Xparse Parse

xparse-parse

Use the installed xparse-cli as the only parsing, authentication, quota, and document-navigation execution kernel. Do not reproduce its HTTP, OAuth, quota, PDF splitting, or result-merging logic in the Skill.

WorkBuddy Connector contract

When this Skill runs inside the TextIn xParse WorkBuddy Connector, the rules in this section override standalone installation and authentication examples in the shared Skill and its references:

• Invoke every xparse-cli command as xparse-cli --profile workbuddy <command> .... This includes the first invocation carrying --task-context. Examples elsewhere omit this prefix only for readability.
• Use the Connector-managed CLI version already supplied by WorkBuddy. Do not install, replace, pin, or upgrade xparse-cli from within a document task. If WorkBuddy reports a missing or incompatible CLI, return control to the Connector lifecycle instead of modifying the runtime.
• Rely on the Connector's Device OAuth and isolated workbuddy profile. If the Connector is disconnected, ask the user to reconnect it. Never request, store, repeat, or print an AppKey, Secret Code, Access Token, Refresh Token, private device_code, or user code, and do not start a separate auth flow.
• Treat stderr xparse_event.v1 JSONL as WorkBuddy progress and stdout as the single final result. Preserve accepted Task and Run identifiers; do not hide progress by piping or wrapping the command.

Optional expert caller attribution

An active WorkBuddy expert may explicitly declare a stable expert ID and its package version. Only when both values are supplied by that expert, copy them exactly into the task-context object defined below:

"caller": {
  "type": "workbuddy_expert",
  "id": "<declared-expert-id>",
  "version": "<declared-package-version>"
}

Omit caller for ordinary Connector use or when either value is absent. Never infer, search for, reuse from another task, or invent an expert identity. Do not put prompt_request_id in the task-context file: WorkBuddy owns and transmits that host request identifier independently.

Task context

For every new user request, create one private 0600 JSON file before the first xParse command:

{
  "schema_version": "xparse_task_context.v1",
  "user_intent": "the user's original request, in its original language",
  "tool_call_reason": "the document information needed to complete this task"
}

• Preserve the user's wording and keep the operational reason brief.
• Never include hidden reasoning, credentials, document content, or the final answer.
• Pass --task-context <FILE> only on the first xParse invocation for that request.
• Delete the temporary file after that invocation. Later commands inherit the task.
• Do not pass inline JSON through shell arguments, echo, or a heredoc.

Command integrity and structured error gate

Run every operational xparse-cli invocation as a standalone shell command. Do not pipe it through head, tail, grep, or another command, and do not append cleanup, printing, file reads, or other shell commands that can replace its exit status. Perform task-context cleanup in a separate shell call.

For every failed command, parse the final stderr object whose schema_version is xparse_error.v1. Treat that object as failure even if a shell wrapper reports exit code 0. Apply this gate before issuing another xParse command:

• retryable=false means do not retry or reinterpret the same logical action. Follow only the declared next_action. For CONTACT_SUPPORT, report the error and preserved identifiers, then issue no more xParse commands for the current request.
• retryable=true permits at most one Agent-layer retry of the same logical action. Keep the same Task, Run, Resource, and operation_id where present.
• Changing flags, authentication options, selector form, Resource identifier, timing, or switching between task read and task export does not create a new logical action or reset its retry budget.
• Do not run diagnostic xParse commands unless the Task state or next_action explicitly calls for them. Goal completion pressure is not a recovery signal; a correct failure report completes the Agent action.

After a non-retryable failure, another attempt is allowed only after the user confirms an external remediation or explicitly requests a new action. Reuse the preserved Task and Run identifiers; never recreate completed server work.

Free, free-package, and paid routing

Use --api auto by default. The CLI queries the service quota before parsing and uses the current server response as the authority instead of relying on a Skill snapshot.

Authentication is identity, not permission to spend. Never choose --api paid only because OAuth or AppKey credentials exist.

Run xparse-cli quota --output json when the user asks about quota, when a routing failure needs explanation, or before proposing a paid retry. Read all returned facts:

• daily free pages remaining and reset time;
• whether the request is authenticated;
• authenticated free-package total, historical used count, and current free_remain_count when present (routing uses only free_remain_count);
• maximum pages and file size per request.

Do not cache or calculate an allowance in the Skill. parse --api auto performs its own quota preflight, and the parse response remains authoritative if quota changes between inspection and execution. The Skill must not promise stronger billing guarantees than the existing server provides.

