Troubleshooting & FAQ Leave feedback

Solutions to the most common GroupDocs.Comparison MCP server issues — server not appearing in the client, startup failures, missing native dependencies, and first-launch timeouts.

Note

Platform-specific troubleshooting: runtime problems depend on which build you run. For the dnx runner, native graphics libraries, and the Docker channel, see Troubleshooting (.NET). The issues on this page apply to every platform.

1. Restart the client — every client reads its MCP config only at startup.
2. Check the config file location for your OS (per-client reference) and that the entry sits under the right root key (mcpServers for Claude Desktop/Cursor/Windsurf, servers for VS Code/VS 2022).
3. Validate the JSON — a trailing comma silently breaks the whole file. If you used the installer, a timestamped .bak of your previous config sits next to the file for comparison.

A cold cache: on the very first use the server’s package or image is still downloading while the client is already waiting on the connection. Warming it once fixes it for good — the exact command depends on your build: .NET.

These are properties of the build you run rather than of MCP, so the fixes live with the platform:

Pass the file name, not a full path from your machine: the server resolves names inside its configured storage folder. When a name is not found the tool responds with the list of files it can see, so the agent can correct itself — check that list against GROUPDOCS_MCP_STORAGE_PATH.

That is evaluation mode: without a license only the first two pages of each document are compared. A long contract will report far fewer changes than it really has — and the result carries a watermark. Apply a license and the cap disappears: Licensing.

Both read the same two documents and detect the same changes. analyze_changes returns the change list as data and skips rendering, so it is faster and cheaper; compare also renders and saves the marked-up document. Ask “what changed” and a well-behaved agent picks analyze_changes; ask for “a marked-up copy I can send” and it picks compare.

The MCP tools compare two documents — a source and a target. The underlying library also supports multi-document comparison; if you need that through MCP, say so in the forum — it shapes the roadmap.

Text-layer documents are compared by content. Image formats and scanned pages are compared as images, so the result highlights visual differences rather than edited words. There is no OCR step.

Ask your agent “list your GroupDocs comparison tools and the license status” — it should name compare, analyze_changes, get_document_info, get_license_status. For a scripted check that performs the real MCP handshake and a live call through the engine, see verifying a .NET installation.

Post your config (redact license paths) and the client name in the Comparison forum — we answer MCP questions daily. Bugs: GitHub issues.