| name | analyze-pdf |
| description | Download and analyze PDF files from URLs or local paths — extract text, answer questions, summarize content. Use when analyzing, reading, or extracting information from a PDF. |
| argument-hint | <URL or file path> |
When the user asks to analyze, read, or extract information from a PDF:
How to get the PDF
-
URL: Use the pdf-download CLI tool to download and archive the PDF:
bun ~/.pal/skills/analyze-pdf/tools/pdf-download.ts -- <url> [--filename <name.pdf>]
The tool downloads the file, saves it to memory/downloads/{YYYY}/{MM}/{DD}/{filename}.pdf, and returns JSON with the saved path.
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Local path: Use the file directly.
How to read it
Use your native PDF reading capability (e.g. a Read tool or equivalent). Most modern multimodal models can parse PDF content directly — no external dependencies, libraries, or conversion tools are needed.
Do NOT install PDF processing tools (poppler, pdftotext, etc.) unless the user explicitly asks. Native reading is sufficient.
Fallback: when native Read fails
If the Read tool fails to open the PDF (e.g. error mentioning pdftoppm, missing renderer, or unsupported format), fall back to the text-extraction CLI:
bun ~/.pal/skills/analyze-pdf/tools/pdf-read.ts -- <path>
Use the stdout output as the document content and proceed with the user's request as normal.
If pdf-read.ts also fails, stop completely — report the exact errors from both attempts and ask the user how to proceed. Never infer PDF content from filename, metadata, or assumptions.
