filename: 'two-column-resume.pdf',
  resume: {
    basics: {
      name: 'Jane Doe',
      label: 'Product Designer',
      email: 'jane@example.com'
    },
    work: [{
      name: 'Design Studio',
      position: 'Lead Designer',
      startDate: '2019-03',
      highlights: ['Redesigned product UI', 'Increased conversion by 25%']
    }],
    skills: [
      { name: 'Design', keywords: ['Figma', 'Sketch', 'Adobe XD'] },
      { name: 'Frontend', keywords: ['HTML', 'CSS', 'React'] }
    ],
    languages: [
      { language: 'English', fluency: 'Native' },
      { language: 'Spanish', fluency: 'Intermediate' }
    ]
  },
  layout: {
    style: 'two-column',
    gap: 30,
    columns: {
      left: { width: '30%', sections: ['skills', 'languages'] },
      right: { width: '70%', sections: ['work'] }
    }
  }
});

Layout options:

style - "single-column" (default) or "two-column"
gap - Space between columns in points (default: 30)
columns.left.width - Left column width (percentage or points)
columns.left.sections - Section source paths for left column
columns.right.width - Right column width
columns.right.sections - Section source paths for right column

pdf-layout

Create a PDF with precise positioning and Yoga flexbox layout.

Parameters:

filename (string, optional) - Filename for the PDF (defaults to "document.pdf")
title (string, optional) - Document metadata
author (string, optional) - Document metadata
pageSetup (object, optional) - Page configuration
content (array, required) - Content items
layout (object, optional) - Layout options

Page setup:

pageSetup: {
  size: [612, 792],
  margins: { top: 72, bottom: 72, left: 72, right: 72 },
  backgroundColor: '#FFFFFF'
}

Content types:

Text and headings:

JSON Config

{
  type: 'text',
  text: 'Content here',
  fontSize: 12,
  bold: true,
  color: '#000000',
  align: 'left',
  x: 100,
  y: 200,
  oblique: 15,
  characterSpacing: 1,
  moveDown: 1,
  underline: true,
  strike: true
}

Shapes:

JSON Config

{ type: 'rect', x: 50, y: 50, width: 200, height: 100, fillColor: '#FF0000', strokeColor: '#000000', lineWidth: 2 }
{ type: 'circle', x: 300, y: 400, radius: 50, fillColor: '#00FF00', strokeColor: '#000000', lineWidth: 1 }
{ type: 'line', x1: 100, y1: 100, x2: 500, y2: 100, strokeColor: '#0000FF', lineWidth: 2 }

Images and pages:

JSON Config

{ type: 'image', imagePath: '/path/to/image.png', width: 200, height: 150, x: 100, y: 200 }
{ type: 'pageBreak' }

Flexbox layout engine

Use type: 'group' to create flexbox containers:

JSON Config

{
  type: 'group',
  direction: 'row',
  gap: 20,
  flex: 1,
  justify: 'center',
  alignItems: 'center',
  align: 'center',
  width: 300,
  height: 200,
  padding: 15,
  background: '#f5f5f5',
  border: { color: '#333', width: 1 },
  children: [
    { type: 'text', text: 'Child 1' },
    { type: 'text', text: 'Child 2' }
  ]
}

Common layout patterns:

Two equal columns:

JSON Config

{
  type: 'group',
  direction: 'row',
  gap: 20,
  children: [
    { type: 'group', flex: 1, children: [{ type: 'text', text: 'Left' }] },
    { type: 'group', flex: 1, children: [{ type: 'text', text: 'Right' }] }
  ]
}

Three columns with proportions (1:2:1):

JSON Config

{
  type: 'group',
  direction: 'row',
  gap: 15,
  children: [
    { type: 'group', flex: 1, children: [/* ... */] },
    { type: 'group', flex: 2, children: [/* ... */] },
    { type: 'group', flex: 1, children: [/* ... */] }
  ]
}

Centered card:

JSON Config

{
  type: 'group',
  width: 300,
  align: 'center',
  border: { color: '#333', width: 2 },
  padding: 20,
  children: [
    { type: 'heading', text: 'Card Title', align: 'center' },
    { type: 'text', text: 'Card content here' }
  ]
}

Space between items:

JSON Config

{
  type: 'group',
  direction: 'row',
  justify: 'space-between',
  children: [
    { type: 'text', text: 'Left' },
    { type: 'text', text: 'Right' }
  ]
}

Mixed positioning:

await client.callTool('pdf-layout', {
  layout: { overflow: 'auto' },
  content: [
    { type: 'heading', text: 'TITLE', x: 54, y: 50 },
    {
      type: 'group',
      direction: 'row',
      gap: 20,
      x: 54,
      y: 100,
      children: [
        { type: 'group', flex: 1, children: [/* ... */] },
        { type: 'group', flex: 1, children: [/* ... */] }
      ]
    },
    { type: 'text', text: 'Footer', x: 54, y: 700 }
  ]
});

Complete flyer example:

await client.callTool('pdf-layout', {
  pageSetup: { backgroundColor: '#fffef5' },
  content: [
    { type: 'heading', text: 'SUMMER FESTIVAL 2024', align: 'center', fontSize: 28, y: 50 },
    { type: 'text', text: 'July 15-17 | Central Park', align: 'center', y: 90 },
    {
      type: 'group',
      direction: 'row',
      gap: 20,
      x: 54,
      y: 130,
      children: [
        {
          type: 'group',
          flex: 1,
          border: { color: '#2196f3', width: 2 },
          padding: 15,
          children: [
            { type: 'heading', text: 'MUSIC', align: 'center', fontSize: 18 },
            { type: 'text', text: 'Live bands all weekend' },
            { type: 'text', text: '- Main Stage' },
            { type: 'text', text: '- Acoustic Tent' }
          ]
        },
        {
          type: 'group',
          flex: 1,
          border: { color: '#4caf50', width: 2 },
          padding: 15,
          children: [
            { type: 'heading', text: 'FOOD', align: 'center', fontSize: 18 },
            { type: 'text', text: '50+ local vendors' },
            { type: 'text', text: '- Food Court' },
            { type: 'text', text: '- Craft Beers' }
          ]
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      type: 'group',
      width: 300,
      align: 'center',
      y: 400,
      border: { color: '#ff9800', width: 2 },
      padding: 15,
      background: '#fff8e1',
      children: [
        { type: 'heading', text: 'TICKETS', align: 'center', fontSize: 16 },
        { type: 'text', text: 'Early Bird: $25', align: 'center' },
        { type: 'text', text: 'At Door: $35', align: 'center' }
      ]
    }
  ]
});

Emoji and Unicode support

Color emoji render as inline images. Unicode text is supported across major scripts.

config.json

{
  "basics": {
    "name": "John Doe",
    "summary": "Developer passionate about clean code"
  }
}

pdf-document

Create a flowing PDF document with automatic pagination.

pdf-image

Render PDF pages to PNG images for previews or export.

text-measure

Measure text width and height before layout.

Tools

pdf-document
pdf-image
pdf-layout
pdf-resume
text-measure

External resources

None.

Prompts

resource-fetching

Resources

PDFKit Documentation
JSON Resume Schema
JSON Resume Editor

Documentation

API Docs