A side-by-side look at the MinerU Ecosystem and Pdffr MCP servers: transport, auth, tools, quality signals, and the config to install either one in Claude, Cursor, Windsurf or VS Code.
Verdict: choose MinerU Ecosystem for search & data extraction work as a local process; choose Pdffr for search & data extraction as a local process. You can also run both side by side in one mcpServers block.
MINERUAPITOKEN.parse_documents, get_ocr_languages.Rows where the two servers differ are marked.
| Spec | ||
|---|---|---|
| Category | Search & Data Extraction | Search & Data Extraction |
| Quality signal | 64/100 · Good | 40/100 · Fair |
| Install command | Confirmed | Confirmed |
| Transport | Local subprocess (stdio) | Local subprocess (stdio) |
| Auth | API key required | Not declared |
| Pricing | Free | Not declared |
| Required env vars | MINERUAPITOKEN | None listed |
| Verified owner | Community listing | Community listing |
| GitHub stars | 220 | 0 |
| Directory activity | 3 views 0 installs 0 upvotes | 1 views 0 installs 0 upvotes |
| Tools | 2 | Not listed |
| Full listing | View MinerU Ecosystem | View Pdffr |
parse_documentsConvert PDFs, Word (DOCX), PowerPoint (PPTX), Excel (XLSX in Flash mode), images, and public document URLs—or HTML page URLs—into Markdown using the MinerU cloud API.
**World effects:** Reads local paths you pass; fetches http(s) URLs. Uploads file or URL content to mineru.net for processing (do not use for data you must not send off-device). Does not modify or delete originals. May write Markdown (and sometimes images) under `output_dir` or the server default when results are saved or inline content is too large.
**Auth & limits:** Without `MINERU_API_TOKEN`, uses free Flash mode: Markdown-only output, service limits apply. With `MINERU_API_TOKEN`, higher per-file page limits and optional extra output formats per MinerU plans; token is read from env (or HTTP Bearer when using streamable HTTP).
**Use this when:** The user needs full-document extraction, tables/formulas as HTML/Latexa, batch conversion, or per-file PDF page ranges. **Do not use** for listing supported OCR script codes—call `get_ocr_languages` instead. **Not a substitute** for offline-only or strictly local parsers.
**Parameters (intent):** `file_sources` is a list of path/URL strings or `{"source": "…", "pages": "1-5"}` objects (PDF page ranges; Flash allows simple `N` or `N-M`). `enable_ocr` defaults to true. `language` is an OCR/script code (default `ch`); see `get_ocr_languages` for valid values. Set `model` to `"html"` only when every source is a web page URL; otherwise omit. `output_dir` overrides where large or batch results are written.get_ocr_languagesReturn the supported MinerU OCR / script language codes (e.g. ch, en, japan, latin). Read-only; no uploads. Use before setting `language` on `parse_documents` for scanned or multilingual documents. Do not use for converting files—call `parse_documents` instead.No tool names declared yet. Check the project README from the listing page.
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.
{
"mcpServers": {
"opendatalab-mineru-ecosystem": {
"command": "uvx",
"args": [
"mineru-open-mcp"
],
"env": {
"MINERUAPITOKEN": "YOUR_MINERUAPITOKEN_HERE"
}
}
}
}
{
"mcpServers": {
"pdffr": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"pdffr"
]
}
}
}