TeXFlow MCP

A LaTeX document compiler with an MCP interface. AI agents operate on a structured document model — sections, paragraphs, figures, tables — while TeXFlow handles all LaTeX mechanics: packages, preamble, fonts, and compilation.

Install

pip install texflow-mcp

Or run without installing:

uvx texflow-mcp

System dependencies (optional)

TeXFlow compiles documents to PDF using XeLaTeX. Without it, you can still build and export .tex files.

# Arch
pacman -S texlive-xetex texlive-fontsrecommended texlive-fontsextra

# Debian/Ubuntu
apt install texlive-xetex texlive-fonts-recommended texlive-fonts-extra

# Fedora
dnf install texlive-xetex texlive-collection-fontsrecommended texlive-collection-fontsextra

For page preview (PNG), install poppler-utils (provides pdftoppm).

Configure with Claude Code

claude mcp add texflow -- uvx texflow-mcp

That's it. Restart Claude Code and the tools are available.

To set a workspace directory (where documents are saved):

claude mcp add texflow -- uvx texflow-mcp ~/Documents/TeXFlow

Configure with Claude Desktop

Add to your claude_desktop_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "texflow": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["texflow-mcp"]
    }
  }
}

How it works

TeXFlow has two entry flows, both converging on the same in-memory document model:

1. Scaffold — document(action="create") builds an empty document skeleton. Add content with edit(action="insert").
2. Markdown ingest — document(action="ingest", source="paper.md") parses markdown into the model. Refine layout from there.

The model auto-saves to disk as JSON. LaTeX is only ever an output artifact — you never edit .tex directly.

Tools

Tool	Purpose
document	Create, ingest markdown, show outline, read sections
layout	Columns, fonts, paper, margins, headers/footers, TOC
edit	Insert, replace, delete, move blocks (section, paragraph, figure, table, code, equation, list, raw)
render	Compile to PDF, preview page as PNG, export .tex
reference	Search LaTeX commands, symbols, packages, error help
queue	Batch multiple operations in one call

Every response includes a workflow state hint showing where you are and what to do next.

Example session

> document(action="create", title="My Paper", document_class="article")

> queue(operations=[
    {"tool": "edit", "action": "insert", "block_type": "section", "title": "Introduction", "level": 1},
    {"tool": "edit", "action": "insert", "content": "This paper explores...", "section": "Introduction"},
    {"tool": "edit", "action": "insert", "block_type": "section", "title": "Methods", "level": 1},
    {"tool": "layout", "font": "palatino", "columns": 2}
  ])

> render(action="compile")

Development

git clone https://github.com/aaronsb/texflow-mcp
cd texflow-mcp
uv sync
uv run pytest tests/ -v    # 222 tests
uv run texflow              # Start MCP server

License

MIT