Paperless-ngx MCP Server

What this does

Paperless-ngx exposes a set of tools to Claude over the Model Context Protocol. After you add it to claude_desktop_config.json (snippet above) and restart Claude Desktop, those tools become callable inside any conversation.

Requirements

This server needs the following environment variables to be set before it can run:

PAPERLESS_URL
PAPERLESS_TOKEN
PAPERLESS_PUBLIC_URL
PAPERLESS_TOOLSETS
PAPERLESS_READ_ONLY
PAPERLESS_HEADERS
PAPERLESS_DOWNLOAD_DIR
PAPERLESS_MAX_PAGE_SIZE
PAPERLESS_TIMEOUT_MS
PAPERLESS_API_VERSION

Set these via the env object in your MCP config (see claude_desktop_config.json snippet above).

How do I install Paperless-ngx?

Run the Claude Code command in the install section to add Paperless-ngx to Claude Code, or copy the ready-made config for your client from the install section on this page. Restart your client afterwards and the tools appear in your next conversation.

Which clients work with Paperless-ngx?

This page carries setup and config for Claude Code, Claude Desktop, Cursor and VS Code. Any other MCP client that accepts a standard server config can connect to Paperless-ngx as well.

Does Paperless-ngx need an API key?

Yes. Before it can run, set these environment variables: PAPERLESS_URL, PAPERLESS_TOKEN, PAPERLESS_PUBLIC_URL, PAPERLESS_TOOLSETS, PAPERLESS_READ_ONLY, PAPERLESS_HEADERS, PAPERLESS_DOWNLOAD_DIR, PAPERLESS_MAX_PAGE_SIZE, PAPERLESS_TIMEOUT_MS, PAPERLESS_API_VERSION. They go in the env block of your MCP config.