AI Document Parsing with MinerU

Intelligent document extraction powered by AI — parse any document format into clean, structured output.

Installation

npm install -g mineru-open-api

Or via Go (macOS/Linux):

go install github.com/opendatalab/MinerU-Ecosystem/cli/mineru-open-api@latest

Verify installation

mineru-open-api version

Two extraction modes

	flash-extract	extract
Token required	No	Yes (mineru-open-api auth)
Speed	Fast	Normal
Table recognition	No	Yes
Formula recognition	No	Yes
OCR	Yes	Yes
Output formats	Markdown only	md, html, latex, docx, json
Batch mode	No	Yes
Model selection	pipeline	Yes (vlm, pipeline, MinerU-HTML)
File size limit	10 MB	Much higher
Page limit	20 pages	Much higher
Rate limit	Per-IP per-minute cap	Based on API plan
Best for	Quick start, small/simple docs	Large docs, tables, production

flash-extract limits

Limit	Value
File size	Max 10 MB
Page count	Max 20 pages
Supported types	PDF, Images (png/jpg/jpeg/jp2/webp/gif/bmp), Docx, PPTx
IP rate limit	Per-minute request caps (HTTP 429 when exceeded)

When any limit is exceeded, the agent should suggest switching to extract with a token (create at https://mineru.net/apiManage/token), which has significantly higher limits.

Core workflow

1. Start fast (no token): mineru-open-api flash-extract <file> for quick Markdown conversion
2. Need more? Create token at https://mineru.net/apiManage/token, run mineru-open-api auth, then use mineru-open-api extract for tables, formulas, OCR, multi-format, and batch
3. Web pages: mineru-open-api crawl <url> to convert web content
4. Check results: output goes to stdout (default) or -o directory

Authentication

Only required for extract and crawl. Not needed for flash-extract.

Configure your API token (create one at https://mineru.net/apiManage/token):

mineru-open-api auth                    # Interactive token setup
export MINERU_TOKEN="your-token"  # Or set via environment variable

Token resolution order: --token flag > MINERU_TOKEN env > ~/.mineru/config.yaml.

Supported input formats

Format	flash-extract	extract
PDF (.pdf)	Yes	Yes
Images (.png, .jpg, .jpeg, .jp2, .webp, .gif, .bmp)	Yes	Yes
Word (.docx)	Yes	Yes
Word (.doc)	No	Yes
PowerPoint (.pptx)	Yes	Yes
PowerPoint (.ppt)	No	Yes
HTML (.html)	No	Yes
URLs (remote files)	Yes	Yes

The crawl command accepts any HTTP/HTTPS URL and extracts web page content.

Commands

flash-extract — Quick extraction (no token needed)

Fast, token-free document extraction. Outputs Markdown only. No table recognition. Limited to 10 MB / 20 pages per file, with IP-based rate limiting.

mineru-open-api flash-extract report.pdf                     # Markdown to stdout
mineru-open-api flash-extract report.pdf -o ./out/           # Save to file
mineru-open-api flash-extract https://example.com/doc.pdf    # URL mode
mineru-open-api flash-extract report.pdf --language en       # Specify language
mineru-open-api flash-extract report.pdf --pages 1-10        # Page range

flash-extract flags

Flag	Short	Default	Description
--output	-o	(stdout)	Output path (file or directory)
--language		ch	Document language
--pages		(all)	Page range, e.g. 1-10
--timeout		900	Timeout in seconds

extract — Precision extraction (token required)

Convert PDFs, images, and other documents to Markdown or other formats. Supports table/formula recognition, OCR, multiple output formats, and batch mode.

