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Your agent shows AnythingMD’s messages in its own words. Each one says what happened and what to do next; this page covers the situations people ask about most.

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Connecting

The client hasn’t loaded the server yet.
  • Claude Code: start a new session and run /mcp. anythingmd should be listed as connected.
  • Codex: run codex mcp list and check that anythingmd is enabled, then start a new session.
  • Cursor: open Cursor Settings → MCP and switch anythingmd on.
  • VS Code: run MCP: List Servers from the command palette and start anythingmd.
Most clients only read their MCP config at startup, so restart after adding the server.
The client is connecting without a valid key. In order of likelihood:
  1. The client started before you set the variable. Quit it completely and open it again. Editors launched from the Dock or Start menu may not see variables set in a shell profile; launch Cursor or VS Code from a terminal (cursor . or code .) to be sure.
  2. The variable isn’t set where the client runs. In a new terminal, echo $ANYTHINGMD_API_KEY (PowerShell: $env:ANYTHINGMD_API_KEY) should print your key.
  3. The config uses the wrong syntax for your client. Copy it again from the setup steps: Cursor and Windsurf use ${env:ANYTHINGMD_API_KEY}, Kilo uses {env:ANYTHINGMD_API_KEY}, Codex takes the variable’s name.
  4. Kilo says “variable references are not allowed in project MCP headers”. The server is in a project’s kilo.json. Move it to ~/.config/kilo/kilo.json.
  5. The key was revoked or deleted. Create a new one under Settings → API Keys.
If a key was exposed, follow the leaked-key runbook.
Those apps add servers as connectors that sign in through a browser (OAuth). The AnythingMD MCP server uses API keys, so it can’t be added there yet. Use Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, VS Code, Windsurf or Kilo.
It asks AnythingMD for a short-lived upload link and sends the file straight to storage, never through the chat. Agents that can run commands (Claude Code, Codex) upload it themselves. Agents that can’t will give you a link: open it, pick the file, and tell the agent when it’s done.Sandboxed environments that block outbound traffic must allow mcp.anythingmd.com and the upload host shown in the link.
The limits are 100 MB per file and 1,000 pages per document. Split the document and convert the parts.
The file probably can’t be read: it may be password-protected or damaged. Save an unprotected copy or re-export it as a new PDF and try that. If it still fails, contact support with the job ID from the agent’s message. Failed conversions are never charged. The full list of failure codes is in Errors.

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Long documents

Long documents come back in pages of about 20,000 tokens so one file doesn’t fill the agent’s context. The agent reads the first page and continues only when it needs a later section. Ask for the part you want (“summarize appendix B”) or ask for the download link to get the whole Markdown file.
Large documents can take a few minutes. The agent checks again on its own, or you can ask it to. Asking it to start over doesn’t speed anything up and can convert the file twice.

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Credits and limits

The agent’s message says how many credits the conversion needs and links to billing. Buy a pack under Settings → Billing, then ask the agent to try again. Nothing is charged for the refused request.
Keys are limited to 10 requests a minute until your workspace buys its first credit pack, then 60. The agent waits the time the message gives and retries once.
Before a conversion starts, credits for the estimated pages are held. You’re charged for the pages actually converted and the rest is released. The agent reports the final amount. Every conversion has a receipt; see Pricing and limits.
Conversion results and their download links stay available for 7 days after the conversion. After that, convert the file again if you need it.