Apdf tutorials July 2026 3 min read

How to Merge PDFs by Asking Claude

Merging PDFs is the classic in-between task: too small to justify writing a script, too annoying to do in a desktop tool, and just sensitive enough that you don't want to upload client reports to a random "free PDF merger" site.

If you already work with Claude, there's a better way: connect it to Apdf over MCP once, and merging becomes a sentence. You describe the result; the agent picks the tool and does the work.

What you'll build

Claude wired to the Apdf MCP server — and this conversation, working end to end: “Merge these three monthly reports into one PDF” → one merged file, seconds later

MCP access needs Pro (14-day trial, no card)

Connect Claude to Apdf

The MCP server lives at a single OAuth-signed endpoint — no API keys, no token files:

https://apdf.io/mcp/main

In Claude Desktop add it under Settings → Connectors → custom connector, paste the URL, and sign in when the OAuth window opens. In Claude Code it's a one-liner:

claude mcp add --transport http apdf https://apdf.io/mcp/main

The same endpoint works in ChatGPT, Cursor, Gemini — anything that speaks MCP.

Ask for the merge

Point Claude at your files (any publicly reachable URLs — object storage, your server, Apdf documents) and describe the result:

You

Merge these three monthly reports into one PDF, in this order:
https://storage.example.com/report-april.pdf
https://storage.example.com/report-may.pdf
https://storage.example.com/report-june.pdf

Claude

apdf · merge-pdf-files

I've merged the three reports into a single 3-page PDF, in April → May → June order. You can download it here (link valid for 1 hour).

Behind the scenes, Claude calls the merge-pdf-files tool and gets this back:

{
    "file": "https://apdf-files.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/2ec63b146a61be4bb06ff.pdf",
    "expiration": "2026-07-23T08:10:04.637363Z",
    "pages": 3,
    "size": 72209
}

Heads up: Result files expire after 1 hour — download the merged PDF or store it somewhere permanent right away.

Get precise: page ranges per file

The tool takes an ordered list of files, each with an optional page range — which means your instructions can be surgical and stay in plain English:

You

Take only the first page of the April report and combine it with the full June report.

Claude

apdf · merge-pdf-files

Done — a 2-page PDF: April's cover page followed by the June report.

{
    "file": "https://apdf-files.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/74e1cc946a61be6bc4907.pdf",
    "expiration": "2026-07-23T08:10:36.600193Z",
    "pages": 2,
    "size": 49475
}

For big batches the tool also runs asynchronously — the agent gets a job id back and can poll check-job-status, or hand you the result via a webhook. You just keep talking.

Where to go from here

Merging is one of the tools on the belt — the same connection carries every PDF operation.

Explore the MCP server Every tool your agent gets: PDF operations, documents, links and engagement analytics. Explore Prefer plain REST? The same merge as an API endpoint — full reference in the docs. Explore

After the API call

Your code made the PDF.
Then it went dark.

Opened, read, re-read, dropped on page 4 — you never see any of it. Share the PDFs you generate through Apdf recipient links, and every signal becomes something you can act on: ping Slack, update the CRM, let an agent follow up. Same account, same API token, one more call.

Track your PDFs Explore the analytics

Your PDF, after sending Live

document:loaded Acme · CFO

page:read p4 · 38s

link:clicked pricing

API · Webhook · MCP

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