| name | markitdown |
| description | Convert various file formats (PDF, DOCX, XLSX, PPTX, HTML, images, etc.) to Markdown via CLI. Invoke when user needs to extract text from documents or convert files to Markdown format. |
MarkItDown Skill
When to Activate
Activate this skill when the user asks to:
- Extract text from PDF documents
- Convert Word documents to Markdown
- Convert Excel spreadsheets to Markdown tables
- Convert PowerPoint presentations to Markdown
- Convert HTML pages to Markdown
- Extract text from images (OCR)
- Convert EPUB e-books to Markdown
- Extract content from email files (.msg, .eml)
Prerequisites
markitdown must be installed and available in PATH.- Install with:
pip install 'markitdown[all]'
Hard Rule
For document conversion tasks, always use markitdown CLI.
- Do not use the MarkItDown MCP server — it has been replaced by this CLI skill.
- Do not use alternative tools unless markitdown cannot handle the format.
Installation
pip install 'markitdown[all]'
Command Reference
Basic Usage
markitdown <file_path_or_url>
Convert Local Files
markitdown document.pdf
markitdown presentation.pptx
markitdown spreadsheet.xlsx
markitdown document.docx
markitdown page.html
markitdown ebook.epub
markitdown email.msg
Convert from URL
markitdown https://example.com/document.pdf
markitdown https://example.com/page.html
Save Output to File
markitdown document.pdf > output.md
Read from Stdin
cat document.pdf | markitdown
curl -s https://example.com/doc.pdf | markitdown
Supported Formats
| Format | Extension | Notes |
|---|
| PDF | .pdf | Extracts text from PDF documents |
| Word | .docx | Microsoft Word documents |
| Excel | .xlsx | Microsoft Excel spreadsheets |
| PowerPoint | .pptx | Microsoft PowerPoint presentations |
| HTML | .html, .htm | Web pages |
| Images | .png, .jpg, .jpeg, .gif, .bmp | Uses OCR if enabled |
| Text | .txt, .md, .csv, .json, .xml | Plain text formats |
| EPUB | .epub | E-book format |
| Outlook | .msg, .eml | Email messages |
Workflows
Extract Text from PDF
- Verify the file exists:
ls -la document.pdf
- Convert to Markdown:
markitdown document.pdf
Convert Excel to Markdown Table
markitdown data.xlsx
Convert PowerPoint Presentation
markitdown slides.pptx
Convert Web Page from URL
markitdown https://example.com/article.html
Process Multiple Files
for file in *.pdf; do
echo "=== $file ==="
markitdown "$file"
done
Batch Convert with Output Files
for file in *.pdf; do
markitdown "$file" > "${file%.pdf}.md"
done
Output Handling
Preview Large Output
For large documents, preview the first part:
markitdown large-document.pdf | head -100
Count Output Lines
markitdown document.pdf | wc -l
Search in Output
markitdown document.pdf | grep -i "keyword"
Error Handling
SSL Certificate Errors (macOS)
If you encounter SSL errors on macOS:
-
Install OpenSSL:
brew install openssl@3
-
Set the environment variable:
export SSL_CERT_FILE=/opt/homebrew/etc/openssl@3/cert.pem
markitdown https://example.com/document.pdf
File Not Found
Always verify the file exists before conversion:
if [ -f "document.pdf" ]; then
markitdown document.pdf
else
echo "File not found: document.pdf"
fi
URL Not Accessible
For URLs requiring authentication, download first:
curl -H "Authorization: Bearer token" -o doc.pdf "https://api.example.com/doc.pdf"
markitdown doc.pdf
Tips
-
Large Files: Very large files may produce extensive output. Consider piping to head or saving to a file.
-
URLs with Special Characters: Quote URLs properly:
markitdown "https://example.com/doc with spaces.pdf"
-
Combine with Other Tools: Use pipes for powerful workflows:
markitdown document.pdf | grep -A5 "Chapter 1"
-
Check Installation: Verify markitdown is installed:
which markitdown && markitdown --help
Troubleshooting
- "markitdown: command not found" → Install with
pip install 'markitdown[all]'
- SSL certificate errors → Set
SSL_CERT_FILE environment variable (macOS)
- Empty output → The file may be empty, corrupted, or in an unsupported format
- Permission denied → Check file permissions with
ls -la <file>
