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pdf: a Claude Code skill by Anthropic

Official

For anyone who needs Claude to merge, split, fill, OCR or pull tables out of PDF files. Skip it if your files are Word documents or slides.

The skill's text changed on Nov 7, 2026, after we last read it. Our description may be behind.

Copy install command View the source
Score
90of 100
Rank
#8of 239
Installs
227Kon skills.sh
Security
Clear 5 scanners
Updated
2026
Context
~110tokens always

Install

npx skills add https://github.com/anthropics/skills --skill pdf

Run it in your terminal. View the source

Using the Claude app rather than Claude Code? You can add a skill there too. How to add it in the app

What does pdf do?

pdf is a Claude skill that gives Claude a recipe book of Python code and command-line tools for PDF work. It uses pypdf to merge, split, rotate, watermark and password-protect files, pdfplumber to pull out text and tables, which pandas can then save to Excel, and reportlab to create new PDFs. For scanned pages it turns each page into an image and runs pytesseract OCR. It also lists qpdf, pdftotext, pdfimages and pdftk commands for the same jobs. Form filling, pdf-lib for JavaScript and troubleshooting sit in separate FORMS.md and REFERENCE.md files that the SKILL.md points to.

When should you use pdf?

Use it when

  • Combining several PDFs into one file
  • Moving tables from a PDF report into a spreadsheet
  • Making a scanned PDF searchable with OCR

Skip it when

  • You need to edit Word documents or slide decks
  • You only want a quick summary of one PDF

What it needs and what it can touch

You need

  • Python with pypdf, pdfplumber and reportlab
  • Optional: poppler-utils, qpdf and pytesseract for command-line and OCR work

What it can do

  • Runs Python scripts and shell commands
  • Reads and writes PDF files on your machine

From reading its instructions, not from running it.

Why it scores 90

Strongest on upkeep (100 of 100), weakest on adoption (75).

  • Adoption35 points 75
  • Upkeep20 points 100
  • Trust20 points 100
  • Quality15 points 100
  • Reader answers10 points Not enough answers yet, so this does not count

How the formula works

Is pdf safe to install?

Every scanner that checked it passed it. Scanners often miss what other scanners catch, and a skill can change after a scan. Read its source before you install it.

ScannerResultDate
Gen Agent Trust HubPassedNov 7, 2026
SocketPassedNov 8, 2026
SnykLow riskNov 7, 2026
RunlayerLow riskFeb 26, 2026
ZeroLeaksPassedApr 16, 2026

Details

Installs
226,891
Repository stars
192,526
Last repository change
Tokens always loaded
about 110
Tokens when used
about 1,878
License
Proprietary
Data confidence
High

Alternatives to pdf

All skills for this job

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    Score 90 253K installs Official

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  • docx

    For people who need Claude to create, edit, redline or comment on real Word files.

    Score 89 216K installs Official

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  • wecomcli-doc

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    Score 76 26.6K installs Official

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  • ppt-master

    For people who need real, editable PPTX decks built from documents, topics or their own templates.

    Score 74 75.8K GitHub stars

    Get ppt-master