PDF Tools MCP Server

by pdfia Your server? Claim it

answering

PDF Tools is answering right now. Last checked 6 min ago. It exposes 10 tools.

Free PDF tools for AI agents: merge, split, rotate, watermark, page numbers, metadata, flatten.

Uptime history 9 days of history

9 days agonow

100.0%

Uptime 24h

91 of 91 checks

Tools

read from the server

220 ms

Response time

average over 24h

open, no key

Access

streamable-http

Nothing serious here today

Today is the operative word: we check PDF Tools every 15 minutes and re-read its code on every release. Watch it and you find out the day that stops being true.

Connect this server

Endpoint below is the one we actually reach during checks — not the one copied from a README. Last verified 6 min ago.

Claude Code Claude Desktop Codex Cursor VS Code

run in your terminal

claude mcp add pdf-tools --transport http https://pdfia.com/mcp

~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "pdf-tools": {
      "url": "https://pdfia.com/mcp"
    }
  }
}

~/.codex/config.toml

[mcp_servers.pdf-tools]
url = "https://pdfia.com/mcp"

.cursor/mcp.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "pdf-tools": {
      "url": "https://pdfia.com/mcp"
    }
  }
}

.vscode/mcp.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "pdf-tools": {
      "url": "https://pdfia.com/mcp"
    }
  }
}

Available tools 10

Read directly from the server with tools/list, grouped by what they act on. If a tool disappears, we record the date.

pdf

get_pdf_metadata

Read a PDF's document properties (title, author, subject, keywords, creator, producer, dates, page count).

set_pdf_metadata

Rewrite a PDF's document properties. Pass empty strings to strip identifying metadata before sharing. Returns base64.

extract

extract_pages

Extract the given pages into a new PDF (original order). Returns base64.

flatten

flatten_pdf

Flatten fillable form fields into permanent page content so answers can't be edited. Returns base64.

merge

merge_pdfs

Merge multiple PDF files into one, in the order given. Returns the merged PDF as base64.

page

add_page_numbers

Stamp page numbers onto every page of a PDF. Returns base64.

pages

remove_pages

Delete the given pages from a PDF. Returns the remaining document as base64.

rotate

rotate_pdf

Rotate pages clockwise by 90, 180, or 270 degrees. Rotates all pages unless a page list is given. Returns base64.

split

split_pdf

Split a PDF into parts. Provide ranges like "1-3, 5, 8-10" (each comma group becomes one output PDF), or omit ranges to get every page as its own PDF. Returns base64 files.

watermark

watermark_pdf

Stamp a diagonal text watermark (e.g. "CONFIDENTIAL", "DRAFT") across every page. Returns base64.

Endpoints

URL	Transport	State	Latency	Checked
https://pdfia.com/mcp	streamable-http	answering	229 ms	6 min ago

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answering

PDF Tools — questions

Answers built from our own checks of this server.

What can PDF Tools do?

It exposes 10 tools, read directly from the server on our last check. Among them: add_page_numbers, extract_pages, flatten_pdf, get_pdf_metadata, merge_pdfs, remove_pages and 4 more. The full list with descriptions is on this page — we take it from the server itself via tools/list, not from a README. How MCP servers expose tools in the first place →

Is PDF Tools working right now?

We send a real MCP handshake every 15 minutes. Over the last 24 hours 91 of 91 checks got a reply (100.0%), average response time 220 ms. The bar chart above shows every period we have measured.

How do I connect PDF Tools?

Copy the ready config from this page — we generate it for Claude Code, Claude Desktop, Codex, Cursor and VS Code, each with the file path that client actually reads. It is a remote server, so there is nothing to install — the client connects to the address.

Does PDF Tools need an API key?

No. PDF Tools completed a full MCP handshake with us as an anonymous client and listed its tools without asking for anything. All 10 of them are readable on this page. This is what we observed, not what the docs claim.

How fast is PDF Tools?

It answers our handshake in 220 ms on average, which is faster than 69% of all working MCP servers we measure. The comparison comes from our own checks across the whole registry, every 15 minutes.