PDF Extraction Server

A remote MCP server that gives Claude the ability to extract text and metadata from PDF files. Add it as a custom connector on claude.ai.

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Tools exposed to Claude

Tool	Description
extract_text_from_url	Download a PDF from a public URL and return its text
extract_text_from_base64	Extract text from a base64-encoded PDF
get_pdf_metadata	Return page count, title, author, dates — without full text

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Quick start (local)

npm install
npm start
# Server runs on http://localhost:3000

To test locally with Claude Desktop, use mcp-remote:

// claude_desktop_config.json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "pdf-extraction": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["mcp-remote", "http://localhost:3000/mcp"]
    }
  }
}

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Deploy to the internet (required for claude.ai connector)

Claude.ai connectors require a publicly accessible HTTPS URL.

Option A — Railway (easiest, free tier available)

1. Push this repo to GitHub.
2. Go to railway.app → New Project → Deploy from GitHub repo.
3. Railway auto-detects the Dockerfile and deploys.
4. Set env vars in Railway dashboard (e.g. API_KEY).
5. Railway gives you a public HTTPS URL like https://pdf-mcp-production.up.railway.app.

Option B — Render

1. Push to GitHub.
2. Go to render.com → New Web Service → connect repo.
3. Runtime: Docker. Set env vars.
4. Render gives you https://your-service.onrender.com.

Option C — Fly.io

fly launch          # follow prompts, auto-detects Dockerfile
fly secrets set API_KEY=your-secret
fly deploy

Option D — Docker anywhere (VPS / cloud VM)

docker compose up -d
# Then expose port 3000 via nginx + Let's Encrypt for HTTPS

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Add to Claude.ai as a connector

Requires Pro, Max, Team, or Enterprise plan.

1. Open claude.ai → click your avatar → Settings.
2. Navigate to Connectors.
3. Click "Add custom connector".
4. Enter your server's MCP endpoint URL:

   https://your-deployed-server.example.com/mcp
   

5. If you set API_KEY, click Advanced settings and enter it as the OAuth Client Secret (or pass it via a Bearer header using mcp-remote for Desktop).
6. Click Add.

Claude will now have access to the three PDF tools in every conversation.

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Authentication

The server supports two modes:

Authless (default MVP mode) — anyone who knows your URL can use it. Fine for personal use.

Bearer token — set the API_KEY environment variable. Callers must include:

Authorization: Bearer <your-key>

For a production connector with user-level OAuth, see the MCP auth spec.

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Environment variables

Variable	Default	Description
PORT	3000	HTTP port
API_KEY	(unset)	When set, requires Authorization: Bearer <key>

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Extending the server

Add a new tool in src/server.js by calling server.tool(name, description, schema, handler). The MCP SDK handles all protocol framing automatically.

Ideas for next tools:

• extract_tables — extract tabular data from PDFs
• search_pdf — search for a keyword across pages
• split_pages — return text page-by-page
• summarize_pdf — pipe extracted text back through Claude API