How do I install the Markitdown skill?

Run npx skillmds@latest add 0xdarkmatter/markitdown in your terminal (requires Node.js), paste this page's agent-chat prompt into Claude, Cursor, or any MCP-connected agent, or download the SKILL.md file and copy it into your agent's skills directory.

Is Markitdown safe to use?

This skill has not completed SkillMD's automated safety review yet. Capability flags: makes network calls. SkillMD never runs a skill's scripts for you; review the SKILL.md before installing.

Which AI agents work with Markitdown?

This skill is tagged as working with Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex. SKILL.md is an open format, so most agents that read a skills directory can load it too.

Is Markitdown free to use?

Yes. Installing skills from SkillMD is free. This skill is licensed under MIT.

Who published Markitdown?

0xDarkMatter (@0xdarkmatter) published this skill. Their other Agent Skills are listed on their SkillMD profile.

Markitdown by 0xdarkmatter — Agent Skill

Name: Markitdown
Rating: 4.2 (5 reviews)
Author: 0xDarkMatter

Markitdown

Convert local documents to Markdown using Microsoft's markitdown CLI. Best for: PDF, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, images (OCR), audio. Can fetch URLs but Jina is faster for web. Triggers on: convert to markdown, read PDF, parse document, extract text from, docx, xlsx, pptx, OCR image, local file.

0xDarkMatter f6666f2 4 files · 2.7 KB Updated Sep 10, 2026

File contents

markitdown - Document to Markdown

Convert local documents to clean Markdown. One tool for PDF, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, images, and more.

When to Use markitdown

Use Case	Recommendation
Local files (PDF, Word, Excel)	✅ Use markitdown - unique capability
Web pages	❌ Use Jina (`r.jina.ai/`) - 5x faster
Blocked/anti-bot sites	❌ Use Firecrawl
OCR on images	✅ Use markitdown
Audio transcription	✅ Use markitdown

Basic Usage

# Local files (primary use case)
markitdown document.pdf
markitdown report.docx
markitdown data.xlsx
markitdown slides.pptx
markitdown screenshot.png    # OCR

# URLs (works, but Jina is faster)
markitdown https://example.com

# Save output
markitdown document.pdf > document.md

Supported Formats

Format	Extensions	Notes
PDF	`.pdf`	Text extraction, tables
Word	`.docx`	Formatting preserved
Excel	`.xlsx`	Tables to markdown
PowerPoint	`.pptx`	Slides as sections
Images	`.jpg`, `.png`	OCR text extraction
HTML	`.html`	Clean conversion
Audio	`.mp3`, `.wav`	Speech-to-text
Text	`.txt`, `.csv`, `.json`, `.xml`	Pass-through/structure
URLs	`https://...`	Works but slower than Jina

Benchmarked Performance (URLs)

Tool	Avg Speed	Success Rate
Jina	0.5s	10/10
markitdown	2.5s	9/10
Firecrawl	4.5s	10/10

Verdict: For URLs, use Jina. For local files, markitdown is the only option.

Examples

# PDF to markdown (primary use case)
markitdown report.pdf > report.md

# Excel spreadsheet
markitdown financials.xlsx

# Image with text (OCR)
markitdown screenshot.png

# PowerPoint deck
markitdown presentation.pptx > slides.md

# Audio transcription
markitdown meeting.mp3 > transcript.md

Comparison with Alternatives

Task	markitdown	Alternative
PDF text	`markitdown file.pdf`	PyMuPDF, pdfplumber
Word docs	`markitdown file.docx`	python-docx
Excel	`markitdown file.xlsx`	pandas, openpyxl
OCR	`markitdown image.png`	Tesseract
Web pages	Use Jina instead	`r.jina.ai/URL` (5x faster)

markitdown's advantage: One CLI for all local document formats. No code needed.

---name: markitdowndescription: Convert local documents to Markdown using Microsoft's markitdown CLI. Best for: PDF, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, images (OCR), audio. Can fetch URLs but Jina is faster for web. Triggers on: convert to markdown, read PDF, parse document, extract text from, docx, xlsx, pptx, OCR image, local file.license: MIT---# markitdown - Document to MarkdownConvert local documents to clean Markdown. One tool for PDF, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, images, and more.## When to Use markitdown| Use Case | Recommendation ||----------|----------------|| **Local files (PDF, Word, Excel)** | ✅ **Use markitdown** - unique capability || **Web pages** | ❌ Use Jina (`r.jina.ai/`) - 5x faster || **Blocked/anti-bot sites** | ❌ Use Firecrawl || **OCR on images** | ✅ **Use markitdown** || **Audio transcription** | ✅ **Use markitdown** |## Basic Usage```bash# Local files (primary use case)markitdown document.pdfmarkitdown report.docxmarkitdown data.xlsxmarkitdown slides.pptxmarkitdown screenshot.png # OCR# URLs (works, but Jina is faster)markitdown https://example.com# Save outputmarkitdown document.pdf > document.md```## Supported Formats| Format | Extensions | Notes ||--------|------------|-------|| PDF | `.pdf` | Text extraction, tables || Word | `.docx` | Formatting preserved || Excel | `.xlsx` | Tables to markdown || PowerPoint | `.pptx` | Slides as sections || Images | `.jpg`, `.png` | OCR text extraction || HTML | `.html` | Clean conversion || Audio | `.mp3`, `.wav` | Speech-to-text || Text | `.txt`, `.csv`, `.json`, `.xml` | Pass-through/structure || URLs | `https://...` | Works but slower than Jina |## Benchmarked Performance (URLs)| Tool | Avg Speed | Success Rate ||------|-----------|--------------|| Jina | **0.5s** | 10/10 || markitdown | 2.5s | 9/10 || Firecrawl | 4.5s | 10/10 |**Verdict**: For URLs, use Jina. For local files, markitdown is the only option.## Examples```bash# PDF to markdown (primary use case)markitdown report.pdf > report.md# Excel spreadsheetmarkitdown financials.xlsx# Image with text (OCR)markitdown screenshot.png# PowerPoint deckmarkitdown presentation.pptx > slides.md# Audio transcriptionmarkitdown meeting.mp3 > transcript.md```## Comparison with Alternatives| Task | markitdown | Alternative ||------|------------|-------------|| PDF text | `markitdown file.pdf` | PyMuPDF, pdfplumber || Word docs | `markitdown file.docx` | python-docx || Excel | `markitdown file.xlsx` | pandas, openpyxl || OCR | `markitdown image.png` | Tesseract || Web pages | Use Jina instead | `r.jina.ai/URL` (5x faster) |**markitdown's advantage**: One CLI for all local document formats. No code needed.

Frequently asked questions