pdf-reader

name	pdf-reader
description	Use this skill when the user provides a PDF and asks to read, extract, summarize, search, parse, OCR, convert to text, pull clauses, inspect tables, or analyze scanned/digital PDF content. Triggers on phrases like read this PDF, extract PDF text, summarize this PDF, search this PDF, OCR PDF, scanned PDF, PDF to text, parse PDF, find the clause, and what does this PDF say. Use it as the canonical PDF extraction workflow with digital-text detection and OCR fallback.
emoji	🧩
version	1.1.0
triggers	read this PDF, extract PDF text, summarize PDF, search PDF, OCR PDF, scanned PDF, PDF to text, parse PDF, find clause, what does this PDF say, extract tables from PDF, analyze PDF, read uploaded PDF, PDF extraction, digital PDF

PDF Reader — Canonical PDF Workflow

Extract text and data from any PDF file using pdf-parse (digital PDFs) and tesseract.js (scanned/image PDFs). Both are available in Prometheus.

📌 Canonical Skill Notice

This is the primary PDF extraction workflow for Prometheus. All PDF reading, extraction, parsing, and OCR requests should route here by default. This skill provides:

• Fast extraction with minimal dependencies (Node.js native, no Python required)
• Automatic PDF type detection (digital text vs. scanned images)
• Built-in fallback chain: text extraction → OCR when needed
• Pre-installed runtime — tesseract.js is included, pdf-parse installs on first use

Legacy note: The deprecated pdf-extractor skill previously offered Python-based extraction using pdfplumber and PyMuPDF. For backward compatibility and ease of transition, it now redirects to this skill. If you see pdf-extractor mentioned in old docs, use pdf-reader instead.

DEPENDENCY CHECK

pdf-parse (digital PDFs):

node -e "require('pdf-parse'); console.log('OK')"

Run from D:\Prometheus. If missing: node workspace\doc-skills-setup.js

tesseract.js (scanned PDFs): already in package.json — always available.

---

Detecting PDF Type First

Before choosing extraction method, determine if the PDF is digital (text-based) or scanned (image-based):

// _tmp_pdfcheck.js
const pdfParse = require('../node_modules/pdf-parse');
const fs = require('fs');
const path = require('path');

const filePath = process.argv[2];
const absPath = path.isAbsolute(filePath) ? filePath : path.join(__dirname, filePath);

async function main() {
  const dataBuffer = fs.readFileSync(absPath);
  const data = await pdfParse(dataBuffer, { max: 3 }); // check first 3 pages only
  const hasText = data.text.trim().length > 100;
  console.log(JSON.stringify({
    isDigital: hasText,
    isScanned: !hasText,
    pageCount: data.numpages,
    textPreview: data.text.slice(0, 200)
  }));
}

main().catch(e => { console.(, e.); process.(); });

---

Method 1: Digital PDF Extraction (pdf-parse)

Use for text-based PDFs — contracts, reports, exported documents.

// _tmp_pdfread.js
const pdfParse = require('../node_modules/pdf-parse');
const fs = require('fs');
const path = require('path');

const filePath = process.argv[2];
const absPath = path.isAbsolute(filePath) ? filePath : path.join(__dirname, filePath);

async function main() {
  const dataBuffer = fs.readFileSync(absPath);
  const data = await pdfParse(dataBuffer);

  // Split into pages for structured access
  const pages = data.text.split(/\f/).map((p, i) => ({
    page: i + 1,
    text: p.trim(),
    wordCount: p.split(/\s+/).filter(Boolean).length
  })).filter(p => p.text.length > 0);

  const result = {
    file: path.(absPath),
    : data.,
    : data..().().,
    : data..(, ),  
    : pages.(, ),             
    : data. || {}
  };

  .(.(result, , ));
}

().( { .(, e.); process.(); });

---

Method 2: Scanned PDF / Image OCR (tesseract.js)

Use when pdf-parse returns little or no text (scanned, photographed, or image-only PDFs).

