PDF MCP Server — Document Intelligence

AI-powered PDF operations for Claude, VS Code, and any MCP client

Extract structured JSON from invoices, receipts, contracts, resumes, W-2s, 1099s, and bank statements using GPT-4o vision. Plus merge, split, render, and manipulate PDFs.

Quick Start

1. Try it now (no setup)

Run directly on Apify with the prefilled input.

2. Connect to Claude Desktop

Add to claude_desktop_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "pdf": {
      "url": "https://mcp.apify.com?actors=constant_quadruped/pdf-mcp-server"
    }
  }
}

3. Connect to VS Code

Install the MCP extension and add the same URL.

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Features

Category	Capabilities
AI Extraction	GPT-4o vision extracts structured JSON from any document
Document Types	Invoices, receipts, contracts, resumes, W-2, 1099, bank statements
PDF Operations	Merge, split, extract pages, create from HTML
Form Handling	List fields, fill forms, flatten
Rendering	Convert pages to PNG/JPEG images
Input Flexibility	URL or Base64 encoded PDFs

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AI Document Extraction

The pdf.ai_extract tool uses GPT-4o vision to extract structured data from any document—including scanned PDFs without a text layer.

Supported Document Types

Type	What Gets Extracted
invoice	Invoice number, dates, vendor info, customer info, line items with quantities/prices, subtotal, tax, total
receipt	Merchant name, date/time, itemized purchases, subtotal, tax, total, payment method
contract	Party names, effective dates, termination date, key terms, obligations, signatures
resume	Name, contact info, work experience with dates, education, skills, certifications
w2	Employer EIN/name/address, employee SSN/name/address, wages, federal/state tax withheld
form_1099	Payer info, recipient info, amounts by box, form type (MISC, NEC, INT, DIV)
bank_statement	Account number, statement period, opening/closing balance, all transactions
auto	Auto-detects document type and extracts relevant fields

Example: Extract Invoice Data

Input:

{
  "tool": "pdf.ai_extract",
  "pdfUrl": "https://example.com/invoice.pdf",
  "documentType": "invoice",
  "openaiApiKey": "sk-..."
}

Output:

{
  "status": "ok",
  "document_type": "invoice",
  "extraction": {
    "invoice_number": "INV-2024-001",
    "invoice_date": "2024-01-15",
    "due_date": "2024-02-15",
    "vendor": {
      "name": "Acme Corp",
      "address": "123 Business St, NYC"
    },
    "customer": {
      "name": "Client Inc",
      "address": "456 Customer Ave"
    },
    "line_items": [
      {
        "description": "Widget A",
        "quantity": 10,
        "unit_price": 100.00,
        "amount": 1000.00
      }
    ],
    "subtotal": 1000.00,
    "tax": 80.00,
    "total": 1080.00
  },
  "confidence": 0.95
}

Custom Extraction Schema

Need specific fields? Define your own schema:

{
  "tool": "pdf.ai_extract",
  "pdfUrl": "https://example.com/document.pdf",
  "documentType": "auto",
  "customFields": "{\"purchase_order_number\": \"string\", \"shipping_address\": \"string\", \"delivery_date\": \"string\"}",
  "openaiApiKey": "sk-..."
}

---

All Available Tools

AI Extraction

Tool	Description	Required Parameters
pdf.ai_extract	Extract structured data using GPT-4o	pdfUrl or pdfBase64, openaiApiKey

Document Info

Tool	Description	Required Parameters
pdf.open	Load and validate a PDF	pdfUrl or pdfBase64
pdf.get_metadata	Get title, author, page count, creation date	pdfUrl or pdfBase64
pdf.extract_text	Extract all text content	pdfUrl or pdfBase64

Page Operations

Tool	Description	Required Parameters
pdf.render_pages	Convert pages to PNG/JPEG images	pdfUrl or pdfBase64
pdf.extract_pages	Extract specific pages to new PDF	pdfUrl or pdfBase64, pages
pdf.split	Split into multiple PDFs by ranges	pdfUrl or pdfBase64, ranges
pdf.merge	Combine multiple PDFs	urls

Form Operations

Tool	Description	Required Parameters
pdf.list_form_fields	List all fillable fields	pdfUrl or pdfBase64
pdf.fill_form_fields	Fill form with values	pdfUrl or pdfBase64, formFields
pdf.flatten_form	Make form fields permanent	pdfUrl or pdfBase64

PDF Creation

Tool	Description	Required Parameters
pdf.create_from_html	Generate PDF from HTML	html or htmlUrl

