oxidize-pdf

Rust-powered PDF library for Python. Generate, parse, split, merge, and manipulate PDFs with native performance. Ships with a built-in MCP server so AI agents can work with PDFs out of the box.

No C dependencies. No Java. No subprocess calls.

Installation

pip install oxidize-pdf            # Core library
pip install "oxidize-pdf[mcp]"     # + MCP server for AI agents

Platforms: Linux (x86_64, aarch64) | macOS (x86_64, Apple Silicon) | Windows (x86_64) Requires: Python 3.10+

Why oxidize-pdf?

| | oxidize-pdf | Pure-Python libs | C/Java wrappers | |---|---|---|---| | Performance | Native (compiled Rust) | Interpreted | Native but heavy | | Dependencies | Zero | Varies | Poppler, Java, Ghostscript | | Memory safety | Rust ownership model | GC-dependent | Manual / GC | | Type stubs | Full (mypy/pyright) | Partial | Rare | | AI-ready (MCP) | Built-in | No | No |

MCP Server

Give your AI agent full PDF capabilities in one line:

oxidize-mcp

The built-in Model Context Protocol server exposes 12 tools, 6 resources, and 5 prompts — compatible with Claude, GPT, and any MCP client.

Claude Desktop integration

Add to your claude_desktop_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "oxidize-pdf": {
      "command": "oxidize-mcp",
      "env": {
        "OXIDIZE_WORKSPACE": "/path/to/your/pdfs"
      }
    }
  }
}

Available tools

| Tool | What it does | |------|-------------| | read_pdf | Read metadata — page count, version, encryption status, title, author | | extract_text | Extract text from all pages or a specific page | | convert_pdf | Convert to markdown, chunks, or RAG-optimized format | | create_pdf | Create a new PDF with optional metadata | | save_pdf | Save a session to disk, with optional encryption | | add_content | Add pages, text, and graphics to a session | | annotate_pdf | Add text annotations and highlights | | manipulate_pdf | Split, merge, rotate, extract pages, reverse, overlay | | manage_forms | Create, fill, read, and validate form fields | | secure_pdf | Encrypt, check permissions, verify signatures | | extract_entities | Extract structured entities from pages | | analyze_pdf | Validate structure, detect corruption, check PDF/A compliance |

The server also exposes resources (session data, capabilities, version info) and prompts (guided workflows for summarization, data extraction, form filling, and more).

Configuration

OXIDIZE_WORKSPACE=/path/to/pdfs oxidize-mcp

Or start programmatically:

from oxidize_pdf.mcp.server import run
run()

Python API

Create a PDF

from oxidize_pdf import Document, Page, Font, Color

doc = Document()
doc.set_title("My Document")
doc.set_author("Jane Doe")

page = Page.a4()
page.set_font(Font.HELVETICA, 24.0)
page.set_text_color(Color.black())
page.text_at(72.0, 750.0, "Hello from oxidize-pdf!")

page.set_font(Font.TIMES_ROMAN, 12.0)
page.text_at(72.0, 700.0, "Generated with Python + Rust.")

doc.add_page(page)
doc.save("output.pdf")

Parse an existing PDF

from oxidize_pdf import PdfReader

reader = PdfReader.open

... [View full README on GitHub](https://github.com/bzsanti/oxidize-python#readme)