| name | markitdown |
| description | Convert documents (PDF, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, images) to Markdown text for LLM processing |
MarkItDown File Converter
You have access to the MarkItDown MCP tool (markitdown__convert_to_markdown) for converting files to Markdown.
When to use
Use this tool when:
- The user asks you to read, analyze, or summarize a document (PDF, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.)
- You need to extract text content from an image (OCR)
- The user shares a file path and wants you to understand its contents
- You are working with a file format that your text tools cannot directly read
Note: For images attached directly in chat, the system automatically handles conversion when your model doesn't support vision. This skill is for converting files on disk that you encounter during tasks.
Supported formats
MarkItDown supports 29+ file formats including:
- Documents: PDF, Word (.docx), PowerPoint (.pptx), Excel (.xlsx/.xls)
- Images: JPEG, PNG, GIF, WebP (EXIF metadata + OCR)
- Web: HTML, XML
- Data: CSV, JSON
- Other: ZIP (iterates contents), EPUB, Outlook messages (.msg)
Usage
markitdown__convert_to_markdown({ uri: "file:///path/to/document.pdf" })
The tool accepts a file URI and returns the content converted to Markdown format.
Prerequisites
MarkItDown requires Python 3.10+ and the markitdown package:
pip install 'markitdown[all]'
Or install only specific format support:
pip install 'markitdown[pdf,docx,pptx]'
Best practices
- Check file existence first: Verify the file path is valid before attempting conversion.
- Large files: For very large documents, the converted markdown may be lengthy. Summarize key sections for the user rather than dumping everything.
- Image OCR quality: OCR results depend on image clarity. Mention if text extraction seems incomplete.
- Fallback: If conversion fails (e.g., markitdown not installed), inform the user and suggest installing with
pip install 'markitdown[all]'.
