Paperless-NGX MCP Server

An MCP (Model Context Protocol) server for interacting with a Paperless-NGX API server. This server provides tools for managing documents, tags, correspondents, and document types in your Paperless-NGX instance.

Quick Start

Installation

1. Install the MCP server:

npm install -g paperless-mcp

2. Add it to your Claude's MCP configuration:

For VSCode extension, edit ~/Library/Application Support/Code/User/globalStorage/saoudrizwan.claude-dev/settings/cline_mcp_settings.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "paperless": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["paperless-mcp", "http://your-paperless-instance:8000", "your-api-token"]
    }
  }
}

For Claude desktop app, edit ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "paperless": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["paperless-mcp", "http://your-paperless-instance:8000", "your-api-token"]
    }
  }
}

3. Get your API token:

1. Log into your Paperless-NGX instance

2. Click your username in the top right

3. Select "My Profile"

4. Click the circular arrow button to generate a new token

4. Replace the placeholders in your MCP config:

• http://your-paperless-instance:8000 with your Paperless-NGX URL
• your-api-token with the token you just generated

That's it! Now you can ask Claude to help you manage your Paperless-NGX documents.

Example Usage

Here are some things you can ask Claude to do:

• "Show me all documents tagged as 'Invoice'"
• "Search for documents containing 'tax return'"
• "Create a new tag called 'Receipts' with color #FF0000"
• "Download document #123"
• "List all correspondents"
• "Create a new document type called 'Bank Statement'"

Available Tools

Document Operations

list_documents

Get a paginated list of all documents.

Parameters:

• page (optional): Page number
• page_size (optional): Number of documents per page

list_documents({
  page: 1,
  page_size: 25
})

get_document

Get a specific document by ID.

Parameters:

• id: Document ID

get_document({
  id: 123
})

search_documents

Full-text search across documents.

Parameters:

• query: Search query string

search_documents({
  query: "invoice 2024"
})

download_document

Download a document file by ID.

Parameters:

• id: Document ID
• original (optional): If true, downloads original file instead of archived version

download_document({
  id: 123,
  original: false
})

bulk_edit_documents

Perform bulk operations on multiple documents.

Parameters:

• documents: Array of document IDs
• method: One of:
• set_correspondent: Set correspondent for documents
• set_document_type: Set document type for documents
• set_storage_path: Set storage path for documents
• add_tag: Add a tag to documents
• remove_tag: Remove a tag from documents
• modify_tags: Add and/or remove multiple tags
• delete: Delete documents
• reprocess: Reprocess documents
• set_permissions: Set document permissions
• merge: Merge multiple documents
• split: Split a document into multiple documents
• rotate: Rotate document pages
• delete_pages: Delete specific pages from a document
• Additional parameters based on method:
• correspondent: ID for set_correspondent
• document_type: ID for set_document_type
• storage_path: ID for set_storage_path
• tag: ID for add_tag/remove_tag
• add_tags: Array of tag IDs for modify_tags
• remove_tags: Array of tag IDs for modify_tags
• permissions: Object for set_permissions with owner, permissions, merge flag
• metadata_document_id: ID for merge to specify metadata source
• delete_originals: Boolean for merge/split
• pages: String for split "[1,2-3,4,5-7]" or delete_pages "[2,3,4]"
• degrees: Number for rotate (90, 180, or 270)

Examples:

// Add a tag to multiple documents
bulk_edit_documents({
  documents: [1, 2, 3],
  method: "add_tag",
  tag: 5
})

// Set correspondent and document type
bulk_edit_documents({
  documents: [4, 5],
  method: "set_correspondent",
  correspondent: 2
})

// Merge documents
bulk_edit_documents({
  documents: [6, 7, 8],
  method: "merge",
  metadata_document_id: 6,
  delete_originals: true
})

// Split document into parts
bulk_edit_documents({
  documents: [9],
  method: "split",
  pages: "[1-2,3-4,5]"
})

// Modify multiple tags at once
bulk_edit_documents({
  documents: [10, 11],
  method: "modify_tags",
  add_tags: [1, 2],
  remove_tags: [3, 4]
})

post_document

Upload a new document to Paperless-NGX.

Parameters:

• file: Base64 encoded file content
• filename: Name of the file
• title (optional): Title for the document
• created (optional): DateTime when the document was created (e.g. "2024-01-19" or "2024-01-19 06:15:00+02:00")
• correspondent (optional): ID of a correspondent
• document_type (optional): ID of a document type
• storage_path (optional): ID of a storage path
• tags (optional): Array of tag IDs
• archive_serial_number (optional): Archive serial number
• custom_fields (optional): Array of custom field IDs

post_document({
  file: "base64_encoded_content",
  filename: "invoice.pdf",
  title: "January Invoice",
  created: "2024-01-19",
  correspondent: 1,
  document_type: 2,
  tags: [1, 3],
  archive_serial_number: "2024-001"
})

Tag Operations

list_tags

Get all tags.

list_tags()

create_tag

Create a new tag.

Parameters:

• name: Tag name
• color (optional): Hex color code (e.g. "#ff0000")
• match (optional): Text pattern to match
• matching_algorithm (optional): One of "any", "all", "exact", "regular expression", "fuzzy"

create_tag({
  name: "Invoice",
  color: "#ff0000",
  match: "invoice",
  matching_algorithm: "fuzzy"
})

Correspondent Operations

list_correspondents

Get all correspondents.

list_correspondents()

create_correspondent

Create a new correspondent.

Parameters:

• name: Correspondent name
• match (optional): Text pattern to match
• matching_algorithm (optional): One of "any", "all", "exact", "regular expression", "fuzzy"

create_correspondent({
  name: "ACME Corp",
  match: "ACME",
  matching_algorithm: "fuzzy"
})

Document Type Operations

list_document_types

Get all document types.

list_document_types()

create_document_type

Create a new document type.

Parameters:

• name: Document type name
• match (optional): Text pattern to match
• matching_algorithm (optional): One of "any", "all", "exact", "regular expression", "fuzzy"

create_document_type({
  name: "Invoice",
  match: "invoice total amount due",
  matching_algorithm: "any"
})

Error Handling

The server will show clear error messages if:

• The Paperless-NGX URL or API token is incorrect
• The Paperless-NGX server is unreachable
• The requested operation fails
• The provided parameters are invalid

Development

Want to contribute or modify the server? Here's what you need to know:

1. Clone the repository

2. Install dependencies:

npm install

3. Make your changes to server.js

4. Test locally:

node server.js http://localhost:8000 your-test-token

The server is built with:

• litemcp: A TypeScript framework for building MCP servers
• zod: TypeScript-first schema validation

API Documentation

This MCP server implements endpoints from the Paperless-NGX REST API. For more details about the underlying API, see the official documentation.

Running the MCP Server

The MCP server can be run in two modes:

1. stdio (default)

This is the default mode. The server communicates over stdio, suitable for CLI and direct integrations.

npm run start --

2. HTTP (Streamable HTTP Transport)

To run the server as an HTTP service, use the --http flag. You can also specify the port with --port (default: 3000). This mode requires Express to be installed (it is included as a dependency).

npm run start --   --http --port 3000

• The MCP API will be available at POST /mcp on the specified port.
• Each request is handled statelessly, following the StreamableHTTPServerTransport pattern.
• GET and DELETE requests to /mcp will return 405 Method Not Allowed.