---

Input Examples

Get Document Metadata

{
  "tool": "pdf.get_metadata",
  "pdfUrl": "https://example.com/document.pdf"
}

Output:

{
  "status": "ok",
  "metadata": {
    "title": "Annual Report 2024",
    "author": "Finance Team",
    "pageCount": 45,
    "creationDate": "2024-01-01T00:00:00Z"
  }
}

Extract Text from Specific Pages

{
  "tool": "pdf.extract_text",
  "pdfUrl": "https://example.com/document.pdf",
  "pages": "1,2,3"
}

Create PDF from HTML

{
  "tool": "pdf.create_from_html",
  "html": "<html><body><h1>Report</h1><p>Generated content here.</p></body></html>",
  "pdfFormat": "A4"
}

Merge Multiple PDFs

{
  "tool": "pdf.merge",
  "urls": "[\"https://example.com/doc1.pdf\", \"https://example.com/doc2.pdf\"]"
}

Split PDF into Parts

{
  "tool": "pdf.split",
  "pdfUrl": "https://example.com/large-document.pdf",
  "ranges": "[{\"start\":1,\"end\":10},{\"start\":11,\"end\":20}]"
}

Fill Form Fields

{
  "tool": "pdf.fill_form_fields",
  "pdfUrl": "https://example.com/tax-form.pdf",
  "formFields": "{\"name\": \"John Doe\", \"ssn\": \"123-45-6789\", \"date\": \"2024-01-15\"}"
}

Render Pages as Images

{
  "tool": "pdf.render_pages",
  "pdfUrl": "https://example.com/document.pdf",
  "pages": "1",
  "renderDpi": 150,
  "renderFormat": "png"
}

---

Use Cases

Invoice Processing Automation

Extract vendor details, line items, and totals from invoices for automatic data entry into accounting systems.

Resume Parsing for HR

Convert PDF resumes into structured candidate data with work history, education, and skills for ATS integration.

Tax Document Processing

Automatically extract W-2 and 1099 data for tax preparation software or audit workflows.

Contract Analysis

Pull key terms, dates, and party information from contracts for review and compliance tracking.

Bank Statement Reconciliation

Extract transactions from bank statements for financial reconciliation and expense tracking.

Report Generation

Create professional PDFs from HTML templates for automated report distribution.

Form Automation

Programmatically fill tax forms, applications, and other fillable PDFs.

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Technical Specifications

Limits

Parameter	Value
Maximum file size	50 MB
Maximum pages	500 pages
AI extraction limit	10 pages per request
Default render DPI	150
Maximum render DPI	300

Supported Formats

• Input: PDF (URL or Base64)
• Output: JSON, PNG, JPEG, PDF
• PDF Versions: 1.0 - 2.0 (all standard PDF versions)

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Pricing

Operation	Cost
PDF operations (open, extract, merge, split)	Apify compute time only
AI extraction	Your OpenAI API costs (~$0.01-0.10 per document)

No per-document fees. You control your OpenAI spend.

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MCP Integration

This actor is designed for the Model Context Protocol (MCP). Connect it to any MCP-compatible client.

Claude Desktop

Add to claude_desktop_config.json (typically at %APPDATA%\Claude\ on Windows or ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/ on macOS):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "pdf": {
      "url": "https://mcp.apify.com?actors=constant_quadruped/pdf-mcp-server"
    }
  }
}

Restart Claude Desktop to load the MCP server.

VS Code with Continue/Cline

Configure your MCP extension to use:

https://mcp.apify.com?actors=constant_quadruped/pdf-mcp-server

Other MCP Clients

Any client supporting MCP over HTTP can connect using the URL above.

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Error Handling

All tools return consistent error responses:

{
  "status": "error",
  "error": "Description of what went wrong"
}

Common errors:

• Invalid PDF URL - URL not accessible or not a valid PDF
• Page out of range - Requested page doesn't exist
• OpenAI API key required - Missing API key for AI extraction
• File too large - PDF exceeds 50MB limit

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Support

For issues, feature requests, or questions:

• Open a ticket on the Issues tab
• Check existing issues for solutions

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Changelog

v1.1

• Added AI document extraction with GPT-4o vision
• Support for W-2, 1099, and bank statement extraction
• Custom extraction schema support
• Improved error messages

v1.0

• Initial release
• PDF operations: merge, split, extract, render
• Form handling: list, fill, flatten
• HTML to PDF conversion