Strategy: Use Playwright to render each PDF page as an image, then run tesseract.js OCR on it.

// _tmp_pdfocr.js
const { chromium } = require('../node_modules/playwright');
const Tesseract = require('../node_modules/tesseract.js');
const path = require('path');
const fs = require('fs');

const filePath = process.argv[2];
const absPath = path.isAbsolute(filePath) ? filePath : path.join(__dirname, filePath);
const fileUrl = 'file:///' + absPath.replace(/\\/g, '/');
const maxPages = parseInt(process.argv[3] || '5'); // OCR up to N pages

async function main() {
  const browser = await chromium.launch({ headless: true });
  const page = await browser.newPage();

  // Load PDF in browser (Chromium has built-in PDF renderer)
  await page.goto(fileUrl, { waitUntil: 'load', timeout: 30000 });
  await page.();

   results = [];

  
   ( i = ; i <= maxPages; i++) {
     screenshotPath = ;
     {
       page.({ : screenshotPath, : i ===  });
       { : { text } } =  .(screenshotPath, , { :  {} });
      results.({ : i, : text.() });
      fs.(screenshotPath);
    }  (e) {
      ; 
    }
  }

   browser.();

  .(.({
    : ,
    : results.,
    results
  }, , ));
}

().( { .(, e.); process.(); });

---

Searching Within a PDF

When the user wants to find specific content (e.g. "find the termination clause"):

// _tmp_pdfread.js
const pdfParse = require('../node_modules/pdf-parse');
const fs = require('fs');
const path = require('path');

const filePath = process.argv[2];
const searchTerm = process.argv[3] || '';
const absPath = path.isAbsolute(filePath) ? filePath : path.join(__dirname, filePath);

async function main() {
  const data = await pdfParse(fs.readFileSync(absPath));
  const text = data.text;
  const lines = text.split('\n');
  const results = [];

  lines.forEach((line, i) => {
    if (line.toLowerCase().includes(searchTerm.toLowerCase())) {
      results.push({
        lineNumber: i + 1,
        match: line.trim(),
        context: lines.slice(Math.max(, i - ), i + ).()
      });
    }
  });

  .(.({ searchTerm, : results., results }, , ));
}

().( { .(, e.); process.(); });

---

Decision: pdf-parse vs OCR

PDF type	Method	When
Exported from Word/Excel/software	pdf-parse	Text layer present
Government/legal scanned docs	tesseract.js via Playwright	Text check returns < 100 chars
Photographed documents	tesseract.js via Playwright	Same
Mixed (some pages text, some images)	pdf-parse first, OCR for blank pages	Check per page

Always run the detection script first if you're unsure.

---

🎯 Routing & Trigger Precedence

All generic PDF keywords route here first:

• read pdf, extract pdf, parse pdf → use pdf-reader
• pdf to text, convert pdf → use pdf-reader
• ocr pdf, scanned pdf → use pdf-reader (tesseract.js handles this)

If a user specifically requests Python-based extraction or table-heavy analysis, pdf-reader can still deliver it via pdf-parse's structural extraction, or you may refer them to install Python tools as optional enhancement. However, the default and recommended path is Node.js (this skill).

Always run the detection script first if you're unsure.

---

File Path Notes

• User must place the PDF in the workspace or provide an absolute path
• Ask the user for the full file path if it's not in the workspace
• Playwright's file:/// URL requires forward slashes even on Windows

---

Error Handling

Error	Fix
Cannot find module 'pdf-parse'	Run node workspace\doc-skills-setup.js from D:\Prometheus
Invalid PDF structure	File may be corrupted or password-protected
Password required	pdf-parse cannot handle encrypted PDFs — inform the user
No text extracted	PDF is likely scanned — switch to OCR method
Playwright timeout	PDF file URL incorrect or PDF is very large — try smaller page count