GroupDocs Annotation

MCP server that exposes GroupDocs.Annotation as AI-callable tools for Claude, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, and other MCP agents.

NuGet NuGet downloads Docker pulls MCP Registry Integration tests License: MIT

Installation

Install in VS Code Install in VS Code Insiders Add to Cursor Codex CLI setup Windsurf setup

One-click installs pre-fill every supported setting: edit the placeholder documents folder after install (output defaults to the same folder); an empty GROUPDOCS_LICENSE_PATH runs in evaluation mode - point it at your license to lift limits.

More clients - ready-made configs for Claude Code, Codex CLI, Visual Studio 2022, Cursor, Windsurf, Cline, and JetBrains Rider live in install/generated/.

Requires .NET 10 SDK.

Run directly with dnx (recommended — no install step):

dnx GroupDocs.Annotation.Mcp --yes

Pulls the latest stable release on every invocation. To pin to a specific version (recommended for shared configs and CI), append @<version>:

dnx [email protected] --yes

Or install as a global dotnet tool:

dotnet tool install -g GroupDocs.Annotation.Mcp
groupdocs-annotation-mcp

Or run via Docker:

docker run --rm -i \
  -v $(pwd)/documents:/data \
  ghcr.io/groupdocs-annotation/annotation-net-mcp:latest

Native prerequisites

The underlying GroupDocs engine rasterises annotated pages and previews via System.Drawing (GDI+). When you run the server natively (via dnx or the global dotnet tool) on Linux or macOS, install the native libgdiplus library and a fonts package first:

Platform	Setup
Windows	Nothing — GDI+ is built into the OS.
Linux	sudo apt-get install -y libgdiplus libfontconfig1 ttf-mscorefonts-installer
macOS	brew install mono-libgdiplus
Docker	Nothing — the image already bundles libgdiplus, libfontconfig1, and ttf-mscorefonts-installer.

Skipping this on Linux/macOS surfaces as DllNotFoundException: libgdiplus in the tool response. The simplest zero-setup option on Linux/macOS is the Docker image.

Available MCP Tools

Tool	Description
AddAnnotation	Add a textfield / area / point / arrow / highlight / underline / strikeout annotation; saves the annotated file as <name>_annotated.<ext>
GetAnnotations	List all annotations in a document as JSON (id, type, message, page, box, user, replies)
UpdateAnnotation	Modify an existing annotation's message and/or bounding box by id
RemoveAnnotations	Remove annotations by id list, or all if none specified
AddReply	Add a reply / comment thread to an existing annotation
RemoveReplies	Remove replies by reply-id list, by user name, or all
ImportAnnotations	Import annotations from an XML file or another annotated document into a target file
ExportAnnotations	Extract annotations from a document and save them as XML (re-importable via ImportAnnotations)
GetDocumentInfo	Return file type, page count, size, and per-page dimensions as JSON (no modification)
GeneratePagesPreview	Render up to 5 document pages as inline PNG images so AI clients display them directly

Example prompts

• "Annotate contract.pdf — add a highlight on page 2 around the indemnity clause and an arrow with the comment 'Needs legal review'"
• "List every annotation in design-review.docx and group them by author"
• "Reply to annotation 7 in spec.pdf with 'Implemented in PR #42' under the user 'alice'"
• "Export the annotations from old.pdf to XML, then re-import them into new.pdf"
• "Preview page 1 and page 5 of report.pdf with annotations baked in"

Licensing

The MCP server itself is MIT; the underlying GroupDocs.Annotation engine requires a license for production use. Without one the server runs in evaluation mode:

• Annotated output may carry evaluation watermarks.
• A single server process can open at most 15 documents; further calls fail with an evaluation-cap error until the server restarts.

To lift the limits, point GROUPDOCS_LICENSE_PATH at your GroupDocs.Total.lic:

• Get a free 30-day temporary license
• Purchase a license | Product page

Configuration

Variable	Description	Default
GROUPDOCS_MCP_STORAGE_PATH	Base folder for input and output files	current directory
GROUPDOCS_MCP_OUTPUT_PATH	(Optional) separate folder for output files	GROUPDOCS_MCP_STORAGE_PATH
GROUPDOCS_LICENSE_PATH	Path to GroupDocs license file	(evaluation mode)

Usage with Claude Desktop

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "groupdocs-annotation": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "dnx",
      "args": ["GroupDocs.Annotation.Mcp", "--yes"],
      "env": {
        "GROUPDOCS_MCP_STORAGE_PATH": "/path/to/documents"
      }
    }
  }
}

To pin to a specific version, replace "GroupDocs.Annotation.Mcp" with "[email protected]" in args. Pinning is recommended for shared / committed configs to avoid surprise upgrades.

Usage with VS Code / GitHub Copilot

NuGet.org generates a ready-to-use mcp.json snippet on the package page. Copy it directly into your .vscode/mcp.json.

Alternatively, add manually to .vscode/mcp.json:

{
  "inputs": [
    {
      "type": "promptString",
      "id": "storage_path",
      "description": "Base folder for input and output files.",
      "password": false
    }
  ],
  "servers": {
    "groupdocs-annotation": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "dnx",
      "args": ["GroupDocs.Annotation.Mcp", "--yes"],
      "env": {
        "GROUPDOCS_MCP_STORAGE_PATH": "${input:storage_path}"
      }
    }
  }
}

Same pinning rule as above — swap "GroupDocs.Annotation.Mcp" for "[email protected]" to lock to a specific release.

Usage with Docker Compose

cd docker
docker compose up

Edit docker/docker-compose.yml to point volumes at your local documents folder.

License

MIT — see LICENSE