mineru-open-api extract report.pdf                         # Markdown to stdout
mineru-open-api extract report.pdf -f html                 # HTML to stdout
mineru-open-api extract report.pdf -o ./out/               # Save to directory
mineru-open-api extract report.pdf -o ./out/ -f md,docx    # Multiple formats
mineru-open-api extract *.pdf -o ./results/                # Batch extract
mineru-open-api extract --list files.txt -o ./results/     # Batch from file list
mineru-open-api extract https://example.com/doc.pdf        # Extract from URL
cat doc.pdf | mineru-open-api extract --stdin -o ./out/    # From stdin

extract flags

Flag	Short	Default	Description
--output	-o	(stdout)	Output path (file or directory)
--format	-f	md	Output formats: md, json, html, latex, docx (comma-separated)
--model		(auto)	Model: vlm, pipeline, html (see below)
--ocr		false	Enable OCR for scanned documents
--formula		true	Enable/disable formula recognition
--table		true	Enable/disable table recognition
--language		ch	Document language
--pages		(all)	Page range, e.g. 1-10,15
--timeout		900/1800	Timeout in seconds (single/batch)
--list			Read input list from file (one path per line)
--concurrency		0	Batch concurrency (0 = server default)

Model comparison: vlm vs pipeline

	vlm	pipeline
Parsing accuracy	Higher — better at complex layouts, mixed content	Standard
Hallucination risk	May produce hallucinated text in rare cases	No hallucination — biggest advantage
Best for	Academic papers, complex tables, intricate layouts	General documents where fidelity matters most

When the user values accuracy and the document has complex formatting, suggest --model vlm. When the user prioritizes reliability and no-hallucination guarantee, suggest --model pipeline (or omit --model to use auto).

crawl — Web page extraction (token required)

Fetch web pages and convert to Markdown.

mineru-open-api crawl https://example.com/article              # Markdown to stdout
mineru-open-api crawl https://example.com/article -f html      # HTML to stdout
mineru-open-api crawl https://example.com/article -o ./out/     # Save to file
mineru-open-api crawl url1 url2 -o ./pages/                     # Batch crawl
mineru-open-api crawl --list urls.txt -o ./pages/               # Batch from file list

crawl flags

Flag	Short	Default	Description
--output	-o	(stdout)	Output path
--format	-f	md	Output formats: md, json, html (comma-separated)
--timeout		900/1800	Timeout in seconds (single/batch)
--list			Read URL list from file (one per line)
--stdin-list		false	Read URL list from stdin
--concurrency		0	Batch concurrency

auth — Authentication management

mineru-open-api auth              # Interactive token setup
mineru-open-api auth --verify     # Verify current token is valid
mineru-open-api auth --show       # Show current token source and masked value

Supported --language values

The --language flag accepts the following values (default: ch). Used by both flash-extract and extract. Values are organized by script/language family — each value covers all languages listed in its group.

Standalone language packs

Value	Included languages
ch	Chinese, English, Chinese Traditional
ch_server	Chinese, English, Chinese Traditional, Japanese
en	English
japan	Chinese, English, Chinese Traditional, Japanese
korean	Korean, English
chinese_cht	Chinese, English, Chinese Traditional, Japanese
ta	Tamil, English
te	Telugu, English
ka	Kannada
el	Greek, English
th	Thai, English

Language family packs

Value	Script/Family	Included languages
latin	Latin script	French, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, Swedish, and 40+ more
arabic	Arabic script	Arabic, Persian, Uyghur, Urdu, Pashto, Kurdish, and more
cyrillic	Cyrillic script	Russian, Ukrainian, Bulgarian, Serbian, Kazakh, and 20+ more
east_slavic	East Slavic	Russian, Belarusian, Ukrainian, English
devanagari	Devanagari script	Hindi, Marathi, Nepali, Sanskrit, and more

Output behavior

• No -o flag: result goes to stdout; status/progress messages go to stderr
• With -o flag: result saved to file/directory; progress messages on stderr
• Batch mode (extract/crawl only): requires -o to specify output directory
• Binary formats (docx, extract only): cannot output to stdout, must use -o
• Markdown output includes extracted images saved alongside the .md file

General rules

When using this skill on behalf of the user:

• Quote file paths that contain spaces or special characters with double quotes in commands. Example: mineru-open-api extract "report 01.pdf", NOT mineru-open-api extract report 01.pdf.
• Don't run commands blindly on errors — if the user asks "提取失败了怎么办", explain the exit code and troubleshooting steps instead of re-running the command.
• Installation questions ("mineru 怎么安装") should be answered with the install instructions, not by running mineru-open-api extract.
• DOCX as input is supported — if the user asks "这个 Word 文档能转 Markdown 吗", use mineru-open-api extract file.docx or mineru-open-api flash-extract file.docx. Note: .doc format is only supported by extract, not flash-extract.
• Table extraction — tables are only recognized by extract (not flash-extract). If the user mentions tables, use extract.
• For stdout mode (no -o), only one text format can be output at a time. If the user wants multiple formats, suggest adding -o.

