GroupDocs.Total MCP Server

Unified MCP server that exposes the full GroupDocs.Total document-processing toolset — annotation, comparison, conversion, markdown, merging, metadata, parsing, redaction, signing, watermarking, plus cross-product document inspection and page preview — as AI-callable tools for Claude, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, and other MCP agents. Designed to be used standalone — attaching the individual product MCPs (GroupDocs.Annotation.Mcp, GroupDocs.Signature.Mcp, …) alongside is unnecessary and would duplicate tools.

Installation

One-click installs pre-fill every supported setting: edit the placeholder host path in the volume mount after install; an empty GROUPDOCS_LICENSE_PATH runs in evaluation mode.

More clients - ready-made configs for Claude Code, Codex CLI, Visual Studio 2022, Cursor, Windsurf, Cline, and JetBrains Rider live in install/generated/.

This product ships via Docker (GHCR) only. GroupDocs.Total bundles every engine (including Parser's embedded ONNX models), so the packed tool far exceeds NuGet.org's 250 MB limit - so dnx and dotnet tool install are not available for it. When upstream ships a slimmer engine that packs under the limit, the standard NuGet flow returns (see the revert notes in .github/workflows/publish_prod.yml).

docker run --rm -i \
  -v $(pwd)/documents:/data \
  ghcr.io/groupdocs-total/total-net-mcp:latest

Images are multi-arch (linux/amd64 + linux/arm64), tagged latest plus an immutable version tag per release (e.g. :26.7.3). To pin, replace :latest with the version tag - recommended for shared configs and CI.

Available MCP Tools (38 total)

Tools follow {Product}{Verb}{Noun} PascalCase to disambiguate across domains. Cross-product tools stay short.

Cross-product (2)

Tool	Description
GetDocumentInfo	File type, page count, size as JSON for any document (170+ formats via Parser engine)
GetDocumentPageImage	Render up to 5 pages as inline PNG images (Viewer engine, 170+ formats)

Annotation (8)

Tool	Description
AnnotationAddAnnotation	Add textfield / area / point / arrow / highlight / underline / strikeout annotation
AnnotationGetAnnotations	List all annotations as JSON (id, type, message, page, box, user, replies)
AnnotationUpdateAnnotation	Modify an existing annotation's message and/or bounding box by id
AnnotationRemoveAnnotations	Remove annotations by id list, or all
AnnotationAddReply	Add a reply / comment thread to an existing annotation
AnnotationRemoveReplies	Remove replies by id, by user name, or all
AnnotationImportAnnotations	Import annotations from XML or another annotated document
AnnotationExportAnnotations	Extract annotations to XML (re-importable via Import)

Signature (7)

Tool	Description
SignatureSign	Sign with text / qrcode / barcode / digital certificate signature
SignatureVerify	Verify signatures, return JSON validity report
SignatureSearchTextSignatures	Find embedded text signatures with optional substring filter
SignatureSearchBarcodes	Find barcode signatures with optional decoded-text filter
SignatureSearchQrCodes	Find QR code signatures with optional decoded-text filter
SignatureSearchDigitalSignatures	Find digital certificate signatures (signer, issuer, validity)
SignatureSearchImageSignatures	Find embedded image signatures, return as base64 PNGs

Comparison (1) · Conversion (2) · Markdown (2)

Tool	Description
ComparisonCompare	Compare two documents, produce annotated diff document
ConversionConvert	Convert between PDF, Office, image, HTML, and 50+ more formats
ConversionGetSupportedFormats	List every output format the document can be converted TO
MarkdownConvertToMarkdown	Convert PDF / Office / EPUB / MOBI to clean Markdown
MarkdownComposeFromMarkdown	Compose DOCX / PDF / HTML from Markdown source

Merger (2) · Metadata (2)

Tool	Description
MergerMerge	Combine up to 4 documents into one (PDF / Office / HTML / images)
MergerSplit	Split a document into separate files by page numbers
MetadataReadMetadata	Read all metadata properties (author, title, EXIF, XMP, IPTC, custom) as JSON
MetadataRemoveMetadata	Strip all metadata and save a clean copy

Parser (5) · Redaction (4) · Watermark (3)

Tool	Description
ParserExtractText	Extract plain text (page-by-page or whole document)
ParserExtractImages	Extract embedded images and save them to storage
ParserExtractTables	Extract tables as Markdown or JSON
ParserExtractMetadata	Extract metadata fields (separate from MetadataReadMetadata; Parser-format-aware)
ParserExtractBarcodes	Find and decode embedded barcodes in document pages
RedactionRedactText	Redact text matching a regex with a replacement string
RedactionRedactImageArea	Black out a rectangular region of a document page
RedactionRedactAnnotations	Redact or delete annotations matching a regex
RedactionEraseMetadata	Strip metadata via the Redaction engine (handles formats Metadata can't)
WatermarkAddWatermark	Add a text watermark with configurable font, rotation, opacity
WatermarkSearchWatermarks	List existing watermarks (type, text, position, page) as JSON
WatermarkRemoveWatermarks	Remove watermarks by text filter or all

Example prompts

• "Convert contract.docx to PDF, then sign it with a QR code containing 'Signed by Alice', then watermark every page with 'CONFIDENTIAL'"
• "Compare old.pdf and new.pdf, list every annotation in the result, and preview page 1"
• "Extract all tables from report.xlsx as Markdown and redact every email address"
• "Read the metadata of every PDF in /uploads, then strip it, then preview the cleaned page 1 of each"
• "Find every barcode in invoice.pdf, then merge invoice.pdf + receipt.pdf into combined.pdf"

Licensing

The MCP server itself is MIT; the underlying GroupDocs engines require a license for production use. Without one the server runs in evaluation mode:

• Each bundled engine applies its own evaluation limits: output watermarks / evaluation notices, page limits, and per-process document-open caps (1-15 documents depending on the engine).

To lift the limits, mount your GroupDocs.Total.lic into the container and point GROUPDOCS_LICENSE_PATH at it (see the Claude Desktop example above):

• Get a free 30-day temporary license
• Purchase a license | Product page

Configuration

Variable	Description	Default
GROUPDOCS_MCP_STORAGE_PATH	Base folder for input and output files	current directory
GROUPDOCS_MCP_OUTPUT_PATH	(Optional) separate folder for output files	GROUPDOCS_MCP_STORAGE_PATH
GROUPDOCS_LICENSE_PATH	Path to GroupDocs license file	(evaluation mode)

Usage with Claude Desktop

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "groupdocs-total": {
      "command": "docker",
      "args": ["run", "--rm", "-i", "-v", "/path/to/documents:/data", "ghcr.io/groupdocs-total/total-net-mcp:latest"]
    }
  }
}

To use a license, add "-v", "/path/to/license-folder:/license", "-e", "GROUPDOCS_LICENSE_PATH=/license/GroupDocs.Total.lic" before the image name. To pin a version, replace :latest with the release tag.

Usage with VS Code / GitHub Copilot

Use the Install in VS Code button above, or add to .vscode/mcp.json (also in install/generated/vscode-mcp.json):

{
  "inputs": [
    {
      "type": "promptString",
      "id": "storage_path",
      "description": "Base folder for input and output files.",
      "password": false
    }
  ],
  "servers": {
    "groupdocs-total": {
      "command": "docker",
      "args": ["run", "--rm", "-i", "-v", "${input:storage_path}:/data", "ghcr.io/groupdocs-total/total-net-mcp:latest"]
    }
  }
}

Usage with Docker Compose

cd docker
docker compose up

Edit docker/docker-compose.yml to point volumes at your local documents folder.

License

MIT — see LICENSE