Use CECO PDF from Claude, ChatGPT or any MCP client
CECO PDF has an MCP server at https://cecopdf.com/mcp. Add it to Claude, ChatGPT or another MCP client and sign in, and your assistant can merge, split, compress, annotate, read, correct and redact your own PDFs. Files reach cecopdf.com through a link you open, never through the chat, and you confirm every correction yourself. Identity documents are refused.
MCP, the Model Context Protocol, is how an assistant uses the tools of another service. These are the tools of the site, with the same checks, limits and prices.
What can an assistant do with CECO PDF?
It works on the documents in your own CECO PDF account:
- Fix a mistake in your own document. It finds the wrong word, date or figure, tries the correction, and gives you a link to confirm it. Every change is checked, recorded in the file, and can be verified, as on the correction page.
- Add to a page without changing it. Text boxes, shapes, highlights, underlines and notes are laid over the page and recorded in the file; the page's own words stay as they were, and that is checked. It can also crop pages, flatten a final copy or repair a damaged file, as on the Edit PDF page.
- Remove words for good, with you choosing. It finds a word or phrase, or email addresses, phone numbers and the like, and gives you a link where you tick each place to remove and choose what goes in its place, as on the Redact PDF page. The assistant learns how many places there are, never the words.
- Organise pages. Merge, split, extract, remove and rotate pages, each into a new document. The documents you started from stay as they were.
- Make a file smaller, searchable or another format. Compress it, make a scan searchable, turn photos or Office files into a PDF, or export a PDF as pictures, text, Word or Excel.
- Protect, unlock and compare. Protect a PDF with a password, unlock your own with its password, or count what changed between two versions.
- Check a certificate, and say what CECO PDF does, refuses and costs, with no sign-in.
Every tool, with what it uses from the free daily allowance, is listed under the tools.
What does it refuse?
- Identity documents. They are refused when they are uploaded, and the file is deleted.
- A correction you have not confirmed. Nothing is corrected until you confirm it on CECO PDF, in a browser signed in to your account, and state that you may alter the document. The assistant cannot confirm for you or make that statement: no tool takes it. Correct only documents that are your own, or that you are entitled to alter, as the terms say.
- A word it is not sure of. When CECO PDF reads a word on a scan with low confidence, you look at that word on the confirmation page before it can be changed.
- Replace-all. There is no replace-all. Each change is ticked on its own, at most 10 on one confirmation page.
- A change that moves anything else. Every correction is checked before it is kept: if anything else on the page changed, it is not kept. The change is recorded in the file, and the original stays.
- A redaction you have not chosen. Nothing is redacted until you tick the places yourself on CECO PDF, in a browser signed in to your account. Nothing is ticked to start with, and there is no redact-all. A watermark, a seal, a signature or another security feature is never covered, and a digitally signed document is not touched.
- Hiding what is on the page. A text box or a filled shape that would cover words already there is refused: changing a word is a correction, and removing one is a redaction.
- Passwords in the chat. To protect or unlock a PDF you get a link, and you type the password on CECO PDF.
- Buying. No tool can buy anything. Plans and credits are bought by you, on the prices page.
How do I connect Claude, ChatGPT or another client?
| Where | How |
|---|---|
| Claude (claude.ai and Claude Desktop) | Customize > Connectors, then + Add and Add custom connector. Name it CECO PDF, enter https://cecopdf.com/mcp, press Continue, then Add. Sign in when Claude sends you to CECO PDF. |
| ChatGPT | On the plugins page, the plus button, then Add custom MCP server. Enter https://cecopdf.com/mcp under Connection, then sign in to CECO PDF when asked. |
| Claude Code | Run claude mcp add --transport http ceco-pdf https://cecopdf.com/mcp, then /mcp in Claude Code to sign in. |
| Any other MCP client | The address https://cecopdf.com/mcp, over Streamable HTTP. The client finds the sign-in by itself, as described below. |
The steps for Claude and ChatGPT are those Anthropic's and OpenAI's help pages gave on 1 November 2026; their menus change from time to time.
How does signing in work?
The first time your assistant uses CECO PDF, it sends you to CECO PDF to sign in, with Google or with a code sent to your email address, as on the site. A page then shows which assistant is asking, the address you go back to afterwards, what it will be able to do and what it cannot, with Allow and Deny. You are asked every time you connect an assistant; nothing is allowed in advance.
| Scope | What the sign-in page tells you it allows | Tools |
|---|---|---|
documents | Send your files to your CECO PDF account through links you open, work on them with the PDF tools, and give you download links. | start_upload, get_upload, merge, split, extract_pages, delete_pages, rotate, compress, ocr, convert_to_pdf, convert_from_pdf, protect, unlock, compare, add_text, add_shape, highlight, add_note, crop, flatten, repair, get_result |
corrections | Find words in your documents and prepare corrections and redactions, which you confirm on cecopdf.com before any is made. | find_text, propose_correction, request_confirmation, apply_corrections, find_and_redact, redact |
A connected assistant cannot buy anything, change your account, see anyone else's documents, download your files or confirm a correction for you.
