PDF Card MCP server

by velyan·io.github.velyan/pdf-card-mcp·v0.1.2·2 stars

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Local-first MCP server + CLI that turns PDFs into source-linked, card-based HTML readers.

A92/100grade A

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Safety scan

A92/100

full report

Adoption

Growing

2 stars26 downloads/wk

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If you have run it, two minutes of your experience saves the next person an afternoon.

PDF Card MCP tools (3, 1 write)

write = sends, deletes, buys or posts

Read from the package source without running it. The installed server may list more.

convert_pdf_to_card_html
Convert a local PDF into a portable, source-linked HTML reader.
publish_reader_bundlewrite action
Publish a static reader bundle with selected notes and highlights.
validate_reader_annotations
Validate a notes/highlights sidecar against a generated reader HTML file.

Public scan report

scanner v0.1.9 · 2026-09-27 · same rubric, same numbers if you re-run it

no findings

Code scan17 source files scanned25/25
–Live reliabilityno gateway calls yet and no remote to proben/a
–Tool poisoningtools not inspected (local package is not executed); not countedn/a
Auth qualitylocal package, no credentials required12/15
Maintenancelast push 22 days ago15/15
Maintainer identityregistry namespace matches repository owner; GitHub account older than a year8/10

Overall 92/100. Components that don't apply are left out of the denominator. Any critical finding is an F.Rubric Appeal a finding JSON

How PDF Card MCP compares

Against every graded MCP server, from our own scans and uptime checks. Updated after each scan run.

Safety score: 92/100; higher than 95% of 48,255 servers
Tools: 3; the typical server has 7
Tools that change things: 33%; typical: 0%. Fewer write tools means less an agent can break
GitHub stars: 2; more than 75% of 28,688 servers
Downloads a week: 26; more than 13% of 12,191 servers with a package

What its tools let an agent do: 2 read · 1 send or post

Install PDF Card MCP in Claude Code, Cursor or VS Code

claude mcp add pdf-card-mcp -- uvx pdf-card-mcp

Add to Cursor

What the publisher says

From the PDF Card MCP repository's README, as published. We do not edit it. Read it on GitHub

PDF Card MCP

PDF Card MCP is a local-first MCP server and CLI for turning dense local PDFs into portable, source-linked HTML readers. An MCP host can ask it to convert a PDF path, validate notes/highlights, or publish a static annotated reader bundle. The converter preserves source text, renders source pages for verification, crops detected tables, figures, and display formulas as images, derives safe reader styling from the original PDF palette, and writes a standalone HTML file that can be moved across devices without losing assets.

Default conversion runs locally and does not require a hosted service. Optional MCP sampling is deliberately bounded: the host model may choose validated style tokens or suggest card-boundary polish operations, but raw CSS and source-text rewrites are rejected.

The default reader is designed for comfortable reading: large type, small cards, search, section navigation, next/previous controls, keyboard navigation, a font-size slider, and source-page previews.

PDF Card MCP is meant for PDFs you actually need to read, cite, or inspect. It turns long documents into smaller source-linked cards, keeps tables/figures/formulas as faithful image crops, and lets you export your own notes and highlights as Markdown.

Quick Install (one-click)

PDF Card MCP is a Python server, so it needs a runtime. The one thing to install first is uv — it manages Python for you, so you do not have to. This is the only prerequisite for every install path below:

# macOS / Linux
curl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | sh

# Windows (PowerShell)
powershell -ExecutionPolicy ByPass -c "irm https://astral.sh/uv/install.ps1 | iex"

Then add the server with one click. The buttons run the published pdf-card-mcp package through uv:

Claude Code (terminal):

claude mcp add pdf-card -- uvx --from pdf-card-mcp pdf-card-mcp-server

Claude Desktop (no terminal, no prerequisites): download pdf-card-mcp-desktop.mcpb from the latest release and double-click it to install as an extension. This bundle declares the uv runtime, so Claude Desktop installs Python and dependencies for you — you do not need the uv step above for this path.

After installing, restart (or reload MCP servers in) your client so it picks up the new server.

Real Screenshots

These screenshots are from a generated reader for Agents in Software Engineering and the same source PDF opened side by side for comparison.

Shortened. The full README is on GitHub.

Nothing above is checked by us. What we check is on the safety report.

PDF Card MCP: common questions

Is PDF Card MCP server safe?: Yes, by our scan: it is graded A (92/100). Read the PDF Card MCP safety report
How do I install PDF Card MCP?: It runs on your machine. Copy the Claude Code, Cursor, VS Code or Claude Desktop config from the install section.
Does PDF Card MCP need an API key?: Not as far as the registry entry and our scan can tell: no credentials are declared or required.
Is PDF Card MCP maintained?: The last commit was 60 days ago (2026-09-05). The latest release is v0.1.2.
How does PDF Card MCP compare with other MCP servers?: safety score 92/100 (higher than 95% of 48,255 servers); tools 3 (the typical server has 7); tools that change things 33% (typical: 0%. Fewer write tools means less an agent can break). Full comparison.