@hushvert/mcp

A file-conversion tool for your AI agent.

`@hushvert/mcp` is a Model Context Protocol

server that gives an AI coding agent (Claude Code, Cursor, Cline, Zed, and any

other MCP host) a `convert_file` tool over the hushvert hosted API. When a task

needs a conversion a browser cannot do - office documents to PDF, PDF to Word,

large video transcodes - the agent converts the file in one tool call, and the

result is written next to the input. No upload code, no polling, no glue.

It is a thin client over the hushvert hosted API. For the

conversions that DO run in a browser (images, HEIC, archives, audio, small video,

PDF page ops), use the free, open-source `@hushvert/engine`

package instead - this server will refuse those and point you there.

Demo

A real run in Claude Code, recorded live and not sped up: ask, and `report.pdf` is

written next to the input. The whole turn took 23 seconds, of which the conversion

itself was about 7.

The recording starts Claude Code with only this server loaded

(`--strict-mcp-config`) so nothing unrelated is on screen. The tape that produced

it is `assets/demo.tape`,

if you want to reproduce it.

Claude Code can already convert files. Why this?

Because it can only convert what your machine can convert, and when it cannot, it

does not fail loudly.

Ask any coding agent to turn `report.docx` into a PDF. If LibreOffice is

installed, it will shell out to `soffice`, do a good job, and you do not need this

server. If LibreOffice is not installed, and it is not there by default on macOS,

on Windows, or in a typical CI image, the usual fallback is pandoc. Pandoc does

not really convert a Word document. It reads the text into its own AST, hands that

to LaTeX, and LaTeX typesets a new document. You get a PDF. The agent reports

success. Nobody opens the file.

Here is the same `report.docx` down both paths:

Same words, different document. Every font in the pandoc PDF is Latin Modern,

LaTeX's default. The heading color is gone, the table lost its Word styling, and

the title moved into a centered LaTeX title block. `pdffonts` on the two outputs:

pandoc     LMRoman17-Regular, LMRoman12-Bold, LMRoman10-Italic, ...
hushvert   Carlito-Regular, Carlito-Bold, Carlito-Italic

Carlito is metric-compatible with Calibri, which is what the document actually

asked for. Latin Modern is not.

So, honestly:

• **If LibreOffice is installed and your agent reaches for it, you do not need

this server.** That is a real answer, and it is the right one for a lot of people.

• If it is not installed, this is one line of config instead of a 281 MB download,

and it behaves the same on your laptop, in CI, in a container, and on a machine

you are not allowed to install software on.

• Name the tool if it matters. On a machine that had both this server and pandoc

available, we asked the plain way ("convert report.docx to PDF") twice: Claude

Code used `convert_file` once and pandoc the other time, and the two runs

produced the two documents above. Which tool an agent reaches for is its call,

not ours. "Convert report.docx to PDF with hushvert" pins it.

Install

Get an API key at hushvert.com/developers/keys

(sign-in is a one-time email code; keys require a confirmed email), then add the

server to your agent's MCP config.

Claude Code - one line, no file to edit:

claude mcp add hushvert -e HUSHVERT_API_KEY=hv_live_your_key_here -- npx -y @hushvert/mcp

Cursor, Cline, Zed, and other MCP hosts (or Claude Code, if you prefer a

committed project config) - add this block to the host's MCP config

(`.mcp.json`, `.cursor/mcp.json`, and so on):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "hushvert": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@hushvert/mcp"],
      "env": { "HUSHVERT_API_KEY": "hv_live_your_key_here" }
    }
  }
}

If that file is committed, do not put the key in it. Claude Code expands

environment variables in an MCP config, so use `"HUSHVERT_API_KEY":

"${HUSHVERT_API_KEY}"` and keep the real key in your shell. Other hosts vary;

check yours before committing.

Then ask your agent: "convert report.docx to PDF with hushvert." Naming the server

is worth the two extra words: if your machine has a local converter, the agent may

reach for that instead, and for office documents the result is usually worse. See

above.

Tools

`convert_file`

input_path       (required) path to the source file
to               (required) target format, e.g. "pdf", "docx", "mp4"
from             (optional) source format; inferred from the extension otherwise
output_path      (optional) where to write; defaults beside the input. Required to overwrite.
wait_seconds     (optional) max seconds to wait before handing back a jobId to poll. Default 120.
idempotency_key  (optional) makes a retried conversion safe (same job, charged once)

Returns `{ output_path, jobId, pair, bytesIn, bytesOut, status }`. If the job is

still running after `wait_seconds` (typical for large video), it returns

`{ jobId, status: "processing", resumeWith: "convert_poll" }`; call `convert_poll`

with the `jobId` and an `output_path` to finish.

What it converts

The server-only formats a browser cannot do:

• Office to PDF: docx, pptx, xlsx, doc, ppt, xls, odt, ods, odp, rtf, html to pdf
• PDF to Word: pdf to docx
• Document interchange: md, html, epub, latex, rst, docx (via pandoc)
• Video: mov, mkv, avi, webm to mp4 (and mp4 to gif)

Call `list_formats` for the live list. Everything else (images, HEIC, archives,

audio, small video, PDF page ops) runs free, client-side, in

`@hushvert/engine`.

Configuration

Billing and privacy

Conversions are billed per use against your account: a free monthly allowance,

then credits. `check_usage` shows your remaining allowance and balance at any

time - have your agent check it before a large batch. The hosted API processes

the server-only formats that genuinely cannot run in a browser; for everything

else the file never leaves the device via the open-source engine. See

hushvert.com/for-developers.

Security

The API key is read from the environment, never logged, and never returned in a

tool result or error. See SECURITY.md.

License

MIT