mcp-markitdown

name	mcp-markitdown
description	MarkItDown MCP (user-markitdown): convert Office/PDF/HTML and other files to Markdown via convert_file, convert_directory, or list_supported_formats. Triggers: markitdown, convert to markdown, pdf to md, docx to markdown, markitdown mcp.
metadata	{"pattern":"tool-wrapper","specialization":"mcp-integration","domain":"publishing","mcp_key":"markitdown","version":"1.2"}
token_guardrails	- GetMcpTools(server=user-markitdown) before CallMcpTool. - Prefer convert_file for one path; convert_directory only when the user wants a batch. - Do not dump huge converted bodies into chat — summarise or write to an agreed path. - For PCBA datasheets under parts/*/hardware/*/datasheets/, convert then cite page/section — do not paste whole PDFs.

MCP: MarkItDown (user-markitdown)

When to use

• Turn PDF, DOCX, PPTX, XLSX, HTML, images (OCR-capable setups), or similar into Markdown
• Batch-convert a folder of supported files
• Check which formats the server supports before converting

Tool discovery and auth

1. GetMcpTools(server="user-markitdown") before calling.
2. Auth is uncommon for local MarkItDown; if needsAuth / 401, call mcp_auth once then retry.

Tools

Tool	Use
list_supported_formats	Capability check
convert_file	One file: file_path or file_content (base64) + filename
convert_directory	input_directory; optional output_directory

Typical workflow

1. Optional: list_supported_formats if unsure the type is supported.
2. convert_file with an absolute file_path when possible.
3. Return a short summary + path to output Markdown if written to disk; avoid pasting multi-page dumps unless asked.

Pitfalls

• Scanned PDFs need OCR-capable MarkItDown extras; plain convert may return empty/weak text.
• Huge binaries: prefer path over base64 file_content.
• Datasheet PDFs (e.g. W5500): convert once, keep a short extract in-repo if needed; avoid re-dumping multi-MB Markdown into chat.
• Pair with mdtohtml / md-to-tex only when the user wants a further export — MarkItDown stops at Markdown.

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