| name | markdown-converter |
| description | Convert existing files (PDF, Office, HTML, data, images, audio, EPub, ZIP, YouTube) to Markdown via `uvx markitdown`. NOT for authoring new prose (use writing) or syncing project docs (use readme). |
| when_to_use | convert to markdown, pdf to markdown, docx/pptx/xlsx to markdown, office to markdown, html to markdown, extract text from a pdf, read a pdf/docx/spreadsheet, OCR an image, transcribe audio, epub to markdown, markitdown |
| user-invocable | false |
Markdown Converter
Turn a binary/opaque file into Markdown so it can be read or quoted. One tool:
uvx markitdown <file> — zero-install (PEP 723; first run caches deps, no pip install).
Handles: PDF, Word/PowerPoint/Excel, HTML, CSV/JSON/XML, images (EXIF + OCR),
audio (EXIF + transcription), EPub, ZIP (walks contents), YouTube URLs. Output keeps
structure — headings, tables, lists, links.
- ALWAYS reach for this instead of hand-parsing a PDF/office doc or writing a one-off
extractor — it is already installed and structure-aware.
- From stdin the type is unknown — ALWAYS pass a hint:
-x .pdf (extension), -m <mime>,
or -c <charset>. A bare pipe with no hint misdetects.
- LOCAL-ONLY by default. NEVER assume the two network paths work offline:
-d/-e
(Azure Document Intelligence, for salvaging bad scans) is a PAID cloud service, and a
YouTube URL fetches over the network. Everything else runs on the box.