- It is not an API key. A connection works on any plan, reaches only the MCP server, and acts with your own plan, credits and limits.
- Disconnect it at any time on your account page, under Connected assistants. It stops working on its next request. Signing out does not disconnect an assistant.
- Its access lasts an hour at a time, and the assistant renews it while it stays connected.
Where do my files go?
Your files never pass through the chat. start_upload gives the assistant a link to CECO PDF, which it shows you. You open it in your browser, signed in, and upload there: the file goes from your browser to CECO PDF.
What the assistant receives about your documents:
- each document's id, its number of pages, its state and the notes CECO PDF makes about it;
- the words it asked to find, where they were found, and how sure CECO PDF is of a word it read on a scan;
- whether a correction can be made, and how it was checked;
- counts and page numbers from a comparison;
- for a text box, a shape, a highlight or a note, its page and its name in the file;
- for a redaction, how many places were found on each page and how many were removed, never the words or where on the page they are.
It never receives a file, a picture of a page, the text of a page beyond the words it searched for, a file name or a password. What it does receive passes through the assistant's own service (Anthropic's for Claude, OpenAI's for ChatGPT), under that service's terms.
Downloads happen on CECO PDF: get_result gives a link to a page where you download the file yourself. Your documents are kept for 90 days, as on the site, and you can delete one at any time. The privacy notice says what is kept about a connection, and for how long.
Who confirms a correction?
You do, on CECO PDF. request_confirmation gives the assistant a link, which it shows you. The page shows each change before and after, as CECO PDF would make it, each with its own tick, unticked to start with, and the statement that you may alter this document, with a tick of its own. Nothing is corrected until you press Confirm. Then apply_corrections makes the changes you ticked, one at a time, and checks each one.
The statement is made on CECO PDF by whoever controls the signed-in browser, exactly as when you correct a document on the site yourself. The assistant cannot make it through the connection. A browser agent you let use your signed-in browser can press Confirm as you could, so allow that only for documents you may alter.
Every correction is recorded in the file and can be verified: how it works and the certificate check say how.
Who chooses what is redacted?
You do, on CECO PDF. find_and_redact finds the places and gives the assistant a link, which it shows you. The page shows each place cut from your own page, each with its own tick, unticked to start with, and what to put where the words were: a black box, a white box or a label you write. It asks no statement, as redacting on the site does not; only your own signed-in browser can tick a place. Nothing is removed until you press Redact the ticked places. If the same words also stand outside the pages -- in the title, a bookmark, a note, a form field, a link or an attachment -- the assistant is told how many and where, never the words, and a redaction does not reach them.
Then redact removes the places you ticked, and only those, from the file for good: the words, the parts of pictures under them and any drawing there. Before the new version is kept, CECO PDF checks that nothing removed can be found in its text, its pictures or its bytes. The redaction is recorded in the file without the words, and the version before it stays on CECO PDF, where an undo brings it back. If the document changed after the places were found, nothing is removed, and the assistant finds them again for you to tick.
What does it cost?
Reading, searching, trying a correction and getting a link cost nothing, and so do text boxes, shapes, highlights, notes, cropping, flattening and repairing. On the free plan, the other tools that make something use the free daily allowance, as the site does: 10 corrections a day. A redaction uses one correction, however many places it removes. Your assistants share one allowance, kept apart from the one your browser uses on the site, because the site counts free use per browser. On a plan with unlimited corrections, nothing is counted.
Downloading a result costs what it costs on the site, and only you can pay, on CECO PDF:
| Tools | Downloading the result |
|---|---|
apply_corrections | Signed in, your first corrected download each day costs nothing; after it, one takes a credit or a plan. |
redact | Downloading the redacted document is priced as a corrected document is. |
merge, split, extract_pages, delete_pages, rotate, compress, convert_to_pdf | Downloading costs nothing when the files you started from have no corrections made here. A file made from a corrected document is priced as one. |
ocr, convert_from_pdf | Downloading costs nothing when nothing in the file you read was corrected here, even if it was merged, split or turned here first. A file made from a corrected document is priced as one, and so is one we can no longer trace back to the files it was made from. |
protect, unlock | Your file is sent once and handed straight back. Nothing is kept here. |
compare | The changes are shown here. The report and the list of changes to download come with a plan, or a pack bought in the last thirty days. |
add_text, add_shape, highlight, add_note, crop, flatten, repair | Downloading costs nothing when all you did was add text boxes, images, shapes, highlights or notes, or crop, flatten or repair the file. Changing a word on the page is a correction, and downloads as a corrected document does. |
Before you open the link, get_result says whether the download is free, already paid for, included in your plan, takes one of your credits, or needs a purchase. The prices page has the plans.
