PDF Studio Docs

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PDF Studio DocsA PDF editor with no backend. It rewrites the file's content stream, in your browser.

MIT · zero server · npm CLI and MCP server · no uploads, accounts, watermarks or page limits

Get Started
Open the Live App
GitHub

✏️ True text editing

Click any line — or any table cell — and retype it. The original text operators are rewritten in the file itself, not overlaid. Exports as real, searchable vector text.

🖤 Real redaction

Covered content is deleted from the file at export — vector text operators removed, and pages rasterized where text can't be proven removable. Not painted over.

📝 Forms

Fill real AcroForms — text, checkboxes, radios, dropdowns — then flatten them so nobody can change your answers.

🖋️ Sign & annotate

Signature pad, highlight, pen, arrows, shapes, sticky notes, image stamps — all exported as real vector content.

🔠 On-device OCR

Scanned pages become editable text via local Tesseract (EN/ES/FR/DE). No upload, ever.

🤖 On-device AI

Ask questions about your document; a real LLM runs in your browser via WebAssembly. Your data never leaves.

⚖️ Revision diff

Drop in two versions, get a line-by-line diff. Did the payment terms change? Now you know.

📄 Page ops

Reorder, rotate, merge, split, duplicate, delete. Stamp page numbers, watermarks, headers & footers at export.

💻 CLI & MCP

The same engine as a `pdfstudio` CLI (9 commands) and a standalone `pdfstudio-mcp` server (10 tools). 100% local, agent-native, no API key.

🕵️ Redaction checker

Drop in a PDF and see the text still hiding under its black boxes. A five-minute way to find out whether a "redaction" was real.

For developers ​

The MCP server is published on npm; the CLI builds from the repo.

bash
npx pdfstudio-mcp --root ./docs --read-only    # MCP: 10 PDF tools over stdio for any agent
npx pdfstudio info contract.pdf                # CLI — from a clone, after `npm run build:packages`

Everything is local by construction: pdf.js parses, the content stream is rewritten in place, pdf-lib writes. No service to run, no key to set, no document bytes on the wire. Redaction is gated — the exporter re-scans its own output and refuses to produce a file if a covered string is still recoverable.

CLI reference · MCP reference · Redaction engine · Security audit

Private by architecture, not by policy ​

PDF Studio runs 100% in your browser. Your files are opened, edited, and saved on your own machine — there is no server to upload to. Open devtools while you edit: your document bytes never leave the machine.

  • Zero network calls carry document bytes — verified by an internal security audit (Security)
  • The only external host the app ever contacts is HuggingFace, for one-time, user-triggered AI model downloads
  • Autosaves stay in your browser's localStorage; a one-click wipe deletes them

Start here ​

Getting startedOpen a PDF, tour the UI, make your first edits
InstallationUse it in the browser, install the PWA, Docker self-hosting, build from source
CLI referencepdfstudio info, edit-text, redact, merge, split, rotate, pages…
MCP serverGive Claude Code / Cursor / Cline 10 PDF tools over stdio — no network, path-contained
Redaction checkerDrop in a PDF and see the text still hiding under its black boxes
SecurityPrivacy architecture and the internal A− security audit
FAQPricing, limits, offline use, redaction vs. whiteout, and more

Try it in 30 seconds ​

Open the live app, drop in any PDF, press E, click any line of existing text, retype it.

MIT — free for personal, commercial, and everything in between. License · Discussions · navigatorslab.com

MIT licensed — free for personal, commercial, and everything in between.

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