PDF To Text MCP Server

by jim-panseio.github.Jim-Panse/pdf-to-textv0.7.0

Extracts PDF text locally, with macOS PDFKit and Vision OCR fallbacks and optional AI retry.

Node.jsstdioofficial registry

context tax

pending

security

pending

cold start

pending

freshness

Active3d ago

Our reading of PDF To Text, from the data

PDF To Text is a productivity & office MCP server from jim-panse, listed in the official MCP Registry.

We haven't measured its tool list yet, so its token cost is unknown.

Maintenance is active: the last public signal was 3 days ago (2026-10-15). For comparison, 67% of productivity & office servers are active or maintained.

It runs locally on your machine over stdio and needs one secret (OPENAI_API_KEY); use a scoped, least-privilege key.

Install PDF To Text MCP server

claude mcp add pdf-to-text -e PDF_TO_TEXT_MCP_ROOT='<pdf-to-text-mcp-root>' -e OPENAI_API_KEY='<openai-api-key>' -- npx -y @jim-panse/pdf-to-text-mcp

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "pdf-to-text": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@jim-panse/pdf-to-text-mcp"
      ],
      "env": {
        "PDF_TO_TEXT_MCP_ROOT": "<pdf-to-text-mcp-root>",
        "OPENAI_API_KEY": "<openai-api-key>"
      }
    }
  }
}

Add to ~/.cursor/mcp.json (global) or .cursor/mcp.json (project).

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "pdf-to-text": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@jim-panse/pdf-to-text-mcp"
      ],
      "env": {
        "PDF_TO_TEXT_MCP_ROOT": "<pdf-to-text-mcp-root>",
        "OPENAI_API_KEY": "<openai-api-key>"
      }
    }
  }
}

Settings → Developer → Edit Config (claude_desktop_config.json), then restart.

{
  "servers": {
    "pdf-to-text": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@jim-panse/pdf-to-text-mcp"
      ],
      "env": {
        "PDF_TO_TEXT_MCP_ROOT": "<pdf-to-text-mcp-root>",
        "OPENAI_API_KEY": "<openai-api-key>"
      }
    }
  }
}

Add to .vscode/mcp.json in your workspace.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "pdf-to-text": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@jim-panse/pdf-to-text-mcp"
      ],
      "env": {
        "PDF_TO_TEXT_MCP_ROOT": "<pdf-to-text-mcp-root>",
        "OPENAI_API_KEY": "<openai-api-key>"
      }
    }
  }
}

Add to ~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json.

Configuration

Variable	Required	Secret	Description
PDF_TO_TEXT_MCP_ROOT	yes	—	Required existing directory that defines the root-relative filesystem namespace for PDF input and derived text output.
OPENAI_API_KEY	—	yes	Optional secret. Enables one AI extraction retry when local extraction is inadequate; omit for local-only operation.
OPENAI_MODEL	—	—	Optional OpenAI model used only for AI retry. Defaults to gpt-5.4-mini.
AI_MAX_OUTPUT_TOKENS	—	—	Optional cap for all AI-generated output tokens, including non-visible reasoning tokens. Integer minimum 800; defaults to 32000.
MAX_PARALLEL_EXTRACTIONS	—	—	Integer concurrency limit from 1 to 32. Defaults to min(os.availableParallelism(), 4).
EXTRACTION_QUEUE_CAPACITY	—	—	Integer maximum waiting requests from 0 to 100; zero disables waiting.
EXTRACTION_QUEUE_WAIT_MS	—	—	Maximum queue wait in milliseconds, integer 1 through 2147483647. Does not limit active work.
WRITE_TEXT	—	—	Optionally save successful extraction text beside the source PDF.

Freshness

Active — last maintenance signal 3d ago. The newest of the signals below sets the band.

Last commit (default branch)
no data · GitHub
Latest release
no data · GitHub
Package published
no data · npm/PyPI
Registry entry updated
2026-10-15 · 3d ago · official registry · v0.7.0

How it compares in Productivity & Office

Against the most-starred productivity & office servers we index. Token cost is per model turn, measured from each server's live tool list.

Server	Stars	Tools	Tokens / turn	Freshness	Runs
PDF To Text (this)	—	—	not measured	Active	local
Rea	324,759	—	not measured	Active	local
Browser	39,318	—	not measured	Active	local + hosted
Playwright	38,349	—	not measured	Active	local
Browser	36,690	—	not measured	Active	—
Skyvern	23,226	—	not measured	Active	hosted

All productivity & office MCP servers

FAQ

›How do I install the PDF To Text MCP server in Claude Code?

Run: claude mcp add pdf-to-text -e PDF_TO_TEXT_MCP_ROOT='<pdf-to-text-mcp-root>' -e OPENAI_API_KEY='<openai-api-key>' -- npx -y @jim-panse/pdf-to-text-mcp. For Cursor, VS Code, Claude Desktop and Windsurf, use the install tabs above.

›Does PDF To Text require an API key?

Yes. It expects PDF_TO_TEXT_MCP_ROOT, OPENAI_API_KEY, of which 1 is a secret.

›Can I use PDF To Text as a remote (hosted) MCP server?

No hosted endpoint is published; it runs locally over stdio.

›Is PDF To Text in the official MCP registry?

Yes, as io.github.Jim-Panse/pdf-to-text.

Sources and method

Official MCP Registry entry: updated 2026-10-15
Package registry (npm / PyPI): listed
Last checked against all sources: 2026-10-19

The description, packages and links come from the maintainer's own published metadata. Token cost, security signals, freshness and the reading above are MCPSkillHub's own measurements; see the methodology. Spot an error? Request a correction or claim the listing.