oxidize-pdf
<!-- mcp-name: io.github.bzsanti/oxidize-pdf-mcp -->
Rust-powered PDF library for Python. Generate, parse, split, merge, and manipulate PDFs with native performance. Ships with a built-in MCP server so AI agents can work with PDFs out of the box.
No C dependencies. No Java. No subprocess calls.
Installation
pip install oxidize-pdf # Core library
pip install "oxidize-pdf[mcp]" # + MCP server for AI agents
Platforms: Linux (x86_64, aarch64) | macOS (x86_64, Apple Silicon) | Windows (x86_64) Requires: Python 3.10+
Why oxidize-pdf?
| oxidize-pdf | Pure-Python libs | C/Java wrappers | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Performance | Native (compiled Rust) | Interpreted | Native but heavy |
| Dependencies | Zero | Varies | Poppler, Java, Ghostscript |
| Memory safety | Rust ownership model | GC-dependent | Manual / GC |
| Type stubs | Full (mypy/pyright) | Partial | Rare |
| AI-ready (MCP) | Built-in | No | No |
MCP Server
Give your AI agent full PDF capabilities in one line:
oxidize-mcp
The built-in Model Context Protocol server exposes 12 tools, 6 resources, and 5 prompts — compatible with Claude, GPT, and any MCP client.
Claude Desktop integration
Add to your claude_desktop_config.json:
{
"mcpServers": {
"oxidize-pdf": {
"command": "oxidize-mcp",
"env": {
"OXIDIZE_WORKSPACE": "/path/to/your/pdfs"
}
}
}
}
GitHub Copilot (VS Code) integration
Copilot's agent mode speaks MCP. Add .vscode/mcp.json to your workspace:
{
"servers": {
"oxidize-pdf": {
"command": "oxidize-mcp",
"env": {
"OXIDIZE_WORKSPACE": "/path/to/your/pdfs"
}
}
}
}
Open the Chat view, switch to Agent mode, and the 12 PDF tools appear in
the tool picker. (The same block also works under the mcp.servers key in your
user settings.json if you prefer a global install.)
OpenAI Agents SDK integration
The OpenAI Agents SDK spawns the server over stdio and exposes its tools to an agent:
from agents import Agent, Runner
from agents.mcp import MCPServerStdio
async with MCPServerStdio(
params={"command": "oxidize-mcp", "env": {"OXIDIZE_WORKSPACE": "/path/to/your/pdfs"}},
cache_tools_list=True,
) as server:
agent = Agent(
name="PDF assistant",
instructions="Use the oxidize-pdf tools to inspect and manipulate PDFs.",
mcp_servers=[server],
)
result = await Runner.run(agent, "How many pages does report.pdf have?")
print(result.final_output)
A runnable version is in examples/openai_agents_quickstart.py.
Both integrations run the server locally over stdio, so its tools operate on PDFs in the configured workspace directory. Remote/hosted use (e.g. the OpenAI Responses API hosted MCP tool) needs an HTTP transport and is not yet exposed.
Available tools
| Tool | What it does |
|---|---|
read_pdf | Read metadata — page count, version, encryption status, title, author |
extract_text | Extract text from all pages or a specific page |
convert_pdf | Convert to markdown, chunks, or RAG-optimized format |
create_pdf | Create a new PDF with optional metadata |
save_pdf | Save a session to disk, with optional encryption |
add_content | Add pages, text, and graphics to a session |
annotate_pdf | Add text annotations and highlights |
manipulate_pdf | Split, merge, rotate, extract pages, reverse, overlay |
manage_forms | Create, fill, read, and validate form fields |
secure_pdf | Encrypt, check permissions, verify signatures |
extract_entities | Extract structured entities from pages |
analyze_pdf | Validate structure, detect corruption, check PDF/A compliance |
The server also exposes resources (session data, capabilities, version info) and prompts (guided workflows for summarization, data extraction, form filling, and more).
Configuration
OXIDIZE_WORKSPACE=/path/to/pdfs oxidize-mcp
The server is configured entirely through environment variables:
| Variable | Default | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
OXIDIZE_WORKSPACE | ~/Documents/oxidize-mcp | Sandbox root; all paths must resolve inside it. |
OXIDIZE_ALLOWED_PATHS | (none) | Comma-separated extra directories allowed outside the workspace. |
OXIDIZE_MAX_FILE_SIZE_MB | 100 | Reject input PDFs larger than this on disk. |
OXIDIZE_MAX_PAGES | 10000 | Reject documents with more pages than this before any extraction work. |
OXIDIZE_MAX_OUTPUT_BYTES | 10485760 | Cap the serialized size of a tool's JSON response (10 MB). |
OXIDIZE_MAX_SESSIONS | 10 | Maximum concurrent stateful PDF-creation sessions. |
OXIDIZE_MAX_SESSION_BYTES | 10485760 | Cap the content a single session may accumulate (10 MB). |
OXIDIZE_SESSION_TIMEOUT | 3600 | Session expiry, in seconds. |
Resource caps (OXIDIZE_MAX_*) protect the server from a large or malicious
PDF: oversized documents are rejected up front and tool responses are bounded
rather than serialized unbounded. Exceeding a cap returns an error with code
RESOURCE_LIMIT.
