The free MCP server for PDFs

All 74 pdfmcp operations, exposed as typed MCP tools your AI agent can call directly — merge, split, compress, convert, OCR, redact, sign, extract. Free: 250 guaranteed operations a day plus burst on spare capacity.

Endpoint

Transport	MCP Streamable HTTP
URL	`https://mcp.pdfmcp.org/mcp`
Auth	Header `X-API-Key: pdfmcp_live_YOUR_KEY` (or `Authorization: Bearer <key>`) — get a free key
Tools	74 operations + pipeline + async job tools, all with typed JSON Schemas

Generic config (most clients accept this shape)

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "pdfmcp": {
      "url": "https://mcp.pdfmcp.org/mcp",
      "headers": {
        "X-API-Key": "pdfmcp_live_YOUR_KEY"
      }
    }
  }
}

pdfmcp is free — if it saved you time, tell another developer.

Setup by client

Claude DesktopAdd pdfmcp to Claude Desktop as a remote MCP connector.Claude CodeAdd pdfmcp to Claude Code with one command, or via .mcp.json.ChatGPTConnect pdfmcp to ChatGPT as a developer-mode MCP connector.CursorAdd pdfmcp to Cursor via mcp.json.VS CodeAdd pdfmcp to VS Code / GitHub Copilot agent mode via mcp.json.WindsurfAdd pdfmcp to Windsurf Cascade via mcp_config.json.CodexAdd pdfmcp to OpenAI Codex via config.toml.Gemini CLIAdd pdfmcp to Gemini CLI via settings.json.ZedAdd pdfmcp to Zed's agent panel as a context server.ClineAdd pdfmcp to Cline (VS Code extension) via cline_mcp_settings.json.ContinueAdd pdfmcp to Continue as an MCP block (YAML config).JetBrains IDEsAdd pdfmcp to JetBrains AI Assistant via its MCP settings.Any MCP clientThe generic recipe: one URL, one header, every MCP client that speaks Streamable HTTP.REST APISubmit a job, poll for it, download the result — the whole REST API in three calls.

What your agent can do with it

Every tool from the web catalog is an MCP tool with the same name and parameters: merge, OCR to a searchable PDF, PDF to Word, true redaction, table extraction, signing and 68 more. Heavy jobs run asynchronously — submit, poll, download — and results wait for exactly one hour.

Privacy on the server is the same promise as the website, adapted: files are inspected before processing, stored encrypted, deleted within an hour, and content is never logged. Privacy Policy · Free usage policy · Live status