PDF MCP Server
Connect your AI assistant to PDFBolt to generate PDFs from HTML, web page URLs, or reusable templates. Describe a quote, invoice, or report in a conversation and ask for a PDF download link.
PDFBolt hosts the MCP (Model Context Protocol) server. Sign in to your PDFBolt account through OAuth to connect. No PDFBolt API key or local server is required.
Connect to PDFBolt
You need a PDFBolt account and a compatible MCP client that supports Streamable HTTP and OAuth sign-in.
Use this server URL:
https://api.pdfbolt.com/mcp
Choose your client for setup and sign-in instructions:
| Client | Setup guide |
|---|---|
| Codex | PDFBolt for Codex |
| Claude Code | PDFBolt for Claude Code |
| Claude | PDFBolt for Claude |
| Cursor | PDFBolt for Cursor |
| VS Code | PDFBolt for VS Code |
| Hermes Agent | PDFBolt for Hermes Agent |
| OpenClaw | PDFBolt for OpenClaw |
| Other MCP Clients | Connect a compatible MCP client |
Check the Connection
Open a conversation that can use MCP tools and send:
Use PDFBolt to check my current plan and remaining credits. Do not generate any PDFs.
The response should show your PDFBolt plan and remaining credits. Checking usage does not consume PDF generation credits.
Generate a PDF
Give your assistant the content, page size, and layout you need. For example:
Use PDFBolt to create a one-page A4 quote for Acme Studio: website design for $600 and development for $900. Show the total of $1,500. Use a navy heading and a clear pricing table. Give me a PDF download link without saving a template.
Your assistant prepares the HTML and calls PDFBolt for HTML-to-PDF conversion. Open the returned link in your browser to review and save the document.
Use Reusable PDF Templates
For recurring invoices or reports, ask your assistant to create a reusable PDF template, save it as a draft, and provide a PDF preview. Review the preview, then ask the assistant to publish the template.
Once published, the template can generate documents with new customer details, dates, and amounts. Saving changes as a draft does not replace the published version.
See PDF templates for more about layouts, data fields, and publishing.
Download Your PDF
Ask for a PDF download link to open the result in your browser. Links are temporary, so save the PDF before the link expires.
PDFBolt also supports returning the PDF file directly in the MCP tool response. Whether it appears as an attachment or can be saved depends on your client. A successful conversion does not necessarily mean the assistant can open or inspect the document.
For details on the underlying REST API endpoints, see Sync and Direct.
Available Tools
Your assistant chooses tools based on your request. You can ask it to generate a PDF, check your credits, or work with templates without naming a tool.
View Available Tools
| Tool | Purpose |
|---|---|
convert_pdf_sync | Generate a PDF from HTML, a URL, or a published template and return a download link. Also supports upload to custom storage. |
convert_pdf_direct | Generate a PDF and return the file in the tool response. |
get_usage | Check your plan and remaining credits. |
get_template_contract | Read the reference for template syntax, PDF options, and limits. |
list_templates | List templates and their draft and published versions. |
get_template | Read a template’s active draft, or its published version if there is no draft. |
validate_template | Check template content, data, and options without generating a PDF. |
preview_template | Generate a PDF preview from template content and data without publishing. |
compare_template | Generate PDFs of a published template and a proposed replacement for comparison. |
create_template_draft | Create a new template and save it as an unpublished draft. |
update_template_draft | Update a draft or create one for an existing published template. |
publish_template | Publish the current draft. |
delete_template | Delete a template and its versions. |
HTML and Template Data
MCP accepts HTML as plain UTF-8 JSON strings in html, content, headerTemplate, and footerTemplate. Template tools place headers and footers inside parameters. Use normal JSON escaping and preserve existing HTML entities; do not encode or decode HTML yourself. Templates use Handlebars with sample data and PDF options. Supply totals according to the template's fields; a field named totalPrice does not automatically sum line items.
get_template returns the active draft if one exists, otherwise the published version. Its content, headers, and footers are plain HTML strings ready to edit and reuse. Use list_templates to check version numbers. compare_template does not save or publish changes itself; it can return a successful PDF even if the other side fails.
The Template API reference describes the underlying operations. MCP uses OAuth and plain HTML strings. REST API examples use Personal Access Token authentication and Base64-encoded HTML; that REST contract is unchanged.
Credits and Usage
Successful PDF generation and template previews use your normal PDFBolt credits. A template comparison uses credits for each successfully generated PDF.
Checking usage, reading and validating templates, and saving, publishing, or deleting templates do not consume PDF generation credits.
Generated PDFs use credits even if your client cannot download them. Generating the PDF again uses additional credits.
Your PDFBolt plan’s rate limits apply. Your AI provider’s billing is separate. See pricing for PDFBolt plans.
Manage Connected Apps
Connected clients can generate PDFs, create and manage templates, and check your plan and credit usage.
To disconnect a client, open PDFBolt Settings, find Connected Apps, and select Revoke for that connection.
Troubleshooting
The client cannot connect
Check that the server URL is https://api.pdfbolt.com/mcp and that your client supports Streamable HTTP and a compatible OAuth sign-in flow. Follow your client’s setup guide to check the configuration.
If the connection requires authentication or the authorization request has expired, start sign-in again from your client.
For errors mentioning dynamic client registration, see your client’s setup guide or Other MCP Clients.
The assistant does not use PDFBolt
Check that PDFBolt is connected and its tools are enabled for the conversation. Mention PDFBolt in your prompt and approve the tool request if your client is waiting for permission.
The PDF is not available as an attachment
A PDF returned in a tool response may not appear as a downloadable attachment. If the response includes a download link, open it in your browser. A pdfbolt:// resource URI identifies an embedded file and cannot be used as a browser download link.
For future requests, ask for a PDF download link explicitly. Generating the PDF again to obtain a link uses additional credits.
The PDF download link does not work
Open the full link from the response in your browser. If it works there but the assistant cannot download it, the client’s environment may restrict downloads.
Check the expiration time returned with the result (PDFBolt-hosted download links are valid for 24 hours). If the link has expired, use a saved copy or ask your assistant to generate the PDF again. Generating it again uses additional credits.
A request fails with a credit or rate-limit error
Read the error message to identify the cause. For a credit error, check your remaining credits. If the message names a plan restriction, check whether your plan supports the requested operation.
For a rate-limit error, wait before retrying and reduce the number of simultaneous requests. Follow any retry delay provided in the response. See rate limits for details.
A web page cannot be converted
Check the URL and try a publicly accessible page first. PDFBolt loads the page on its servers and does not automatically use your browser’s signed-in session. Pages that require sign-in may need authentication options, such as HTTP credentials or cookies.
Check the error message for details about access or rendering failures. See PDF options for authentication and rendering settings, and conversion errors for error explanations.
A template is missing or uses an older layout
Ask the assistant to list your PDFBolt templates and check the template ID. If the expected template is missing, confirm that you connected the correct PDFBolt account.
PDF generation from a saved template uses its published version. Saving changes as a draft does not update that version. Ask for a preview of the draft, review it, then ask the assistant to publish it when you are ready. See PDF templates for details.
If you need help, email [email protected] with your client name, the error message, and when it occurred. Do not include access tokens, confidential document links, or sensitive document content.