PDF Reader MCP vs Screenshot
A side-by-side look at the PDF Reader MCP and Screenshot MCP servers: transport, auth, tools, quality signals, and the config to install either one in Claude, Cursor, Windsurf or VS Code.
S
ScreenshotBrowser AutomationScreenshot any URL/HTML as PNG/JPEG/WebP, or read it as clean Markdown/text for LLMs.12EmergingAuth: not declaredVerdict: choose PDF Reader MCP for search & data extraction work; choose Screenshot for browser automation. You can also run both side by side in one mcpServers block.
Which MCP server should you choose?
Choose PDF Reader MCP when
- You need dedicated capabilities in the Search & Data Extraction domain.
- Its auth model fits you: No auth required.
- You want tools like
inspect, outline, read.
SChoose Screenshot when
- You need dedicated capabilities in the Browser Automation domain.
Feature & specification comparison
Rows where the two servers differ are marked.
| Spec | S Screenshot | |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Search & Data Extraction | Browser Automation |
| Quality signal | 61/100 · Good | 12/100 · Emerging |
| Install command | Not confirmed yet | Not confirmed yet |
| Transport | — | — |
| Auth | No auth required | Not declared |
| Pricing | Free | Not declared |
| Required env vars | None listed | None listed |
| Verified owner | Community listing | Community listing |
| GitHub stars | 1,050 | — |
| Directory activity | 6 views 0 installs 0 upvotes | 1 views 0 installs 0 upvotes |
| Tools | 4 | Not listed |
| Full listing | View PDF Reader MCP | View Screenshot |
Tools & capabilities
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".
Screenshot tools
No tool names declared yet. Check the project README from the listing page.
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.
PDF Reader MCP
No confirmed install command for PDF Reader MCP yet — follow the setup steps linked from its listing page rather than a guessed package name.
Screenshot
No confirmed install command for Screenshot yet — follow the setup steps linked from its listing page rather than a guessed package name.
Frequently asked questions
PDF Reader MCP is categorized under Search & Data Extraction and uses an install path we have not confirmed yet. Screenshot belongs to Browser Automation and uses an install path we have not confirmed yet. Pick PDF Reader MCP for search & data extraction work and Screenshot for browser automation.
Neither server has a confirmed install command yet, so we don't publish a guessed config. Follow each project's own setup instructions, linked from its listing page.
PDF Reader MCP is listed as free. Auth: no auth required. Screenshot 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 pdf-reader-mcp and screenshot as separate keys in the same mcpServers object, and your assistant will call tools from either one.
On AllMCPs, PDF Reader MCP has a quality signal of 61/100 (Good) with 6 views, 0 installs and 1,050 GitHub stars. Screenshot has 12/100 (Emerging) with 1 views, 0 installs and 0 GitHub stars.
