pdfops-mcp

MCP server that gives AI agents deterministic PDF tools, backed by the PDFops API: inspect AcroForm fields, fill forms, merge PDFs, and generate invoices — no Chromium, no native deps, nothing to host.

Beside a local agent, tools operate on file paths, so PDF bytes never transit the model context: your agent says "fill /tmp/form.pdf and save to /tmp/out.pdf" and gets a one-line confirmation back. Every PDF input also accepts an https:// URL or a data:application/pdf;base64,… URI, and every output can be returned inline instead of written — which is what makes the server work on hosted runtimes (see below).

Install

Claude Code

claude mcp add pdfops -- npx -y pdfops-mcp
# with a key:
claude mcp add pdfops -e PDFOPS_API_KEY=pdfops_live_… -- npx -y pdfops-mcp

Claude Desktop (claude_desktop_config.json) / Cursor (.cursor/mcp.json)

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "pdfops": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "pdfops-mcp"],
      "env": { "PDFOPS_API_KEY": "pdfops_live_…" }
    }
  }
}

VS Code (.vscode/mcp.json, note the servers key and type)

{
  "servers": {
    "pdfops": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "pdfops-mcp"],
      "env": { "PDFOPS_API_KEY": "pdfops_live_…" }
    }
  }
}

Any other stdio client (Windsurf, Cline, Zed, your own agent): command npx, args -y pdfops-mcp. Per-client walkthrough and a real tool-call transcript: pdfops.dev/mcp.

PDFOPS_API_KEY is optional — without it you get the keyless trial (100 requests/IP/month). A free key (250/month, no card) takes one field at pdfops.dev/pricing.

Tools

Running remotely (Smithery, Glama hosted, cloud IDE gateways)

A hosted MCP runtime executes this server on a machine where your agent's file paths do not exist. Nothing changes in the config — pass sources the server can reach and skip output_path:

• Inputs (pdf_path, pdf_paths): an https:// URL the server can fetch (≤50 MB), or a data:application/pdf;base64,… URI for small files.
• Outputs: omit output_path and pdf_fill / pdf_merge / pdf_invoice return the PDF inline as an embedded application/pdf resource (pdfops://filled.pdf, …) that the client saves. With output_path set, the file is written where the server runs.

Locally, absolute paths keep working exactly as before and remain the recommended form — bytes stay off the model context.

Example prompts

• "What fields does ~/forms/fw9.pdf have?" → pdf_inspect
• "Fill ~/forms/fw9.pdf for Ada Lovelace, 12 Analytical Way, London; save it flattened as ~/out/w9-ada.pdf" → pdf_inspect, then pdf_fill with flatten: true
• "Fill the onboarding form once per row of contractors.csv into ~/out/" → one pdf_inspect, then pdf_fill per row
• "Merge ~/out/w9-ada.pdf, ~/docs/nda.pdf and ~/docs/cover.pdf into one packet, cover first" → pdf_merge
• "Invoice Globex for 3 days of consulting at $650, 8.5% tax, due in 30 days" → pdf_invoice
• "How many PDFops requests do I have left this month?" → pdfops_usage

Example agent flow

"Fill the W-9 template at ~/docs/w9.pdf for Ada Lovelace and merge it with ~/docs/cover.pdf"

1. pdf_inspect → discovers field names + fill template
2. pdf_fill → writes the filled W-9
3. pdf_merge → writes the combined packet

Links

API docs: pdfops.dev/docs · OpenAPI: pdfops.dev/openapi.json · Typed client: pdfops-sdk · Questions: hello@pdfops.dev

Privacy Policy

This server runs on your machine and sends only what a tool call needs to the PDFops API (https://pdfops.dev): the PDF bytes you point it at, the field values you supply, and your API key if you set one. PDFops processes the request in memory and returns the result; it does not store your documents. Anonymous usage is metered per IP and per client tag (mcp) for quota and attribution only. Nothing is shared with third parties. The full policy, including retention and contact details, is at https://pdfops.dev/privacy. Questions: hello@pdfops.dev.

MIT © PDFops