Claude PDF Viewer connectorThe demo that opens an online PDF inside the chat.
The Claude PDF Viewer connector exposes a single tool, a read tool. 1 displays a PDF, 0 write, 0 are undocumented. Below: what this demo does, why it won't open just any file you throw at it, and where its own sources disagree.
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What changes when you're reading a paper
PDF Viewer is an example published by the protocol's community. It does one thing: display a PDF in an interactive viewer inside the conversation, with no account to connect. The viewer keeps Claude posted on what you're looking at, so it can answer about the page on screen or the text you've selected.
Read a paper without leaving Claude. When a paper is hosted on an allowed site such as arxiv.org, display_pdf opens it in a viewer with page navigation, search, text extraction and zoom.
Ask about the page in front of you. The viewer keeps Claude informed of what you're looking at, so your questions can be about the current page or the text you've selected.
See what an in-chat interface looks like. It's first and foremost a demo: it shows how a tool can display something inside Claude rather than reply with plain text.
What this connector doesn't cover: its sheet exposes a display tool and nothing for annotating, filling in or saving a PDF. The directory sheet calls it a demo limited to certain addresses, and the tool itself describes a read-only viewer, with page navigation, text extraction, search and zoom. Working on many PDFs without you in the loop is a job for an automation tool; the Integrations hub covers that side.
Four words to get your bearings
Just enough to follow the rest.
- Connector
- What you add once in Claude to open an outside service to it; here, a demo PDF viewer rather than an account.
- Tool
- A named action the connector hands to Claude, which decides on its own when to use it; this one has exactly one.
- Approval
- The confirmation Claude asks for before an action that changes an account, shown in the chat at the right moment.
- MCP
- The open standard linking connectors to Claude, and the very thing this viewer was built to demonstrate.
Add PDF Viewer to Claude in three steps
- 01
Look up PDF Viewer
In Claude's settings, open Customize, then Connectors, and search for PDF Viewer. On a Team or Enterprise workspace, an Owner or Primary Owner has to enable it for the organization before a member can add it.
- 02
Add it
Click Connect on its row. According to the directory sheet, no sign-in is required: there's no account to create and no login to type. If something goes wrong, hit Disconnect and start over.
- 03
Don't wait for a sign-in screen
No authorization screen is expected here. If another connector shows you one, read it before accepting: it's the service, not Claude, that sets how far the access goes there.
The one tool, and what it does
PDF Viewer gives Claude 1 tool: 1 that read your account, 0 that change something in it.
A single read tool. Its name stays in English, the way Claude shows it.
- 1 read
What Claude reads (1)
1 toolOne tool that displays a PDF without changing it.
display_pdf
Opens the document in an interactive viewer right inside the conversation, read-only according to the tool's own description. The viewer offers page navigation, search, text extraction and zoom.
Sourceexample-server.modelcontextprotocol.io · October 1, 2026 ↗
What Claude asks before acting
By default, Claude stops and asks for your OK before every action it takes on an account for you. The request appears in the chat, when it matters.
There's no account and no writing here: the only tool displays a document. No source describes a confirmation specific to display_pdf, so the general rule applies. On a Team or Enterprise workspace, Owners decide whether a member may let some actions through without a fresh prompt, and they can restrict what the connector may do for the whole organization, with no way around it from a personal account.
Which plans it's available on
None of the 819 sheets in the official directory shows plan availability. Per connector, that information doesn't exist anywhere.
The general rule is published: remote connectors are open to all users on Claude, Cowork, Claude Desktop and mobile. On Team and Enterprise, an Owner or Primary Owner enables them for the organization before members connect. For the current state, the PDF Viewer sheet in the official directory is what counts.
Where this connector stops
A connector isn't an automation. Claude calls this tool while it answers you, so nothing opens by itself when a new paper comes out.
By default the sheet only exposes read tools. That's an observed floor, not a guarantee: an admin can open actions that appear on no public sheet. The connector is documented by its publisher alone, with no Anthropic page; the rest of the family sits on the Claude connectors hub. Anthropic says as much on the sheet: it doesn't pick the tools exposed or vouch for how they behave, so only add what you trust.
Which addresses will this viewer open a PDF from?
- Claude's official directory sheet ↗October 2026The sheet describes a demo that only renders PDFs from a short list of allowed addresses, such as arxiv.org, for security reasons.
- Tool description published by the publisher's server ↗October 2026The display_pdf description accepts local files, folders supplied by the app, or any HTTPS address.
What this page followsBoth texts were read on the same day, and neither is dated as stale. The example's guide lists academic sites followed by "and more", which settles nothing. This page doesn't pick a side: if an address gets refused, the restriction described on the directory sheet is what's in play.
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