| name | camscanner-pdf2office |
| description | Use CamScanner to convert PDF documents to editable Word (.docx) or Excel (.xlsx) format, with intelligent content recognition and accurate format preservation. Triggers on "PDF to Word", "PDF to Excel", "convert PDF to docx", "convert PDF to xlsx", or when the user has a PDF and needs it as an editable Office document. |
| metadata | {"author":"CamScanner","version":"1.0","openclaw":{"emoji":"📄","requires":{"bins":["curl","jq"]}},"homepage":"https://www.camscanner.com"} |
CamScanner PDF to Office
Overview
CamScanner provides document conversion capabilities that convert PDF documents to Word or Excel documents while preserving original formatting. The workflow is a 3-step pipeline: upload the PDF, convert it, then download the result.
When to Use
- User wants to convert a PDF to Word (.docx) or Excel (.xlsx)
- User wants to make a PDF editable
- User has a PDF and needs it as an Office document
Privacy & Data
Important: Privacy & Data Flow Notice
- Third-party service: This skill sends your files to CamScanner's official servers (
ai-tools.camscanner.com) for processing.
- Data retention: CamScanner servers process your files in real-time. Files are not permanently stored on the server.
- Local files: Output files are saved to your local filesystem at the path you specify.
API Reference
Base URL: https://ai-tools.camscanner.com
Supported Conversions
| source_type | target_type | Output |
|---|
| pdf | word | .docx |
| pdf | excel | .xlsx |
Step 1: Upload PDF
BASE="https://ai-tools.camscanner.com"
IN_FILE_ID=$(curl -sS -X POST "$BASE/v1/tools/upload_file/execute" \
-H "Content-Type: application/octet-stream" \
--data-binary "@/path/to/document.pdf" | jq -r '.tool_result.data.file_id')
Response:
{
"code": 200,
"tool": "upload_file",
"tool_result": {
"success": true,
"data": {
"file_id": "file_1741857600_ab12cd34ef56",
"size": 24576
}
}
}
Step 2: Convert PDF
OUT_FILE_ID=$(curl -sS -X POST "$BASE/v1/tools/convert_pdf/execute" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d "{\"file_id\":\"$IN_FILE_ID\",\"source_type\":\"pdf\",\"target_type\":\"TARGET\",\"output_mode\":\"file_id\"}" \
| jq -r '.tool_result.data.file_id')
Replace TARGET with one of: word, excel.
Response:
{
"code": 200,
"tool": "convert_pdf",
"tool_result": {
"success": true,
"data": {
"file_id": "file_1741857722_ddeeff001122",
"target_type": "word"
}
}
}
Step 3: Download Result
curl -sS -X POST "$BASE/v1/tools/download_file/execute?response_mode=raw" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d "{\"file_id\":\"$OUT_FILE_ID\"}" \
-o /path/to/output.docx
Critical: The response_mode=raw query parameter is required to get the binary file. Without it, the response is JSON.
Quick Reference: Complete Pipeline
BASE="https://ai-tools.camscanner.com"
INPUT_PDF="/path/to/document.pdf"
TARGET_TYPE="word"
OUTPUT_FILE="/path/to/output.docx"
IN_FILE_ID=$(curl -sS -X POST "$BASE/v1/tools/upload_file/execute" \
-H "Content-Type: application/octet-stream" \
--data-binary "@$INPUT_PDF" | jq -r '.tool_result.data.file_id')
OUT_FILE_ID=$(curl -sS -X POST "$BASE/v1/tools/convert_pdf/execute" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d "{\"file_id\":\"$IN_FILE_ID\",\"source_type\":\"pdf\",\"target_type\":\"$TARGET_TYPE\",\"output_mode\":\"file_id\"}" \
| jq -r '.tool_result.data.file_id')
curl -sS -X POST "$BASE/v1/tools/download_file/execute?response_mode=raw" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d "{\"file_id\":\"$OUT_FILE_ID\"}" \
-o "$OUTPUT_FILE"
File Extension Mapping
| target_type | Extension |
|---|
| word | .docx |
| excel | .xlsx |
Common Mistakes
| Mistake | Fix |
|---|
Forgetting response_mode=raw on download | Always append ?response_mode=raw to the download URL |
| Wrong Content-Type on upload | Upload uses application/octet-stream, not multipart/form-data |
| Using GET instead of POST | All three endpoints use POST |
Missing source_type in convert request | Always include "source_type": "pdf" |
Missing output_mode in convert request | Always include "output_mode": "file_id" to get a downloadable file_id |
| Wrong output extension | Match extension to target_type (see table above) |
Error Handling
Check each step before proceeding:
if [ -z "$IN_FILE_ID" ] || [ "$IN_FILE_ID" = "null" ]; then
echo "Upload failed"; exit 1
fi
if [ -z "$OUT_FILE_ID" ] || [ "$OUT_FILE_ID" = "null" ]; then
echo "Conversion failed"; exit 1
fi