The tools and what each costs
No sign-in needed
These need no sign-in at /mcp/public, and any connection at /mcp.
| Tool | What it does | Uses from the free daily allowance |
|---|---|---|
what_can_ceco_do (What CECO PDF can do) | What CECO PDF does and refuses, read from the service: each tool, the limits of each plan, how long files are kept and how a correction is checked. | Nothing |
get_plans (Plans and prices) | The plans, their prices and what each allows. It cannot buy anything. | Nothing |
verify_certificate (Check a CECO certificate) | Whether a certificate is genuine, by its id: when it was issued, the document's hashes and how many corrections it records. Never the document's words. | Nothing |
open_tool_page (Link to a CECO PDF tool) | A link to the page for one job, for you to open in your browser. | Nothing |
Your documents
These need the documents scope.
| Tool | What it does | Uses from the free daily allowance |
|---|---|---|
start_upload (Get an upload link) | A link where you upload your files to cecopdf.com yourself. It works for 30 minutes, and only for your account. | Nothing |
get_upload (Check an upload) | Whether you have uploaded, and each file's document id, or why a file was refused. | Nothing |
merge (Merge PDFs) | Joins 2 to 20 of your documents into a new one. | Half a correction |
split (Split a PDF) | Cuts a document into several: by page ranges, every so many pages, or files under a size. | Half a correction |
extract_pages (Extract pages) | A new document of the pages named. | Half a correction |
delete_pages (Remove pages) | A new document without the pages named. | Half a correction |
rotate (Rotate pages) | A new document with the pages named turned. | Half a correction |
compress (Compress a PDF) | Smaller copies to choose from, each with its exact size and what it gives up. | Half a correction, when a smaller file is made |
ocr (Make a scan searchable) | A searchable copy of a scanned document. The text stays on cecopdf.com, for you to download. | Half a correction, when something is made |
convert_to_pdf (Convert files to PDF) | A link where you turn photos, text, web pages or Office files into one PDF. | Nothing here; half a correction in your browser when the page converts |
convert_from_pdf (Convert a PDF to other formats) | Exports a document as pictures, text, Word, Excel or PDF/A, with a record of what was kept and what was lost. | Half a correction, when something is made |
protect (Protect a PDF with a password) | A link where you set the password yourself. It never passes through the chat. | Nothing: it gives you a link |
unlock (Unlock your own PDF) | A link where you type your own password. One password, tried once. | Nothing: it gives you a link |
compare (Compare two PDFs) | Counts what changed, page by page. The changed words are shown to you on cecopdf.com, not to the assistant. | Half a correction |
add_text (Add a text box) | A text box over a page, at a box or at a named place such as the top right. The page's own words stay as they were. | Nothing |
add_shape (Add a shape) | A box, an ellipse or a line over a page. | Nothing |
highlight (Highlight words) | Highlights, underlines or strikes through words find_text found, or a box you name. The words stay as they were. | Nothing |
add_note (Add a note) | A note on a page, as a reader's comment. | Nothing |
crop (Crop pages) | Crops pages by margins or to a box, keeping everything beneath, or puts the crop back. | Nothing |
flatten (Flatten a PDF) | Bakes notes, shapes, highlights and form fields into the pages, for a final copy. | Nothing |
repair (Repair a PDF) | Rebuilds a damaged file, and counts what could not be recovered. | Nothing |
get_result (Get a result and its download link) | A document's or a job's state, whether it passed the check, and a link where you download it, with what that costs you. | Nothing |
Corrections
These need the corrections scope.
| Tool | What it does | Uses from the free daily allowance |
|---|---|---|
find_text (Find text in a document) | Where a word or phrase appears. Scanned pages are read only when named, at most 3 in one call. | Nothing |
propose_correction (Try a correction) | Whether a correction can be made at one place found, and how, or why it is refused. It changes nothing. | Nothing |
request_confirmation (Ask the person to confirm) | A link where you see each change before and after, up to 10, and confirm the ones you want. | Nothing |
apply_corrections (Apply confirmed corrections) | Makes the corrections you confirmed, one at a time. Each is checked, and recorded in the file. | One correction for each change made |
find_and_redact (Find what to redact) | Finds a word or phrase, or email addresses, phone numbers and the like, and gives you a link where you tick the places to remove and choose the mark. The assistant gets counts, never the words. | Nothing |
redact (Redact the places the person chose) | Removes for good the places you ticked, with the mark you chose, and checks that nothing removed is left in the file. One redaction is one change, however many places it covers. | One correction for each change made |
Each tool has a title, and says whether it only reads or changes something (MCP's readOnlyHint and destructiveHint). None reaches outside CECO PDF. A tool that makes something makes a new document or a new version and keeps the original, so none is marked destructive.