Choosing between flash-extract and extract

The agent MUST follow this decision logic:

1. Default to flash-extract when:

   • User has NOT configured a token (no ~/.mineru/config.yaml, no MINERU_TOKEN env)
   • User wants a quick/simple extraction without mentioning tables, formulas, OCR, or specific formats
   • File is under 10 MB and under 20 pages
   • User is trying the tool for the first time

2. Use extract when:

   • User explicitly asks for table recognition, formula recognition, or OCR
   • User requests non-Markdown output formats (html, latex, docx, json)
   • User needs batch processing (multiple files)
   • File is over 10 MB or over 20 pages (exceeds flash-extract limits)
   • User has a token configured and wants precision-quality extraction

3. If unsure, prefer flash-extract — it's faster and requires no setup, but check file size first.

4. When the user does NOT specify an output path (-o), the agent MUST generate a default output directory to prevent file overwrites. Use:

~/MinerU-Skill/<name>_<hash>/

Naming rules:

• <name>: derived from the source, then sanitized for safe directory names.
  • For URLs: last path segment (e.g. https://arxiv.org/pdf/2509.22186 → 2509.22186)
  • For local files: filename without extension (e.g. report.pdf → report)
  • Sanitization: replace spaces and shell-unsafe characters with _. Collapse consecutive _ into one. Keep alphanumeric, -, _, ., and CJK characters.
• <hash>: first 6 characters of the MD5 hash of the full original source path or URL (before sanitization).

echo -n "https://arxiv.org/pdf/2509.22186" | md5sum | cut -c1-6

5. When the user asks to upgrade or update this skill, the agent MUST re-install the CLI binary:

npm install -g mineru-open-api@latest

flash-extract limit handling

When flash-extract fails due to file limits or rate limiting, the agent MUST provide a clear explanation and suggest extract as the upgrade path.

Post-extraction friendly hints

After flash-extract completes successfully, the agent MUST append a brief hint:

Tip: flash-extract 为快速免登录模式（限 10MB/20页，不含表格识别）。如需解析更大文件、表格/公式识别或多格式导出，请前往 https://mineru.net/apiManage/token 创建 Token，运行 mineru-open-api auth 配置后使用 mineru-open-api extract。

Keep the hint to ONE short sentence. Do NOT repeat the hint if the user has already seen it in this session.

Exit codes

Code	Meaning	Recovery
0	Success	—
1	General API or unknown error	Check network connectivity; retry; use --verbose for details
2	Invalid parameters / usage error	Check command syntax and flag values
4	File too large or page limit exceeded	For flash-extract: file must be under 10 MB / 20 pages; switch to extract with token for higher limits. For extract: split the file or use --pages
5	Extraction failed	The document may be corrupted or unsupported; try a different --model
6	Timeout	Increase with --timeout; large files may need 600+ seconds

Troubleshooting

• "no API token found" (on extract/crawl): Run mineru-open-api auth or set MINERU_TOKEN env variable. Or use flash-extract which needs no token.
• Timeout on large files: Increase with --timeout 1600 (seconds)
• Batch fails partially: Check stderr for per-file status; succeeded files are still saved
• Binary format to stdout: Use -o flag; docx cannot stream to stdout
• Private deployment: Use --base-url https://your-server.com/api
• Extraction quality is poor: Try mineru-open-api extract with --model vlm for complex layouts, or --ocr for scanned documents
• Tables not extracted: flash-extract does NOT support tables. Use mineru-open-api extract with a token.
• HTTP 429 on flash-extract: IP rate limit hit. Wait a few minutes or switch to mineru-open-api extract with token.

Reporting Issues

• Skill issues: Open an issue at https://github.com/opendatalab/MinerU-Ecosystem/tree/main/cli
• CLI issues: Open an issue at https://github.com/MinerU-Extract/mineru-ai