Paperless MCP

Paperless MCP

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Paperless-NGX over MCP: search, read, upload and tag documents; manage correspondents and types.

Documentation | Config wizard | PyPI | Docker

This server gives an MCP client (Claude Desktop, Claude Code, claude.ai or any other) the API of an existing Paperless-NGX instance: one tool per Paperless operation, with the instance's own permissions. It adds no document store and no workflow of its own; what a task does with the tools is up to the model.

• Documents: full-text and filtered search, metadata, notes, history, thumbnails, and the OCR text in bounded sections.
• Organising: create, change, delete and bulk-edit tags, correspondents, document types and custom fields, and bulk operations on documents.
• Files: upload documents for Paperless to consume and wait on the task; over HTTP, one-time transfer links move whole files outside the model's context.
• The instance: statistics, saved views, storage paths, share links, background tasks and the installed and newest Paperless versions.

With the server connected, a client can handle requests such as:

• "Find last quarter's invoices from ACME." The model searches with a correspondent filter, then reads each match's text.
• "Tag these three documents as 'reviewed' and move them to the Accounting correspondent." One bulk edit.
• "Upload this PDF and wait until OCR finishes." An upload, then a wait on its consume task, so the answer comes once the document is indexed.
• "What changed on document 4213 in the last week?" The document's audit log.

Does it fit?

What the server can reach, what it changes and who gets in is set out in the security model; the block below says who it serves and where it stops.

• For: people who already keep their documents in Paperless-NGX and want an MCP client to search, read, file and organise them.
• Reaches: one Paperless-NGX instance over its REST API, with one API token; the security model lists what that token lets the tools read and change.
• Limits: the tools can do only what the token's Paperless user may do. They don't administer Paperless (users, mail rules, workflows), and the text they read is Paperless's own OCR.

Quick start

Pick the client you use. Each line installs the released version; the Get started tutorials carry on from there.

Claude Desktop. Download the .mcpb bundle from the releases page and open it with Claude Desktop (or Settings › Extensions › Advanced settings › Install Extension…). Claude Desktop asks for the required settings itself. Tutorial.

Claude Code. Two commands inside Claude Code; the second asks for a scope. Tutorial.

/plugin marketplace add pvliesdonk/claude-plugins/plugin install paperless-mcp@pvliesdonk

A client that runs a command (stdio). To register it in Claude Code, see the Claude Code tutorial.

uv tool install "pvliesdonk-paperless-mcp"paperless-mcp serve

A server for remote clients (streamable HTTP). A remote server connects the clients.

docker run --rm -p 8000:8000 --env-file .env ghcr.io/pvliesdonk/paperless-mcp:latest

A compose.yml ships at the repository root and runs as-is: copy .env.example to .env, then docker compose up -d. Deploy covers authentication, OIDC, a reverse proxy and system packages (.deb/.rpm on the releases page). The server answers /health and /health/ready outside the MCP mount, and its get_server_info tool reports the running version.

• uv tool install "pvliesdonk-paperless-mcp[debug]" adds debugpy, for attaching a debugger to a running server.

Configuration

Everything is configured through environment variables with the PAPERLESS_MCP_ prefix. The ones most installs set:

Every variable the server reads, the shared ones included, is in the configuration reference; .env.example lists the same surface in copy-paste form, and the config wizard writes one for your deployment.

Documentation

• Security model: what the server can reach, what it changes and who gets in.
• Get started: a first success with your client.
• Deploy: Docker, authentication, OIDC, reverse proxy.
• Use: the features, for real tasks.
• Reference: configuration, tools, resources, prompts, command line.
• Upgrade: release channels, and what an upgrade changes for your clients and your data.
• Contribute: local development, secrets, where a fix belongs; CONTRIBUTING.md and SECURITY.md at the root.

Design decisions

• Read-only deployments use tool visibility, not a domain switch. Set PAPERLESS_MCP_TOOLS_DENY (or PAPERLESS_MCP_TOOLS_ALLOW) to hide the mutating tools, including create_upload_link when transfers are enabled. The template applies visibility last in make_server, so hidden tools leave tools/list and are rejected on tools/call. Clients cannot invoke a write that will be refused, and the rule lives in one place for every server built on this template.
• HTTP layer retries idempotent reads only. PAPERLESS_MCP_HTTP_RETRIES applies to GETs on 5xx/network errors; writes never retry automatically, to avoid double-applying bulk edits or uploads.
• Tool icons come from Lucide. Every tool carries a Lucide icon hint so MCP clients that render icons (Claude Desktop) get a coherent visual surface. See src/paperless_mcp/tools/_icons.py.
• Paperless API compatibility: requests prefer payload version 10, with automatic version 9 fallback for Paperless 2.x after an explicit version rejection. Tasks include structured results and timing data while retaining the legacy fields. Saved-view visibility flags can now be null; Python consumers must handle that value. See task tools.
• Models accept unknown upstream fields. Pydantic models use lenient validation for list-endpoint responses so newer Paperless-NGX versions do not break the client (the Document.some_future_paperless_field test pins this behaviour).
• No prompts ship in v1. prompts.py is intentionally empty; prompts land as concrete user-workflow patterns emerge in practice.

Links

• Documentation and its llms.txt
• FastMCP and fastmcp-pvl-core, which this server is built on
• fastmcp-server-template, which generated this repository