Render HTML/markdown to PDF, export rows to xlsx, and fill AcroForm PDFs.
Runs on your machine from its package; the steps are below.
At most: creates or changes data: records, files, settings.
Odel charges nothing per call. The publisher may charge for its own service.
Runs locally over stdio
This server isn't hosted — your MCP client launches it from a package registry. Use one of the commands below, or drop the config into your client (e.g. Claude Desktop).
Run
npx -y @cyanheads/docgen-mcp-server
MCP client config
{
"mcpServers": {
"docgen": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"@cyanheads/docgen-mcp-server"
]
}
}
}Run
npx -y @cyanheads/docgen-mcp-server
MCP client config
{
"mcpServers": {
"docgen": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"@cyanheads/docgen-mcp-server"
]
}
}
}Render HTML/markdown to PDF, export rows to xlsx, and fill AcroForm PDFs via MCP. STDIO or Streamable HTTP.
Generate documents from an agent: render HTML, markdown, or template data to PDF, export rows to Excel, and fill PDF forms. Everything renders locally on a bundled stack (pdf-lib, exceljs, marked).
| Tool | Description |
|---|---|
docgen_render_pdf | Render HTML, markdown, or a {{key}} template + data object to a downloadable PDF |
docgen_export_spreadsheet | Render one or more named worksheets of row objects to a downloadable .xlsx workbook |
docgen_fill_form | Fill the AcroForm fields of a supplied PDF (base64 or https URL) and optionally flatten it |
docgen_list_form_fields | Inspect exact AcroForm field names, types, required flags and choice options without changing the PDF |
docgen_get_document | Re-fetch a previously rendered document by the id a render/export/fill tool returned |
| Resource | Description |
|---|---|
docgen://document/{documentId} | A rendered document by id — raw bytes as a blob plus a JSON metadata block |
All document data is also reachable via the tool surface — docgen_get_document is the tool-only twin of this resource.
docgen_render_pdf toolsource: { html }, { markdown }, or { template, data } for {{key}} interpolation. pageOptions controls page size/orientation, CSS-length margins, headers/footers ({{page}}, {{total}}, {{date}}) and page numbers.DocumentEnvelope with pageCount; degraded: true means CSS, images or scripts were dropped, or characters were replaced with ?. The lightweight engine renders headings, paragraphs, lists and tables.invalid_source, template_render_failed, document_too_large, render_timeout.docgen_export_spreadsheet toolname (1–31 characters) and scalar rows[]; empty rows yield a header-only sheet. Optional columns[] sets headers, type (string / number / date / boolean), width and Excel format.true/1/yes/on and false/0/no/off, case-insensitive; other strings stay text.DocumentEnvelope with sheetCount. Typed failures: empty_workbook, invalid_sheet_name, document_too_large, render_timeout.docgen_fill_form toolsourcePdf: { base64 } or { url } (public https serving application/pdf), plus fields mapping exact, case-sensitive AcroForm field names to values. Flat or XFA-only PDFs return not_a_form.docgen_list_form_fields before filling an unfamiliar PDF.DocumentEnvelope with pageCount and unmatchedFields[] for names with no matching field.flatten: true makes the filled values non-editable (default false).docgen_list_form_fields toolsourcePdf base64-or-URL source as docgen_fill_form. Returns { fields: [{ name, type, required, options? }] } without modifying the PDF or storing a document.text, checkbox, dropdown, optionList, radioGroup, signature, button. Only dropdown, optionList and radioGroup entries include options; signatures and buttons are discovery only.not_a_form.docgen_get_document tooldocumentId an earlier render/export/fill returned (doc_ plus 24 url-safe characters).DocumentEnvelope without rendering again; an expired or unknown id returns document_expired.docgen://document/{documentId} resourcedocumentId from a render/export/fill result (doc_ plus 24 url-safe characters).blob with the document's MIME type and JSON metadata (documentId, byteSize, pageCount/sheetCount, createdAt, ttlSecondsRemaining). Reads the same store as docgen_get_document; expired or unknown ids return document_expired.Built on @cyanheads/mcp-ts-core: stdio and Streamable HTTP transports, pluggable auth (none / jwt / oauth), swappable storage (in-memory, filesystem, Supabase, Cloudflare KV/R2/D1), structured logging with optional OpenTelemetry tracing.
docgen-specific:
pdf-lib, exceljs, marked), so renders are local and deterministic with no upstream to failDocumentEnvelope across the four document delivery tools; field inspection returns its inventory directlyDOCGEN_MAX_DOCUMENT_BYTES) and a timeout (DOCGEN_RENDER_TIMEOUT_MS) turn a runaway render into a typed error instead of a hangAgent-friendly output:
structuredContent and the markdown output, including the documentId, resource URI, size, and TTLinlineBase64 is populated only at or under DOCGEN_INLINE_MAX_BYTES; larger documents are delivered through the resource URIdocgen_fill_form returns unmatchedFields[] so the agent sees which field names didn't matchinvalid_source, template_render_failed, document_too_large, render_timeout, not_a_form, source_unfetchable, document_expired, …); semantic validation uses ValidationError (-32007) and malformed arguments InvalidParams (-32602)Add the following to your MCP client configuration file. No API keys are required.
