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MCP PDF Tools in Cline

Merge, split, stamp and read PDFs, pure JavaScript, no upload. It merges and splits PDFs, extracts and reorders pages, rotates a sideways scan, stamps PAID or DRAFT or any text, watermarks the business name and VAT id from the shared profile, and reads text back best effort with no OCR.

pdf_info, pdf_count and pdf_text are safe to auto-approve since none of them write a file; leave pdf_merge, pdf_split, pdf_stamp and the rest behind a click, since each one creates a new file on disk.

What you get in Cline

You say	Tool
Stamp PAID on this invoice and save a copy.	`pdf_stamp`
Join these three PDFs into one file.	`pdf_merge`
Split the scan: pages 1-3 are the invoice, 4 onwards is the receipt.	`pdf_split`

The worked run stamped PAID on a 1-page invoice and wrote a new 0.9 MB file; the original file was byte-for-byte unchanged, which every writing tool here guarantees on purpose.

Install it in Cline

The file is mcp.json, and the key inside it is mcpServers.

Scope	Path
Cline CLI	`~/.cline/mcp.json`
The editor extension	`opened from the Cline panel, not by path; the documentation deliberately calls it the MCP settings JSON used by the extension`

If you also run Claude Desktop, the shortest path there is one click: pdf.mcpb from the bundle catalog opens as an extension, with no JSON and no terminal. Cline reads its own config, so here it is:

The config block:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "pdf": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/absolute/path/to/mcp-servers/servers/pdf/dist/index.js"],
      "disabled": false,
      "autoApprove": []
    }
  }
}

The node command above wants a built file. From a clone, once:

git clone https://github.com/theluckystrike/mcp-servers.git
cd mcp-servers && npm install
npm run build -w packages/mcp-license -w servers/pdf

That writes servers/pdf/dist/index.js, and its absolute path is the one argument the config needs.

The npm packages are not published yet, so the form below returns a 404 today. It is here because it is what the entry becomes the day the publish lands, with nothing else changed:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "pdf": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@theluckystrike/mcp-pdf"]
    }
  }
}

No full-app restart. The MCP settings actions include restarting an unresponsive server if its tools do not appear.

Nothing is published to npm yet, so the working install paths are the ones above: the .mcpb bundle from the bundle catalog, a clone and build, or the hosted URL.

No install: the hosted endpoint

The same server runs at https://mcp.zovo.one/mcp/pdf over MCP streamable HTTP, no install. Mint a free token with curl https://mcp.zovo.one/mcp/token, or use a Pro key. It has no filesystem, so a file comes back as a one-hour download link.

Write the transport in. Omitting type falls back to the legacy sse transport, which will not talk to this endpoint:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "pdf": {
      "type": "streamableHttp",
      "url": "https://mcp.zovo.one/mcp/pdf",
      "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer <token>" }
    }
  }
}

Cline notes worth knowing first

Cline is the one client here with an unsafe transport default. `type` selects it, and omitting `type` falls back to the legacy sse transport, so a streamable HTTP endpoint needs it written in or you will debug a server that is fine. Local entries carry "disabled" and an "autoApprove" array.

Free: info, count and text unlimited; merge up to 5 files; edits on files up to 30 pages; the PAID and DRAFT stamp presets. Pro is $19 once, verified offline.

Questions

Where does the config live?

The CLI reads ~/.cline/mcp.json. For the extension, do not hunt for a path: MCP Servers icon, Configure tab, Configure MCP Servers. cline mcp opens a wizard, and cline config mcp --json is the non-interactive form.

The hosted endpoint will not connect.

Set the transport explicitly. Omitting type falls back to the legacy sse transport, so streamable HTTP needs "type": "streamableHttp" written in.

Should I auto-approve MCP PDF Tools's tools?

Approve the read-only ones and leave the writing ones behind a click: each entry carries an autoApprove array and a disabled flag.

MCP PDF Tools in detail · The same server in Windsurf and Claude.ai and Claude Desktop connectors · Every server in Cline · Guides · Cline docs · Buy Pro

Related guides & tools

Merge, split and stamp PDFs from chat, and why some come back as glyph numbers · Price drop alerts and PDF cleanup from chat: two small jobs you keep postponing · Splitting one big scan into separate documents · Merging a folder of receipts into one PDF from chat