Convert PDF, DOCX, XLSX, PPTX, HTML, audio to token-efficient Markdown for any MCP client.
Distill MCP server is a locally run integration for AI assistants that speak the Model Context Protocol. Convert PDF, DOCX, XLSX, PPTX, HTML, audio to token-efficient Markdown for any MCP client.
An MCP server that connects any MCP-compatible client to Distill, converting local documents to clean, token-efficient Markdown before the LLM reads them. Typical token reduction is 40–80% compared to raw document text, letting the model fit more content into its context window and reason over it faster.
Once Distill is connected, these are the calls the assistant has available:
Rules — 1. Call convert_and_save with the absolute file path before doing anything else with the document. 2. Use ONLY the Markdown output fromUsage — Say "convert using distill" followed by the file path: > Convert using distill C:\Users\me\Documents\report.pdf to markdownYou will need one environment variable: DISTILL_MCP_CONFIG. Keep credentials in your client's env block or a secrets manager rather than in a file you might commit.
distill-mcp-server on npm is all you need. Most clients run it directly, so configuration is a few lines and a restart.
Among the developer tooling options, the useful question is rarely "what can it do" but "what does it cost you to run" — permissions, credentials, and how much of your context its toolset consumes. Distill's toolset — Rules, Usage — is a fair guide to whether it matches your workflow. It is maintained by lakshgk; worth a glance at recent repository activity before you build anything load-bearing on it.
SyncDev reviews every entry in this directory against the project's own documentation before publishing, and revisits them as servers change.
| Tool | What it does |
|---|---|
| Rules | 1. Call convert_and_save with the absolute file path before doing anything else with the document. 2. Use ONLY the Markdown output from convert_and_save as the document content. Never read the original file with filesyst |
| Usage | Say "convert using distill" followed by the file path: > Convert using distill C:\Users\me\Documents\report.pdf to markdown |
**Lightweight mode — Windows:**
```json
{
"mcpServers": {
"distill-mcp": {
"command": "npx",
"args": ["-y", "distill-mcp-server"],
"env": {
"DISTILL_MCP_CONFIG": "{\"mode\":\"lightweight\",\"python_path\":\"py\"}"
}
}
}
}Configuration as documented by the project. Restart the client after saving.
| Variable | Description | Required |
|---|---|---|
| DISTILL_MCP_CONFIG | Configuration value read at startup. | Optional |
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Microsoft's official browser automation server — drive a real browser through the accessibility tree, no screenshots needed.
GitHub's official server — repos, issues, pull requests, Actions and code security, straight from your assistant.
Issue tracking at the speed of conversation — Linear's official hosted server with OAuth and zero install.
Local repository surgery — status, diffs, commits, branches and history for any repo on disk.
Timezone sanity for AI — current time anywhere and correct conversions, without the model doing date math.