superPDF AI

superPDF AI: PDF tools that run on your computer, from the command line, Python, AI assistants (MCP) or a local API.

Tables, charts, headings and scans to Markdown, HTML or JSON; Word, Excel and PowerPoint; forms, merging and comparing. The reader works by rules, not a language model; scans go through Tesseract OCR. Nothing is uploaded.

[Website](https://superpdf.ai) · [Docs](https://superpdf.ai/docs/mcp-api/command-line-tools) · [Python docs](https://superpdf.ai/docs/python) · [Benchmark](https://superpdf.ai/performance) · [Changelog](CHANGELOG.md)

How it compares · Quick start · JavaScript/TypeScript · Python · MCP tools · How it works

npx @superpdf/cli export report.pdf --output report.md

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superPDF reads a PDF the way it was made: from the text, fonts and drawings inside it. It rebuilds the document as Markdown, HTML or JSON, with headings at the right level, tables with their rows and columns, and charts turned back into the numbers they were drawn from. Scanned pages are read with OCR in 15 languages.

It runs on your computer as a command, a Python package, an MCP server for AI assistants such as Claude Code, Cursor and Codex, or a local REST API for your own scripts. It only opens files in the folders you allow and never uploads them (through MCP, the text your assistant reads goes to its model, as with any file you show it). It is the same reader that powers superpdf.ai in the browser.

How it compares

On ParseBench, in our own run of its open-source test suite on all 2,078 documents, superPDF scores 65.0 overall (64.8 on documents it was never tuned on). It is not on the official leaderboard yet. The other scores are a selection from the public leaderboard (October 12, 2026).

Compared with the Azure, Google and AWS services, superPDF scores much higher on charts and higher on formatting; Azure and Textract score higher on tables. LlamaParse and Claude Opus 5.5 score higher overall. Full table and method: superpdf.ai/performance.

Quick start

You need Node.js 22 or later.

Use it from the terminal

npx @superpdf/cli export report.pdf --output report.md

npx downloads the tool once and runs it. To install the superpdf command for regular use:

npm install -g @superpdf/cli

superpdf help

Or with Homebrew on macOS or Linux, which brings its own Node.js:

brew install arjunprabhulal/superpdf/superpdf

Use it from your AI assistant (MCP)

Create the folder the assistant may use, then add the server. For Claude Code:

mkdir -p ~/Documents/superPDF

claude mcp add --scope user superpdf -- npx -y @superpdf/cli mcp --allow-dir ~/Documents/superPDF

For Cursor, Claude Desktop and other assistants that read an MCP settings file:

{

"mcpServers": { "superpdf": { "command": "npx", "args": ["-y", "@superpdf/cli", "mcp", "--allow-dir", "/Users/you/Documents/superPDF"] } } }

With the command installed (npm install -g @superpdf/cli), use superpdf mcp --allow-dir … in place of npx -y @superpdf/cli mcp --allow-dir …. Then ask, for example: *"Read invoice.pdf in my superPDF folder and give me the line items as a table."* The assistant can only use the folders you pass with --allow-dir. Setup for each assistant: superpdf.ai/docs/mcp-api/mcp-tool-access.

Use it from Python

pip install superpdf                 # or run without installing: uvx superpdf export report.pdf --output report.md

import superpdf

markdown = superpdf.export("report.pdf") pages = superpdf.export_pages("report.pdf") # Markdown per page

superpdf.merge(["a.pdf", "b.pdf"], "combined.pdf") # every tool is a typed function superpdf.extract_tables("report.pdf", "tables.xlsx") superpdf.to_docx("report.pdf", "report.docx")

from superpdf.langchain import SuperPDFLoader # pip install "superpdf[langchain]" docs = SuperPDFLoader("report.pdf").load()

Node.js comes with the package. All 30 tools, a LlamaIndex reader and the full reference are in the Python docs and python/README.md.

Use it from JavaScript or TypeScript

npm install @superpdf/cli

import { exportPages, extractTables, toDocx, SuperPDFError } from '@superpdf/cli';

const pages = await exportPages('report.pdf'); // [{ page: 1, markdown: '# Quarterly report…' }] const word = await toDocx({ input: 'report.pdf', output: 'report.docx' }); await extractTables({ input: 'report.pdf', format: 'csv', output: 'tables.csv' });

Every tool is an async function (merge, split, fillForm, compare, runBatch and the rest; tools() lists them) that takes the tool's JSON input and returns its typed result. It runs in your Node.js process (22 or later): no server, no subprocess. TypeScript types come with the package, generated from the same schemas as the MCP server and the API. Errors are SuperPDFError with a code (validation, conflict, not_found, operation_failed). Each call may only use the folders of the paths you give it, or the ones you pass as { allowDirs }.

Use it from your own code (REST API)

superpdf serve --allow-dir ~/Documents/superPDF

This starts a private API on 127.0.0.1 that only this computer can reach. It prints a token when it starts (or set SUPERPDF_API_TOKEN, at least 32 characters); every request under /v1/ needs it. The OpenAPI 3.1 document is served at /openapi.json (also openapi.json here, generated from the tool schemas). Guide and reference: superpdf.ai/docs/api.

What it reads

Commands

superpdf info document.pdf                                    # pages, sizes, form fields, properties

superpdf merge a.pdf b.pdf --output combined.pdf superpdf extract document.pdf --pages 1,3-5 --output selected.pdf superpdf rotate document.pdf --pages 2 --angle 90 --output rotated.pdf superpdf export document.pdf --output document.md # or .html / .json (--format) superpdf export document.pdf --tables html --output doc.md # tables as HTML, keeping merged header cells superpdf export https://example.com/a.pdf --output a.md # a PDF from an https:// link superpdf convert report.docx --output report.pdf # Word, Excel, PowerPoint; needs LibreOffice superpdf pipeline document.pdf --steps steps.json --output result.pdf superpdf audio document.pdf --output document.m4a # read aloud with the macOS system voice superpdf tools # all 30 tools with their JSON input schemas superpdf tool pdf_protect --input '{"input":"a.pdf","password":"…","output":"locked.pdf"}' # any tool, JSON in and out

Results are always written to a new file; existing files are never overwritten. superpdf help shows every command. Try info and export on examples/quarterly-report.pdf, a one-page report.

export also reads an https:// link: up to 2 GB, stopping after 60 seconds without data and following up to 5 redirects. Links to this computer or the local network (localhost, pr