Open the interactive PDF viewer with page navigation, zoom, in-document search, text selection, form-field sidebar, and Sign mode. This is the primary tool for visually working with a PDF. If the user gave you a URL instead of a local path, call fetch_pdf_from_url first, then pass the downloaded ...
AI agents call display_pdf to retrieve information from PDF Tools without modifying anything — typically the context-gathering step in research, monitoring, and reporting workflows, before the agent takes action elsewhere.
display_pdf is a viewer/reader tool that enables visual inspection and interaction with PDF content without creating, modifying, deleting, or executing operations. Even though it includes a "Sign mode," the tool itself only displays/opens the interface; actual signing is performed by separate tools like create_signature or add_signature_field. The detection of form fields is passive analysis.
From the tool's definition The tool description states it "Open[s] the interactive PDF viewer with page navigation, zoom, in-document search, text selection, form-field sidebar, and Sign mode" and is described as "the primary tool for visually working with a PDF." The verb "display"…
Documented attack patterns abuse exactly the kind of access display_pdf gives an agent:
PolicyLayer is an MCP gateway — it sits between your AI agents and PDF Tools, and nothing reaches the server without passing your rules. This is the rule we recommend for display_pdf:
{
"version": "1",
"default": "deny",
"tools": {
"display_pdf": {}
}
}display_pdf is read-only, so it stays allowed — but everything else on the server is denied unless you say otherwise.
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Open the interactive PDF viewer with page navigation, zoom, in-document search, text selection, form-field sidebar, and Sign mode. This is the primary tool for visually working with a PDF. If the user gave you a URL instead of a local path, call fetch_pdf_from_url first, then pass the downloaded local path here. Automatically detects form fields, so you usually do not need to also call read_pdf_fields. All paths must be absolute paths on the user. It is categorised as a Read tool in the PDF Tools MCP Server, which means it retrieves data without modifying state.
Register the PDF Tools MCP server in PolicyLayer and add a rule for display_pdf: allow, deny, rate-limit, or require approval. Point your MCP client at the PolicyLayer proxy URL and the rule is enforced on every call, before it reaches PDF Tools. Nothing to install.
display_pdf is a Read tool with low risk. Read-only tools are generally safe to allow by default.
Yes. Add a rate_limit block to the display_pdf rule in your PolicyLayer policy. For example, setting max: 10 and window: 60 limits the tool to 10 calls per minute. Rate limits are tracked per agent session and reset automatically.
Set action: deny in the PolicyLayer policy for display_pdf. The AI agent will receive a policy violation error and cannot call the tool. You can also include a reason field to explain why the tool is blocked.
display_pdf is provided by the PDF Tools MCP server (open-document-alliance/pdf-tools). PolicyLayer sits as a proxy in front of this server to enforce policies before tool calls reach the server.
Deterministic rules across all 36 PDF Tools tools. Per-identity grants. Full audit log. Live in minutes. Nothing to install.
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36 PDF Tools tools catalogued and risk-classified — across an index of 42,500+ MCP servers.