Use Tanod PDF and document tools in n8n with the MCP Client Tool

Use when an n8n AI Agent must read or convert a PDF or Word file and you want a hosted tool with no key and no wallet.

n8n has a built-in MCP Client Tool node that lets an AI Agent call the tools of any remote MCP server. Tanod's documents server at https://tanod.dev/mcp/docs speaks Streamable HTTP and needs no authentication, and over MCP the free daily allowance is applied automatically, so there is nothing to sign up for. This page was checked against n8n 2.43 (the current @n8n/n8n-nodes-langchain package, version 2.43.0, and the docs release notes listing 2.43 as newest).

What the node offers in n8n

Read from the n8n source (McpClientTool.node.ts and its shared descriptions.ts) and the MCP Client Tool docs page. The node is called MCP Client Tool and is a sub-node you attach to an AI Agent. Its fields in node version 1.2 and later:

Endpoint: the MCP server URL. Use https://tanod.dev/mcp/docs.
Server Transport: HTTP Streamable or Server Sent Events (Deprecated). Choose HTTP Streamable; it is the default from node version 1.2.
Authentication: None, Bearer Auth, Header Auth, MCP OAuth2 or Multiple Headers Auth. Choose None for Tanod.
Tools to Include: All, Selected or All Except (the last shows a Tools to Exclude list). Selecting a few tools keeps the agent's prompt short.
Options → Timeout: milliseconds, default 60000.

HTTP Streamable support was added by n8n pull request #15454, merged on 18 July 2025 and released in n8n 1.104.0 (a maintainer's comment on that PR). The docs page itself still labels the endpoint field "SSE Endpoint" and does not mention a transport option, so trust the node in your editor over that page. If your node shows only an "SSE Endpoint" field and no transport choice, it is the old node version 1; delete it and add the node again from the nodes panel so the current version is created (a maintainer's answer on n8n issue #35303).

Minimal workflow, step by step

Create a workflow and add Chat Trigger ("When chat message received").
Add an AI Agent node and connect the trigger to it.
Under the agent's Chat Model connector, add a chat model node of your choice with your own credential.
Under the agent's Tool connector, click +, search "MCP Client Tool" and add it.
Set Endpoint to https://tanod.dev/mcp/docs, Server Transport to HTTP Streamable, Authentication to None, Tools to Include to All (or Selected: extract_pdf, pdf_inspect, convert_document_to_markdown).
Open the chat panel and send one of the prompts below.

Importable workflow JSON

Paste this on the canvas (Ctrl+V or Cmd+V). It holds the three nodes without a chat model, because that needs your credential: add one and connect it to the agent. The node type names (@n8n/n8n-nodes-langchain.chatTrigger, .agent, .mcpClientTool), the parameter names and the allowed node versions were checked against the n8n source; I did not import it into a running n8n.

n8n workflow JSON

{
  "nodes": [
    {
      "parameters": {
        "options": {}
      },
      "name": "When chat message received",
      "type": "@n8n/n8n-nodes-langchain.chatTrigger",
      "typeVersion": 1.4,
      "position": [
        0,
        0
      ]
    },
    {
      "parameters": {
        "options": {}
      },
      "name": "AI Agent",
      "type": "@n8n/n8n-nodes-langchain.agent",
      "typeVersion": 3.1,
      "position": [
        260,
        0
      ]
    },
    {
      "parameters": {
        "endpointUrl": "https://tanod.dev/mcp/docs",
        "serverTransport": "httpStreamable",
        "authentication": "none",
        "include": "all"
      },
      "name": "Tanod documents MCP",
      "type": "@n8n/n8n-nodes-langchain.mcpClientTool",
      "typeVersion": 1.4,
      "position": [
        360,
        220
      ]
    }
  ],
  "connections": {
    "When chat message received": {
      "main": [
        [
          {
            "node": "AI Agent",
            "type": "main",
            "index": 0
          }
        ]
      ]
    },
    "Tanod documents MCP": {
      "ai_tool": [
        [
          {
            "node": "AI Agent",
            "type": "ai_tool",
            "index": 0
          }
        ]
      ]
    }
  }
}

Three prompts to try

"Extract the text of https://tanod.dev/samples/sample.pdf and give me a three-line summary." Uses extract_pdf, which has a free daily allowance (5 per IP per UTC day).
"Inspect https://tanod.dev/samples/tables-sample.pdf and tell me how many pages and tables it has." Uses pdf_inspect, also free (3 pdfpeek calls per IP per UTC day). Pulling the tables out as JSON or CSV is extract_pdf_tables, which has no free tier.
"Convert https://tanod.dev/samples/sample.docx to Markdown and list its headings." Uses convert_document_to_markdown, which has no free tier: expect the tool to return a payment-required error that the agent reports back. That is a useful way to see what happens past the allowance.

Allowances are per IP address and reset each UTC day. On n8n Cloud many users share egress IPs, so the free calls may run out sooner than on a self-hosted n8n. The server's tool list and per-tool allowances are in each tool's description.

Payment beyond the free allowance

n8n's MCP client cannot pay x402. Calls past the free allowance, and every tool with no free tier, fail with an x402 payment-required result that n8n has no way to sign. For heavier use, call the HTTP API with an x402 client instead (for example from a Code node or a small service you run): see pay-per-call APIs for AI agents with x402 and paying with MPP on Tempo. Prices are per call in USDC; there is no account or key.

Other Tanod MCP endpoints

Same steps, a different Endpoint. Each answered an MCP initialize request from an unpaid POST on 12 October 2026. The free allowance applies per tool as above; many tools in these families have a free tier, some have none.

https://tanod.dev/mcp/web: search, page to Markdown, screenshots
https://tanod.dev/mcp/chain: EVM and Solana reads
https://tanod.dev/mcp/finance: SEC financials, Treasury yields, ECB FX
https://tanod.dev/mcp/images: image toolkit
https://tanod.dev/mcp/ml: speech to text, embeddings, rerank
https://tanod.dev/mcp/security: contract and package scans, phishing and OFAC checks
https://tanod.dev/mcp/sky: METAR/TAF, airports, space weather
https://tanod.dev/mcp/text: text tools
https://tanod.dev/mcp/util: developer utilities
https://tanod.dev/mcp/agents: index of x402 endpoints and MCP servers

The documents server itself is described in a hosted PDF and OCR MCP server. Connection trouble: MCP connection errors explained.

Price and free allowance

Free daily calls per IP on selected tools, applied automatically over MCP. Past that, USD 0.001 to 0.02 per call in USDC with x402 from an x402-capable client, which n8n's MCP Client Tool is not.

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