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Generate PDFs with Claude Code and PDFBolt

Use PDFBolt in Claude Code to generate PDFs from prompts, web page URLs, or reusable templates. Describe the document and its layout, and Claude uses PDFBolt to create it. Ask for a download link or ask Claude Code to save the PDF to a local folder.

PDFBolt hosts the MCP server, so you do not need to run a server locally or provide a PDFBolt API key. You connect your PDFBolt account by signing in through OAuth in your browser.

Before You Start​

You need a PDFBolt account and Claude Code installed and signed in.

1. Add the PDFBolt MCP Server​

In a terminal, outside the Claude Code conversation, run:

claude mcp add --transport http --scope user pdfbolt https://api.pdfbolt.com/mcp

The command saves PDFBolt’s MCP configuration in ~/.claude.json. The --scope user option makes it available across your projects.

2. Sign In and Allow Access​

Start Claude Code:

claude

Enter /mcp in the conversation and select pdfbolt. If authentication is required, choose Authenticate.

Claude Code MCP menu with the Authenticate option for PDFBolt

Claude Code opens a browser for sign-in. If it does not open, use the authorization URL displayed in the terminal.

Sign in to your PDFBolt account if prompted. On the Connect Claude Code to PDFBolt? screen, review the requested permissions and select Allow access. This allows Claude Code to generate PDFs, manage templates, and view your plan and credit usage.

PDFBolt OAuth permissions screen for connecting Claude Code

Once the browser confirms successful authentication, return to Claude Code.

3. Check the Connection​

Enter /mcp and check that pdfbolt is connected.

Claude Code confirming a successful connection to PDFBolt

You can also list configured servers from a separate terminal:

claude mcp list

In the Claude Code conversation, send this prompt to check access to your PDFBolt account:

Use PDFBolt to check my current plan and remaining credits. Do not generate any PDFs.

If Claude Code asks for permission, approve the request. Claude should return your plan and remaining credits. This check does not consume PDF generation credits.

Claude Code showing the PDFBolt plan and remaining PDF generation credits

4. Generate a PDF from a Prompt​

Describe the document 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.

Claude Code prepares the HTML and uses PDFBolt to generate the PDF. Open the download link in the response.

PDF quote generated with Claude Code and PDFBolt for Acme Studio, totaling $1,500

The layout may differ from this example. Check the document and save it before the download link expires.

Manual MCP Configuration​

To configure PDFBolt manually, add the pdfbolt entry shown below to ~/.claude.json, keeping your existing settings and servers.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "pdfbolt": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://api.pdfbolt.com/mcp"
    }
  }
}

Save the file and start a new Claude Code session. Enter /mcp, select pdfbolt, and choose Authenticate if prompted. See the Claude Code MCP reference for other configuration options.

Troubleshooting​

The PDFBolt MCP server already exists

If the add command reports that pdfbolt already exists, check its configuration:

claude mcp get pdfbolt

Check that the type is http and the URL is https://api.pdfbolt.com/mcp. If the status is Connected, continue with Check the Connection. If authentication is required, follow Sign In and Allow Access.

PDFBolt still needs authentication

In Claude Code, enter /mcp, select pdfbolt, and choose Authenticate. Adding the server does not sign you in to PDFBolt.

If the browser does not open, open the authorization URL shown in the terminal and follow the sign-in and authorization steps.

PDFBolt does not appear in the MCP list

Run claude mcp list in your terminal. If you added PDFBolt for a specific project, run the command from that project’s directory. If PDFBolt is not listed, follow Add the PDFBolt MCP Server, then start a new Claude Code session.

If you configured PDFBolt manually, check your entry against Manual MCP Configuration. Run claude doctor if Claude reports a configuration problem.

Claude Code cannot save the PDF locally

Open the download link in your browser. File or network restrictions in Claude Code’s environment may prevent it from saving the PDF locally, even when PDF generation succeeds.

Check the existing link before requesting another conversion, which uses additional PDFBolt credits.

For other errors, see the MCP troubleshooting guide.