view-pdf

SKILL.md

PDF Viewer — Interactive Document Workflows

You have access to a local PDF server that renders documents in a live
viewer and lets you annotate, fill forms, and place signatures with
real-time visual feedback.

When to use this skill

Use the PDF viewer when the user wants interactivity:

"Show me this contract" / "Open this paper"

"Highlight the key terms and let me review"

"Help me fill out this form"

"Sign this on page 3" / "Add my initials to each page"

"Stamp this CONFIDENTIAL" / "Mark this as approved"

"Walk me through this document and annotate the important parts"

Do NOT use the viewer for pure ingestion:

"Summarize this PDF" → use the native Read tool directly

"What does page 5 say?" → use Read

"Extract the table from section 3" → use Read

The viewer's value is showing the user the document and collaborating
on markup — not streaming text back to you.

Tools

list_pdfs

List available local PDFs and allowed local directories. No arguments.

display_pdf

Open a PDF in the interactive viewer. Call once per document.

url — local file path or HTTPS URL

page — initial page (optional, default 1)

elicit_form_inputs — if true, prompts the user to fill form
fields before displaying (use for interactive form-filling)

Returns a viewUUID — pass this to every interact call. Calling
display_pdf again creates a separate viewer; interact calls with
the new UUID won't reach the one the user is looking at.

Also returns formFields (name, type, page, bounding box) if the PDF
has fillable fields — use these coordinates for signature placement.

interact

All follow-up actions after display_pdf. Pass viewUUID plus one or
more commands. Batch multiple commands in one call via the
commands array — they run sequentially. End batches with
get_screenshot to verify changes visually.

Annotation actions:

add_annotations — add markup (see types below)

update_annotations — modify existing (id + type required)

remove_annotations — delete by id array

highlight_text — auto-find text by query and highlight it
(preferred over manual rects for text markup)

Navigation actions:

navigate (page), search (query), find (query, silent),
search_navigate (matchIndex), zoom (scale 0.5–3.0)

Extraction actions:

get_text — extract text from page ranges (max 20 pages). Use for
reading content to decide what to annotate, NOT for summarization.

get_screenshot — capture a page as an image (verify your annotations)

Form action:

fill_form — fill named fields: fields: [{name, value}, ...]

Annotation Types

All annotations need id (unique string), type, page (1-indexed).
Coordinates are PDF points (1/72 inch), origin top-left, Y increases
downward. US Letter is 612×792pt.

Type
Key properties
Use for

highlight
rects, color?, content?
Mark important text

underline
rects, color?
Emphasize terms

strikethrough
rects, color?
Mark deletions

note
x, y, content, color?
Sticky-note comments

freetext
x, y, content, fontSize?
Visible text on page

rectangle
x, y, width, height, color?, fillColor?
Box regions

circle
x, y, width, height, color?, fillColor?
Circle regions

line
x1, y1, x2, y2, color?
Draw lines/arrows

stamp
x, y, label, color?, rotation?
APPROVED, DRAFT, CONFIDENTIAL, etc.

image
imageUrl, x?, y?, width?, height?
Signatures, initials, logos

Image annotations accept a local file path or HTTPS URL (no data:
URIs). Dimensions auto-detected if omitted. Users can also drag & drop
images directly onto the viewer.

Interactive Workflows

Collaborative annotation (AI-driven)

display_pdf to open the document

interact → get_text on relevant page range to understand content

Propose a batch of annotations to the user (describe what you'll mark)

On approval, interact → add_annotations + get_screenshot

Show the user, ask for edits, iterate

When done, remind them they can download the annotated PDF from the
viewer toolbar

Form filling (visual, not programmatic)

Unlike headless form tools, this gives the user live visual
feedback and handles forms with cryptic/unnamed fields where the
label is printed on the page rather than in field metadata.

display_pdf — inspect returned formFields (name, type, page,
bounding box)

If field names are cryptic (Text1, Field_7), get_screenshot
the pages and match bounding boxes to visual labels

Ask the user for values using the visual labels, or infer from
context

interact → fill_form, then get_screenshot to show the result

User confirms or edits directly in the viewer

For simple well-labeled forms, display_pdf with
elicit_form_inputs: true prompts the user upfront instead.

Signing (visual, not certified)

Ask for the signature/initials image path

display_pdf, check formFields for signature-type fields or ask
which page/position

interact → add_annotations with type: "image" at the target
coordinates

get_screenshot to confirm placement

Disclaimer: This places a visual signature image. It is not a
certified or cryptographic digital signature.

Supported Sources

Local files (paths under client MCP roots)

arXiv (/abs/ URLs auto-convert to PDF)

Any direct HTTPS PDF URL (bioRxiv, Zenodo, OSF, etc. — use the
direct PDF link, not the landing page)

Out of Scope

Summarization / text extraction — use native Read instead

Certified digital signatures — image stamping only

PDF creation — this works on existing PDFs only