Pdf MCP Server

Native PDF renderer for AI markdown. Cover, TOC, page-numbered footer. No Chrome dependency.

Local serverstdio

What is the Pdf MCP server?

Most developer tooling work still happens through a UI a human drives. Pdf MCP server moves it into the conversation instead. Native PDF renderer for AI markdown. Cover, TOC, page-numbered footer. No Chrome dependency.

The short version

A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server and Claude Code skill that turns markdown into PDFs that look like they were made on purpose. Cover page, table of contents, code blocks that hold across page breaks, page-numbered footer. One command from your Claude session to a file you can send to a client.

The tools it exposes

The server publishes 4 tools. What each one is for:

  • generate_pdf — Convert markdown into a PDF. Accepts a template (research-report or plain), optional title and author for the cover, and an optional output path
  • list_templates — Return the list of available templates with descriptions
  • Requirements — The Requirements tool exposed by this server
  • Cursor — Add to ~/.cursor/mcp.json with the same shape as Claude Desktop

Getting it running

The server ships on npm as pdf-it-mcp, so your MCP client can launch it on demand — there is no separate build step. Add the server block to your client's configuration, restart it, and the tools register themselves.

What it needs from you

  • Node.js 20 or newer - Nothing else to install. The renderer and fonts ship inside the package.

How it compares

This sits in the developer tooling group, where several servers overlap in what they claim to do but differ sharply once you actually set them up. Pdf's toolset — generate_pdf, list_templates, Requirements and 1 more — is a fair guide to whether it matches your workflow. It is maintained by mrslbt; worth a glance at recent repository activity before you build anything load-bearing on it.

We check each listing at SyncDev against the project's documentation before it goes live — if something here drifts out of date, it is a bug worth reporting.

Things to watch

  • It runs with your machine's permissions. That is convenient and also the reason to think about what you point it at before you approve a tool call.
  • Keep per-call confirmation enabled while you learn its behaviour; it is the cheapest safeguard you have.

Available tools

ToolWhat it does
generate_pdfConvert markdown into a PDF. Accepts a template (research-report or plain), optional title and author for the cover, and an optional output path.
list_templatesReturn the list of available templates with descriptions.
RequirementsThe Requirements tool exposed by this server.
CursorAdd to ~/.cursor/mcp.json with the same shape as Claude Desktop.

How to install the Pdf MCP server

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "pdf-it": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "pdf-it-mcp"]
    }
  }
}

Add to claude_desktop_config.json, then restart Claude Desktop.

Configuration

  • Node.js 20 or newer - Nothing else to install. The renderer and fonts ship inside the package.

Example prompts to try

  • Use Pdf to generate pdf.
  • Use Pdf to list templates.
  • Use Pdf to Requirements.

Frequently asked questions

It connects Pdf to MCP-compatible AI assistants such as Claude and Cursor, exposing 4 tools (generate_pdf, list_templates, Requirements, and more) that the assistant can call on your behalf. Instead of copying data back and forth by hand, the assistant works with Pdf directly.