| name | markitdown |
| description | Convert files or URLs to Markdown. Supports PDF, DOCX, PPTX, XLS, XLSX, HTML, CSV, JSON, XML, Images, and YouTube URLs. |
Markitdown
Convert a file or URL to Markdown using the markitdown CLI.
When to Use This Skill
- The user wants to convert a document (PDF, DOCX, PPTX, XLS, XLSX, etc.) to Markdown
- The user wants to extract text content from a web page URL as Markdown
- The user wants to transcribe a YouTube video to Markdown
- The user needs to read or process a non-text file as Markdown for further use
Supported Formats
- PDF - text extraction via pdfminer/pdfplumber
- DOCX - Word documents via mammoth
- PPTX - PowerPoint presentations
- XLS/XLSX - Excel spreadsheets
- HTML - web pages (built-in)
- CSV, JSON, XML - structured data (built-in)
- YouTube URLs - video transcription via youtube-transcript-api
- Images (PNG, JPG, WEBP, GIF, etc.) - via AI agent vision (see below)
Usage
Run the CLI wrapper:
core/bin/markitdown <input>
core/bin/markitdown <input> -o <output.md>
Do not use any Python helper code to invoke the core/bin/markitdown command. Run as shell command with arguments directly.
Examples
core/bin/markitdown report.pdf -o report.md
core/bin/markitdown document.docx -o document.md
core/bin/markitdown data.xlsx -o data.md
core/bin/markitdown https://example.com/article.html -o article.md
core/bin/markitdown "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_ID" -o transcript.md
core/bin/markitdown document.pdf
Arguments
| Argument | Required | Description |
|---|
input | Yes | File path or URL to convert |
-o | No | Output file path (defaults to stdout) |
Image Handling
Do not use the CLI for images. Instead, use the AI agent's built-in vision capability:
- Read the image file directly (the agent can view images natively).
- Describe the image content in Markdown format, including:
- Text and labels visible in the image (OCR)
- Tables or structured data shown in the image
- Diagrams, charts, or visual layouts
- General description of the scene or content
- Save the resulting Markdown to the output file if
-o was specified, or return it directly.
Notes
- For large files, the conversion may take a moment depending on file size and format.
- When no
-o flag is provided, the Markdown output is printed to stdout.
- Audio transcription is NOT installed. Only the extras
docx,pdf,pptx,xls,xlsx,youtube-transcription are available.