Or start programmatically:
from oxidize_pdf.mcp.server import run
run()
Python API
Create a PDF
from oxidize_pdf import Document, Page, Font, Color
doc = Document()
doc.set_title("My Document")
doc.set_author("Jane Doe")
page = Page.a4()
page.set_font(Font.HELVETICA, 24.0)
page.set_text_color(Color.black())
page.text_at(72.0, 750.0, "Hello from oxidize-pdf!")
page.set_font(Font.TIMES_ROMAN, 12.0)
page.text_at(72.0, 700.0, "Generated with Python + Rust.")
doc.add_page(page)
doc.save("output.pdf")
Parse an existing PDF
from oxidize_pdf import PdfReader
reader = PdfReader.open("document.pdf")
print(f"Pages: {reader.page_count}, Version: {reader.version}")
for i, text in enumerate(reader.extract_text()):
print(f"--- Page {i + 1} ---")
print(text)
Operations
from oxidize_pdf import split_pdf, merge_pdfs, rotate_pdf, extract_pages
split_pdf("input.pdf", "output_dir/") # Split into individual pages
merge_pdfs(["part1.pdf", "part2.pdf"], "merged.pdf") # Merge multiple PDFs
rotate_pdf("input.pdf", "rotated.pdf", 90) # Rotate all pages
extract_pages("input.pdf", "subset.pdf", [0, 2, 4]) # Extract specific pages
Graphics
from oxidize_pdf import Document, Page, Color
doc = Document()
page = Page.a4()
page.set_fill_color(Color.hex("#3498db"))
page.draw_rect(72.0, 700.0, 200.0, 100.0)
page.fill()
page.set_stroke_color(Color.red())
page.set_line_width(2.0)
page.draw_circle(300.0, 500.0, 50.0)
page.stroke()
doc.add_page(page)
doc.save("graphics.pdf")
Types
from oxidize_pdf import Color, Point, Rectangle, Margins, Font
# Colors
Color.rgb(1.0, 0.0, 0.0) # RGB
Color.hex("#ff6600") # Hex
Color.cmyk(0.0, 1.0, 1.0, 0.0) # CMYK
# Geometry
Point(72.0, 720.0)
Rectangle.from_xywh(72.0, 72.0, 468.0, 648.0)
Margins.uniform(72.0)
# Fonts — all 14 standard PDF fonts
Font.HELVETICA # Font.HELVETICA_BOLD
Font.TIMES_ROMAN # Font.TIMES_BOLD
Font.COURIER # Font.COURIER_BOLD
Error handling
from oxidize_pdf import PdfReader, PdfError, PdfIoError, PdfParseError
try:
reader = PdfReader.open("missing.pdf")
except PdfIoError as e:
print(f"I/O error: {e}")
except PdfParseError as e:
print(f"Parse error: {e}")
except PdfError as e:
print(f"PDF error: {e}")
Exception hierarchy: PdfError > PdfIoError, PdfParseError, PdfEncryptionError, PdfPermissionError
MCP Server
oxidize-pdf includes an MCP server that exposes PDF capabilities to AI assistants like Claude. Install with the mcp extra:
pip install oxidize-pdf[mcp]
Claude Desktop
Add this to your claude_desktop_config.json:
{
"mcpServers": {
"oxidize-pdf": {
"command": "uvx",
"args": ["--from", "oxidize-pdf[mcp]", "oxidize-mcp"]
}
}
}
Claude Code
claude mcp add oxidize-pdf -- uvx --from "oxidize-pdf[mcp]" oxidize-mcp
Available tools
| Tool | Description |
|---|---|
read_pdf | Open a PDF and get metadata (pages, version, encryption) |
extract_text | Extract text content from PDF pages |
convert_pdf | Convert between PDF versions |
analyze_pdf | Analyze structure, fonts, images, and compliance |
extract_entities | Extract images and digital signatures |
manipulate_pdf | Split, merge, rotate, extract, and reorder pages |
annotate_pdf | Add text annotations, highlights, and stamps |
manage_forms | Create, fill, and read PDF form fields |
secure_pdf | Encrypt, decrypt, and set document permissions |
create_pdf | Create a new PDF document with pages |
add_pdf_content | Add text, shapes, and images to pages |
save_pdf | Save the document to file or bytes |
Resources
oxidize://fonts— Available built-in PDF fontsoxidize://page-sizes— Standard page sizes with dimensionsoxidize://capabilities— Server capabilities and tool listingoxidize://version— Version informationoxidize://workspace— PDF files in the workspace directoryoxidize://session/{id}— Session data by ID
Known limitations
- Encryption write support:
Document.encrypt()configures encryption parameters but the underlying Rust library does not yet serialize the encryption dictionary to the PDF output. Reading encrypted PDFs works correctly. - CPython only: PyPy and GraalPy are not supported.
License
MIT — see LICENSE for details.