Markdown Converter

Convert documents and files to Markdown using markitdown. Use when converting PDF, Word (.docx), PowerPoint (.pptx), Excel (.xlsx, .xls), HTML, CSV, JSON, XML, images (with EXIF/OC…

Peter Steinberger

@steipete

What This Skill Does

Converts documents and files (PDF, Word, PowerPoint, Excel, HTML, CSV, JSON, XML, images, audio, ZIP, YouTube URLs, EPub) to Markdown using the markitdown tool. Supports OCR for images and transcription for audio.

Replaces manual copy-pasting or writing custom parsers for each file format by providing a single command that converts diverse inputs into clean Markdown ready for LLM processing.

When to Use It

  • Convert a PDF report to Markdown for feeding into an LLM
  • Extract text from a scanned image using OCR
  • Transcribe an audio recording into Markdown
  • Convert an Excel spreadsheet to Markdown for text analysis
  • Download and convert a YouTube video transcript to Markdown
  • Batch convert a ZIP archive of mixed file types into Markdown

Install

$ openclaw skills install @steipete/markdown-converter

Markdown Converter

Convert files to Markdown using uvx markitdown — no installation required.

Basic Usage

# Convert to stdout
uvx markitdown input.pdf

# Save to file
uvx markitdown input.pdf -o output.md
uvx markitdown input.docx > output.md

# From stdin
cat input.pdf | uvx markitdown

Supported Formats

  • Documents: PDF, Word (.docx), PowerPoint (.pptx), Excel (.xlsx, .xls)
  • Web/Data: HTML, CSV, JSON, XML
  • Media: Images (EXIF + OCR), Audio (EXIF + transcription)
  • Other: ZIP (iterates contents), YouTube URLs, EPub

Options

-o OUTPUT      # Output file
-x EXTENSION   # Hint file extension (for stdin)
-m MIME_TYPE   # Hint MIME type
-c CHARSET     # Hint charset (e.g., UTF-8)
-d             # Use Azure Document Intelligence
-e ENDPOINT    # Document Intelligence endpoint
--use-plugins  # Enable 3rd-party plugins
--list-plugins # Show installed plugins

Examples

# Convert Word document
uvx markitdown report.docx -o report.md

# Convert Excel spreadsheet
uvx markitdown data.xlsx > data.md

# Convert PowerPoint presentation
uvx markitdown slides.pptx -o slides.md

# Convert with file type hint (for stdin)
cat document | uvx markitdown -x .pdf > output.md

# Use Azure Document Intelligence for better PDF extraction
uvx markitdown scan.pdf -d -e "https://your-resource.cognitiveservices.azure.com/"

Notes

  • Output preserves document structure: headings, tables, lists, links
  • First run caches dependencies; subsequent runs are faster
  • For complex PDFs with poor extraction, use -d with Azure Document Intelligence

Top skills in this category