{
"mcpServers": {
"docgen-mcp-server": {
"type": "stdio",
"command": "bunx",
"args": ["@cyanheads/docgen-mcp-server@latest"],
"env": {
"MCP_TRANSPORT_TYPE": "stdio",
"MCP_LOG_LEVEL": "info"
}
}
}
}
Or with npx (no Bun required):
{
"mcpServers": {
"docgen-mcp-server": {
"type": "stdio",
"command": "npx",
"args": ["-y", "@cyanheads/docgen-mcp-server@latest"],
"env": {
"MCP_TRANSPORT_TYPE": "stdio",
"MCP_LOG_LEVEL": "info"
}
}
}
}
Or with Docker:
{
"mcpServers": {
"docgen-mcp-server": {
"type": "stdio",
"command": "docker",
"args": [
"run", "-i", "--rm",
"-e", "MCP_TRANSPORT_TYPE=stdio",
"ghcr.io/cyanheads/docgen-mcp-server:latest"
]
}
}
}
For Streamable HTTP, set the transport and start the server:
MCP_TRANSPORT_TYPE=http MCP_HTTP_PORT=3010 bun run start:http
# Server listens at http://localhost:3010/mcp
Documents are delivered by the docgen://document/{id} resource (and inline base64 when small enough) over every transport. The envelope's downloadUrl field is reserved for a future HTTP download route and is not emitted in this version.
git clone https://github.com/cyanheads/docgen-mcp-server.git
cd docgen-mcp-server
bun install
cp .env.example .env
# edit .env to override any defaults
All configuration is optional — docgen runs with no required environment variables.
| Variable | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|
DOCGEN_DOCUMENT_TTL_SECONDS | How long a rendered document is retrievable before it expires, in seconds. | 900 |
DOCGEN_MAX_DOCUMENT_BYTES | Hard ceiling on a single rendered artifact in bytes; exceeding it aborts the render. | 26214400 |
DOCGEN_RENDER_TIMEOUT_MS | Per-render wall-clock budget in milliseconds; exceeding it aborts the render. | 30000 |
DOCGEN_INLINE_MAX_BYTES | Artifacts at or under this byte size are returned inline as base64; larger ones omit it. | 5242880 |
DOCGEN_PDF_ENGINE | PDF rendering engine. Only lightweight is implemented; chromium is reserved and rejected at startup. | lightweight |
MCP_TRANSPORT_TYPE | Transport: stdio or http. | stdio |
MCP_HTTP_PORT | Port for the HTTP server. | 3010 |
MCP_SESSION_MODE | HTTP session mode: auto, stateful, or stateless. | stateless |
MCP_AUTH_MODE | Auth mode: none, jwt, or oauth. | none |
MCP_PUBLIC_URL | Public origin behind a TLS proxy. | — |
MCP_LOG_LEVEL | Log level (RFC 5424). | info |
LOG_TOOL_FAILURE_PAYLOADS | Log failed arguments/results, redacted by key name and capped by LOG_TOOL_FAILURE_PAYLOAD_MAX_BYTES (default 16384). Free-form values may retain secrets. | false |
STORAGE_PROVIDER_TYPE | Storage backend for document bytes + metadata. | in-memory |
OTEL_ENABLED | Enable OpenTelemetry instrumentation (spans, metrics, completion logs). | false |
OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_ENDPOINT | Base OTLP URL; traces use /v1/traces, metrics use /v1/metrics. Signal-specific endpoints override it. | — |
OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_LOGS_ENDPOINT | Opt-in log endpoint, used as-is; the base URL never enables log export. | — |
See .env.example for the full list of optional overrides.
The default in-memory storage drops every document on restart, and earlier ids then return
document_expired. To keep documents across restarts, pointSTORAGE_PROVIDER_TYPEat a persistent backend.
Build and run:
# One-time build
bun run rebuild
# Run the built server
bun run start:stdio
# or
bun run start:http
Run checks and tests:
bun run devcheck # Lint, format, typecheck, security, changelog sync
bun run test # Vitest test suite
bun run lint:mcp # Validate MCP definitions against spec
docker build -t docgen-mcp-server .
docker run --rm -e MCP_TRANSPORT_TYPE=http -p 3010:3010 docgen-mcp-server
The Dockerfile defaults to HTTP transport, stateless session mode, and logs to /var/log/docgen-mcp-server. OpenTelemetry peer dependencies are installed by default — build with --build-arg OTEL_ENABLED=false to omit them.
| Directory | Purpose |
|---|---|
src/index.ts | createApp() entry point — registers the tools/resource and inits the render + storage services. |
src/config | Server-specific environment variable parsing and validation with Zod. |
src/mcp-server/tools | Tool definitions (*.tool.ts). |
src/mcp-server/resources | Resource definitions (*.resource.ts). |
src/services/document | The rendering stack (RenderService) and artifact store (DocumentStore), shared types, and the SSRF fetch guard. |
tests/ | Unit and integration tests mirroring src/. |
See CLAUDE.md/AGENTS.md for development guidelines and architectural rules. The short version:
try/catch in tool logicctx.log for request-scoped logging, ctx.state for tenant-scoped storagesrc/index.ts's createApp() arraysDocumentEnvelope across all delivery tools — keep the writers and reader interchangeableIssues are welcome. Run checks and tests before submitting:
bun run devcheck
bun run test
Apache-2.0 — see LICENSE for details.