PDFShift MCP Server
The PDFShift MCP server exposes conversion, templates, credits, and logs to Claude, Cursor, and any Model Context Protocol client over a single hosted endpoint.
Connecting your client
All clients need the same three things: the endpoint URL, the HTTP transport, and your API key sent as a header.
Endpoint: https://api.pdfshift.io/mcp
Transport: Streamable HTTP
Auth header: X-API-Key: YOUR_PDFSHIFT_API_KEY You can send the key as either X-API-Key. Discovery (listing tools) works without a key; running a tool requires one.
Claude Code
Add the server in one command, then restart your session:
Cursor & other HTTP-native clients
Add PDFShift to your MCP configuration (for Cursor, ~/.cursor/mcp.json):
Claude Desktop & stdio-only clients
For clients that only speak stdio, bridge to the remote server with mcp-remote:
{
"mcpServers": {
"pdfshift": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"mcp-remote",
"https://api.pdfshift.io/mcp",
"--header",
"X-API-Key:YOUR_PDFSHIFT_API_KEY"
]
}
}
}Restart the client afterwards so it picks up the new server.
Available tools
The server exposes 11 tools. Your agent picks the right one automatically; you just describe what you want.
convert
Convert an HTML document or a URL to PDF, PNG, JPEG, or WEBP. Returns a temporary download URL.
list_templates
List all saved HTML templates for the account.
get_template
Get the raw HTML content of a template by its slug.
create_template
Create a new reusable HTML template.
update_template
Update the name and/or HTML content of an existing template.
delete_template
Delete a template by its slug.
generate_from_template
Render a saved template to HTML, PDF, PNG, JPEG, or WEBP with template variables.
credits_usage
Get current credit usage for the account (remaining, total, used).
pricing
List available PDFShift plans and their pricing.
list_logs
List recent conversion logs, with optional status and key filters.
get_log
Get a single conversion log by its request id.
The convert and generate_from_template tools accept any documented PDFShift option (margins, headers & footers, watermarks, protection, cookies, and more) as extra parameters.
Example prompts
Once connected, just ask your agent in plain language. For example:
"Convert https://example.com to a PDF in landscape."
"Turn this HTML into a PNG: <h1>Hello</h1>"
"Create a template called invoice, then render it to
PDF with customer 'Acme Inc.' and total '$149.00'."
"How many PDFShift credits do I have left?"
"Show my last 10 failed conversions."Conversions return a temporary download URL, valid for about 2 days. Add sandbox while experimenting to generate free, watermarked documents that don’t consume credits.