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The GroupDocs.Conversion MCP server runs in evaluation mode out of the box — no sign-up, no key. Your existing GroupDocs.Conversion (or GroupDocs.Total) license unlocks full functionality: point the installer’s licensePath — or the GROUPDOCS_LICENSE_PATH environment variable in a manual install — at your .lic file.

The MCP server itself is open source (MIT); the underlying GroupDocs.Conversion engine requires a license for production use.

There are three modes. The server takes the first one that is configured:

Note

Metered wins. If both metered keys and a license file are configured, the server uses metered licensing and ignores the file — and says so in its startup log.

Without a license:

• Converted output carries an evaluation watermark, and tool responses include an evaluation-mode notice.
• A single server process can open at most 15 documents; further calls fail with “Could not open more than 15 document files in evaluation mode” until the server restarts (your AI client restarts it automatically on the next session).

An empty license path is always safe — the server logs a notice and continues in evaluation mode; it never errors because a license is absent.

Installer config:

{ "licensePath": "D:/Storage/Licenses/GroupDocs.Conversion.lic" }

Manual (NuGet channel) — set the environment variable in your client’s server entry:

"env": { "GROUPDOCS_LICENSE_PATH": "/path/to/GroupDocs.Conversion.lic" }

Docker channel — mount the license folder read-only:

docker run --rm -i -v /path/to/documents:/data \
  -v /path/to/license-folder:/license:ro \
  -e GROUPDOCS_LICENSE_PATH=/license/GroupDocs.Conversion.lic \
  ghcr.io/groupdocs-conversion/conversion-net-mcp:latest

Your license file is read from local disk by the local server process — like your documents, it never leaves your machine.

Metered licensing bills you for what you actually process, which suits AI agents: their usage is bursty and hard to size in advance. It is configured with two environment variables — there is nothing to mount and no file to ship:

"env": {
  "GROUPDOCS_METERED_PUBLIC_KEY":  "<your public key>",
  "GROUPDOCS_METERED_PRIVATE_KEY": "<your private key>"
}

One key pair covers every GroupDocs product and platform — the same pair you already use for the library works here, and the consumption it reports is account-wide rather than per server.

Warning

Both keys are required. With only one set, the server ignores the metered configuration and stays in evaluation mode — it reports this explicitly rather than failing silently. Check with get_license_status.

Warning

Metered mode needs outbound connectivity. Usage is reported to GroupDocs servers, so air-gapped or firewalled deployments must allow that egress — or use a license file instead. Only usage is reported; document content never leaves your machine.

The private key is a secret, and client configurations are plain files on disk — a project-scoped .mcp.json is committed by convention. In order of preference:

1. Set both variables in your OS environment and leave them out of the client config entirely. A stdio server inherits its client’s environment, so this works in every client.
2. Reference them indirectly where the client supports it — Claude Code expands ${VAR}; VS Code uses ${env:VAR} and ${input:...}.
3. A literal value in a user-scoped config (for example ~/.claude.json) is acceptable for a single developer.
4. Never commit a literal key in a project-scoped .mcp.json.

With Docker, forward the two variables by name — -e VAR with no value copies it from the launching process, so the key never appears in the file:

docker run --rm -i -v /path/to/documents:/data \
  -e GROUPDOCS_MCP_STORAGE_PATH=/data \
  -e GROUPDOCS_METERED_PUBLIC_KEY -e GROUPDOCS_METERED_PRIVATE_KEY \
  ghcr.io/groupdocs-conversion/conversion-net-mcp:latest

Note

On macOS, an app launched from Finder does not inherit variables exported in your shell profile. Use launchctl setenv, or start the client from a terminal.

Ask your agent “what is the license status of the conversion server?”. The get_license_status tool (server 26.9.0+) answers without processing a document:

{
  "mode": "metered",
  "licensed": true,
  "source": "metered-keys",
  "consumption": { "quantity": 1234.5678, "credit": 9642.0 },
  "server": { "name": "GroupDocs.Conversion.Mcp", "version": "26.9.0" },
  "engine": { "name": "GroupDocs.Conversion", "version": "26.6.0.0" }
}

If a key pair is rejected, the mode reverts to evaluation and the note field says why — for example “Metered keys were supplied but the engine rejected them (Authentication failed.)” — so a mistyped key surfaces here instead of as a watermark on your output.

• Free 30-day temporary license — full functionality for evaluation.
• Purchase GroupDocs.Conversion · Product page
• General policies: Purchase Policies and FAQ