compress_pdf
Compress/optimise a PDF to reduce file size without changing visual content.
LABSCO SUMMARY
Every transform makes a new document instead of overwriting the one you had.
Flattening and encrypting both leave the original in place, which matters when a step goes wrong halfway through a pipeline. The signing side is part of the same connection, so a rendered invoice can go out for signature without leaving the conversation.
What it is
PDFGate's own server, covering three stages of a document's life: rendering it, working on it, and getting it signed. Documents are stored on PDFGate and referenced by ID, so each operation takes the last one's output without files moving through the conversation.
What you get
- A PDF rendered from a live URL or from raw HTML, with your own CSS and JavaScript, headers and footers, margins, orientation, page size, background printing, print or screen media emulation, and an option to wait for the network to go idle first
- Existing PDFs brought in from a local path or a URL, fetched back by ID with their metadata, and deleted when finished with
- Form field values extracted from a fillable PDF as a plain name-to-value object
- An interactive PDF flattened to a static one — as a new document, leaving the original alone
- Compression that shrinks the file without changing what it looks like, with linearisation on request
- Password encryption with permissions: copying, printing and editing disabled individually, and separate user and owner passwords
- Text or image watermarks positioned, rotated, sized, coloured and set to an opacity you choose
- E-signature envelopes built from stored documents, sent as OTP-protected links that expire after 30 days, and tracked per recipient and per document
- Webhook subscriptions created with a signing secret returned once, so incoming events can be verified, and deleted when the endpoint goes away
Requirements
A PDFGate account and a key whose prefix picks the environment: live_ for production, test_ for the sandbox. Two ways in — over stdio from npm as @pdfgate/mcp-server with PDFGATE_API_KEY set, or the hosted server at https://mcp.pdfgate.com/server, which takes either OAuth in the browser with no key to store, or the key in an X-API-KEY header. Receiving webhook events locally means exposing port 3599 to the internet and registering that public URL.
Setup effort
One command plus a key — npx -y @pdfgate/mcp-server, then supply credentials
USE CASES
01
Turning a live page into a document
Render the URL or the HTML with your margins, headers and page size, then fetch the stored document by ID when you need it again.
02
Preparing a file for distribution
Compress it to a sendable size, stamp it with a watermark, and lock it with a password and the permissions you want.
03
Reading what someone filled in
Pull the form values out as a name-to-value object, then flatten the file so the answers can no longer be edited.
04
Getting a contract signed
Build the envelope from the stored documents, send it so the recipients get OTP-protected links, and follow the per-recipient status.
05
Being told when signing finishes rather than polling
Subscribe an endpoint to the events you care about, keep the signing secret to verify what arrives, and unsubscribe when it retires.
06
Bringing an existing file into the pipeline
Upload it from disk or a URL, run whatever transform it needs, and remove it when the job is done.
14 tools
Counted once with only startup setup. Other versions, modes or optional credentials may expose a different list.
create_envelope
Create a signing envelope from one or more existing PDFGate documents. Returns an envelope in 'created' status; call send_envelope to dispatch signing emails.
create_webhook
Create a PDFGate webhook subscription. The response includes a signing secret — store it securely to verify incoming event signatures.
delete_document
Delete a PDFGate document.
delete_webhook
Delete a PDFGate webhook subscription. Future events will no longer be delivered to the associated endpoint.
extract_pdf_form_data
Extract form field values from a fillable PDF. Returns a JSON object mapping field names to their values.
flatten_pdf
Flatten an interactive PDF into a static, non-editable PDF. Creates a new document; does not overwrite the original.
generate_pdf
Generate a PDF from a URL or raw HTML. Provide either 'url' or 'html', not both.
get_document
Retrieve metadata for a stored PDFGate document by its ID.
get_envelope
Retrieve the current state of an envelope including its status, document progress, and per-recipient signing status.
protect_pdf
Encrypt a PDF with a password and optional permission restrictions. Produces a new document; the original is unchanged.
send_envelope
Send a created envelope to its recipients. PDFGate dispatches signing emails with secure, OTP-protected links that expire after 30 days.
upload_pdf
Upload a PDF to PDFGate so it can be referenced by other operations. Provide either 'filePath' (local path) or 'url'.
watermark_pdf
Apply a text or image watermark to a PDF. For type='text' provide 'text'; for type='image' provide 'watermarkImagePath'.
BEFORE YOU INSTALL
What to know first
Tools you get
14 tools when we connected. download_file, add_form_fields and get_webhook are documented but missing from the npm package; the hosted server at mcp.pdfgate.com offers the full toolset. upload_file is upload_pdf, and extract_form_data is extract_pdf_form_data.
Requires
- npx on PATH
- PDFGATE_API_KEY in your environment
Where it runs
Of the 3 documented setups, 1 runs the server on your machine and 2 connect to a hosted endpoint.
CONTEXT COST
Light Standing cost
Rated by the size of the 14 tool definitions that ride along on every turn, not by how many there are
INSTALLATION
Connect your client
Server setup
TERMINAL
npx -y @pdfgate/mcp-serverMCP Clients
Any MCP client — stdio
ANY MCP CLIENT — STDIO · JSON
{
"mcpServers": {
"pdfgate": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"@pdfgate/mcp-server"
],
"env": {
"PDFGATE_API_KEY": "<YOUR_PDFGATE_API_KEY>"
}
}
}
}Any MCP client — API key
ANY MCP CLIENT — API KEY · JSON
{
"mcpServers": {
"pdfgate": {
"type": "http",
"url": "https://mcp.pdfgate.com/server",
"headers": {
"X-API-KEY": "<YOUR_API_KEY>"
}
}
}
}Claude Desktop
CLAUDE DESKTOP · URL
https://mcp.pdfgate.com/server
