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SPECIFICTION
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PDFpal

github.com

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Spec score 6.9 #26 of 27 in AI PDF Assistants

Spec sheet

Purpose
PDFpal is a local PDF reader with AI chat, notes, highlights, and a scriptable CLI.Read 9 Oct 2026 · github.com
Product
PDFpal is a local PDF reader with AI chat, notes, highlights, and a scriptable CLI.Read 4 Oct 2026 · github.com
Integrations
PDFpal supports the Claude, Codex, and OpenCode agent CLIs and uses OpenAlex and Semantic Scholar for discovery.Read 4 Oct 2026 · github.com
AI providers
It works with installed and authenticated Claude, Codex, or OpenCode command-line tools.Read 9 Oct 2026 · github.com
Annotations
Users can save highlights and write Markdown notes at project or source level.Read 4 Oct 2026 · github.com
Automation
The CLI supports JSON output, and the repository provides a Claude Code and Codex skill for agent-driven workflows.Read 4 Oct 2026 · github.com
Chat
Users can ask questions about a passage or across selected sources in a project, with answers grounded in retrieved paper text.Read 4 Oct 2026 · github.com
CLI and agents
The CLI supports scripting with JSON output, and the project provides a skill for Claude Code and Codex agents to manage projects, sources, collections, and notes.Read 9 Oct 2026 · github.com
Limits and fees
The maker says PDFpal has no SaaS fee, usage caps, or feature gates; AI use depends on the user's existing agent subscription.Read 9 Oct 2026 · github.com
Local data
PDFpal stores its database, managed PDF copies, and backups locally under ~/.pdfpal by default.Read 4 Oct 2026 · github.com
Local storage
PDFpal stores its database, managed PDF copies, and extracted text locally under ~/.pdfpal by default.Read 9 Oct 2026 · github.com
Organization
Users can organize sources into projects and nested collections, and keep project or source notes and highlights.Read 9 Oct 2026 · github.com
Paper discovery
Paper search uses OpenAlex, while related-paper results use Semantic Scholar with an OpenAlex fallback.Read 9 Oct 2026 · github.com
PDF sources
The PDF resolver accepts links from arXiv, OpenReview, ACL Anthology, PMLR, DOI links, and direct PDF URLs.Read 9 Oct 2026 · github.com
Privacy and deployment
The README says the app runs on the user's machine and does not upload PDFs to a cloud service; it is intended for local, single-user operation.Read 4 Oct 2026 · github.com
Privacy and operation
The maker says PDFpal runs on the user's machine without uploading files to a cloud service and is intended for local, single-user operation.Read 9 Oct 2026 · github.com
Reading
The split-pane reader places the PDF beside chat, notes, and related papers, and remembers each source’s last page.Read 4 Oct 2026 · github.com
Reading and chat
The split-pane reader supports questions about selected passages, per-paper chat, and questions across project sources.Read 9 Oct 2026 · github.com
Requirements
PDFpal requires Node.js 22 or newer and an installed, authenticated supported agent CLI.Read 9 Oct 2026 · github.com
Usage limits
The README states there is no SaaS fee, usage cap, or feature gate; AI use goes through the user's existing agent subscription.Read 4 Oct 2026 · github.com

Where Specifiction places it

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