markitdown

# 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: ```bash pip install 'markitdown[all]' ``` Or install only specific format support: ```bash pip install 'markitdown[pdf,docx,pptx]' ``` ## Best practices 1. **Check file existence first**: Verify the file path is valid before attempting conversion. 2. **Large files**: For very large documents, the converted markdown may be lengthy. Summarize key sections for the user rather than dumping everything. 3. **Image OCR quality**: OCR results depend on image clarity. Mention if text extraction seems incomplete. 4. **Fallback**: If conversion fails (e.g., markitdown not installed), inform the user and suggest installing with `pip install 'markitdown[all]'`.