What are the limits?
Each plan's file sizes and pages are the site's:
| Plan | Largest upload | Pages per document | Corrections a day |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | 15 MB | 50 | 10 |
| 1 document | 50 MB | 50 | Unlimited while a credit is unspent, for up to 30 days after a purchase, then 10 |
| 10 documents | 50 MB | 50 | Unlimited while a credit is unspent, for up to 30 days after a purchase, then 10 |
| Personal | 100 MB | 100 | Unlimited |
| Business | 100 MB | 300 | Unlimited |
And the limits an assistant meets:
| Limit | Value |
|---|---|
| Tool calls, for one account | 60 tool calls a minute |
| Tool calls at the same time, for one account | 4 |
Calls to /mcp/public, from one address | 1200 calls every 10 minutes |
| Upload links waiting at once, for one account | 5 |
| Confirmation pages waiting at once, for one account | 5 |
| An upload link takes files for | 30 minutes |
| A confirmation page waits for your decision for | 30 minutes |
| Confirmed corrections can be applied for | 30 minutes after you confirm |
| Changes on one confirmation page | 10, each ticked on its own |
Scanned pages one find_text call reads | 3 |
A place found by find_text can be used for | 120 minutes |
| A tool that starts a job waits for it for | 15 seconds, then says how far it got |
| A request to the server | at most 64 KB |
| An access token works for | an hour |
| A refresh token works for | 30 days, renewed each time it is used |
| Your documents are kept for | 90 days, as on the site |
| Upload and confirmation records are deleted after | 24 hours |
Past a rate limit a tool answers too_many_requests, and while the server is busy it answers busy, with the seconds to wait. The API limits page has the same plans.
What happens when a tool refuses?
A refusal is a tool result marked as an error, with the API's own code and message: the words the site would show. The codes an assistant meets most often:
| Code | What it means |
|---|---|
confirmation_required | You have not confirmed yet. The answer carries the confirmation link again. |
confirmation_declined | You declined on the confirmation page. |
confirmation_expired | The confirmation page, or the time to apply it, ran out. The assistant asks for a new one. |
match_out_of_date | The document changed after the words were found. The assistant finds them again. |
ref_invalid | A place found by find_text that has expired, is malformed, or belongs to another account. |
stale_or_invalid_confirmation | The document changed after you confirmed, for example by an undo on the site. |
match_stale | The document changed after find_and_redact found the places, so nothing was redacted. The assistant finds them again for you to tick. |
ink_edit_refused | A text box or a shape would cover what is already on the page. |
daily_limit_reached | Today's free corrections are used. The answer says when they come back. |
identity_document_refused | The file is an identity document, which CECO PDF does not work on. |
link_not_usable | The connection was disconnected or has ended. Connect again. |
Every other code is on the errors page.
For developers: the endpoints and sign-in
POST https://cecopdf.com/mcpis the server, over Streamable HTTP. It answers in JSON, with no event stream, needs a Bearer token on every request, and serves the protocol revisions2026-07-28and2025-11-25. Without a token it answers 401 with aWWW-Authenticateheader that names the resource metadata, which is what starts sign-in in Claude and other clients.POST https://cecopdf.com/mcp/publicserves the four tools that need no sign-in, with no token.- Sign-in follows MCP's authorisation rules, which are OAuth 2.1. CECO PDF is both the authorisation server,
https://cecopdf.com, and the protected resource,https://cecopdf.com/mcp. Their metadata is athttps://cecopdf.com/.well-known/oauth-protected-resource/mcpandhttps://cecopdf.com/.well-known/oauth-authorization-server. - PKCE with S256 is required. Clients are public, with no secret: a Client ID Metadata Document is preferred, and dynamic client registration is offered as the older fallback. The
resourceparameter is checked, and the authorisation response carriesiss. - A token is good only at
/mcp: sent to/v1, it is refused. Refresh tokens change on every use, and a used one presented again ends the connection. - An assistant's requests meet the same checks as the site's: the identity refusal, verification before a download, the payment step and the rate limits.
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