MCP server · Productivity
Paperless-ngx MCP server
by tobee89
Lets your AI search, read and file the documents in your Paperless-ngx archive, and manage its tags and share links.
This is a helper that connects your AI assistant to your own Paperless-ngx document archive, the self-hosted place where people keep scanned paperwork and PDFs. Once it is set up, you can just ask your AI things like "find the invoice from the water company last March" instead of clicking around the Paperless website yourself. It is most useful for people who already run Paperless-ngx and want to talk to their archive in plain language.
What is an MCP server? The 30-second version
On its own, your AI can only chat. It cannot see your paperwork, and it cannot change anything anywhere. An MCP server is a small helper program that lives on your computer and gives your AI one new ability: here, the ability to reach your Paperless-ngx archive. When you ask a question, your AI hands the request to this helper, the helper talks to your Paperless install, and the answer comes back to you in the chat.
What this MCP server does
You ask your AI a question about your documents, like finding a bill or listing everything with a certain tag. The AI sends that request to this helper program, which is running on your machine. The helper logs into your Paperless-ngx through its normal web interface and looks up what you asked for. It brings back only the useful parts, not the whole giant pile of scanned text, so the chat stays manageable. You then see a tidy answer: a list of documents, a summary, or a note that it changed something for you.
What you can do with it
- Search your archive by words, dates, tags, correspondents or document type
- Read a document's text and details
- Upload a new file and let Paperless process it
- Download a document or its original file
- Add, rename or remove tags, correspondents and document types
- Edit several documents at once using a list of IDs you give it
- Create and review public share links
- Check archive statistics, tasks and the trash
Try asking your AI
- “Find the electricity invoices from 2023 and tell me the total”
- “Show me every document with the tag 'taxes' that has no correspondent yet”
- “Add the tag 'insurance' to the three documents I just listed”
- “Is there anything in my trash from the last month”
What it gives back to you
You get answers in the chat: short lists of matching documents with their titles, dates and links, or a summary of one document. When the AI changes something, like adding a tag or uploading a file, it tells you what it did. Longer document text comes back in pages, so you ask for the next part if you need it. Nothing is written to your archive unless you (or the AI) actually ask for a change.
Before you start
What you need
- A running Paperless-ngx 3.x instance and its web address
- An API token from your Paperless profile (Paperless shows you one in My Profile)
- Node.js installed on your computer, so npx can run the helper
Good to know
It can change and delete documents in your archive, upload files, and create public share links, so check what the AI is about to do before saying yes.
Install it with your AI
Add Paperless-ngx MCP server to your AI, no technical skills needed
You don't install anything by hand. You copy one prompt, paste it into an AI that can work on your computer, and it checks, installs and connects the server for you, asking you when it needs something.
Sign in to get the install prompt
Members get a ready-made prompt that lets the Claude desktop app check Paperless-ngx MCP server, install it and connect it for them, step by step. You don't need any technical skills: you copy, paste and answer a few questions. Your connected AI can also find and install any of the 4,609 MCP servers here for you.
Who it's for
People who already keep their paperwork in Paperless-ngx and would rather ask questions in plain language than click through the web app.