Device OAuth and AppKey are different identities. If quota returns authenticated=false or omits free_package, do not infer package access from an OAuth login indicator. Treat only fields in the current quota response as available.

The free endpoint supports PDF and images. Office, HTML, OFD, and other formats may require --api paid; explain this and obtain the user's approval before switching modes. If all reported free sources are insufficient, stop and explain the current quota rather than silently retrying as paid.

Choose the workflow

Choose by input shape and durability, not by whether authentication already exists:

Workflow selection and billing selection are independent decisions. Task versus parse is chosen from the request's input shape and durability needs; auto, free, and paid choose only the billing route. A quota, eligibility, authorization, funding, or format outcome must never change an accepted multi-document Task into individual parse calls. Only an explicit user request that narrows the original scope to a genuinely new one-document action may be treated as a new parse operation.

• Use parse for one document or URL when the user needs an immediate result, conversion, or local outline/search navigation.
• Use the durable Task Runtime for two or more local documents, or when the user explicitly needs a persistent Task ID, later status checks, selective result reads, exports, debugging, or continuation. A one-file request can therefore still be a Task when durability is explicit.
• Task Runtime control-plane routes and OAuth authentication are available in both domestic and overseas environments. Free-first Task billing is a separate capability: if the selected environment returns TASK_FREE_MODE_UNAVAILABLE, stop and explain it. Never replace the Task with serial parse calls or silently switch to paid execution.

Durable multi-document Task Runtime

For local files, start one server-persisted Task instead of launching multiple parse commands:

xparse-cli task run --files '<GLOB>' --api auto

--api auto is free-first and fails closed: it does not silently create a paid Task. Use --api paid only after the user explicitly approves paid service behavior. Do not parallelize individual parse commands for inputs that belong to one Task.

task run returns after the server accepts the Run. When structured progress is enabled, stderr is an xparse_event.v1 JSONL stream: run_accepted exposes the accepted Task/Run identity immediately, and run_status is emitted only when the state changes. Stdout contains exactly one final submission JSON. Preserve operation_id, task_id, and run_id. If submission fails or the process loses its response, reuse the observed operation_id with --operation-id; never invent a new ID for the same logical submission.

Keep Agent workflows on the default submit-and-return path. Do not add --wait or a short fixed --timeout automatically. When a user explicitly requests foreground waiting or wait-and-export, --wait polls the same Run; its local timeout returns the current accepted identity with wait_timed_out: true and next_action: POLL_STATUS. It does not cancel or recreate the Run. Continue with task status for that exact Task and Run.

waiting_paid_authorization and waiting_funds are accepted Task states, not CLI transport failures. The submission/status JSON and its next_action are the single authority. They mean the user request is incomplete: stop immediately and issue no more xParse commands—not quota, status, read, export, debug, another task run, or parse—until the user confirms the required external action. Then call task resume once for the exact Task and Run.

Use task status <TASK_ID> --run-id <RUN_ID> for bounded progress checks. Start at 2 seconds, then back off to 5, 10, 20, and 30 seconds; do not spend more than about two minutes polling in one Agent turn. Return control with the IDs and current state when work is still running. Never start a duplicate Task merely because the Run is still scheduled or running. Prefer task read when only one result is needed; use task export when the user needs the complete result set. On partial failure, run task debug before choosing a recovery action. Use task continue only when that accepted Run's debug result identifies the existing Resource's raw Parse error code 40423. Supply per-file passwords by repeating --password; when more than one Resource is involved, bind each value as <SELECTOR>=<PASSWORD>. This reruns only the selected failed Resources without reprocessing successful files.

Task identity and state move forward only:

no identifiers -> task run once
operation_id + PASSWORD_INPUT_REQUIRED -> ask for the named passwords, then replay the originating task run or task rerun --mode new-files once with that ID and the returned selectors
operation_id only after an ambiguous submission -> retry task run once with that ID
task_id + run_id -> task status for that exact Run
waiting_paid_authorization -> stop; after user approval, resume that exact Run
waiting_funds -> stop; after confirmed funding, resume that exact Run
completed -> task read or task export for that exact Run
non-retryable result-access failure -> report and stop

PASSWORD_INPUT_REQUIRED permits only one documented correction replay of the originating command with the same operation_id. For initial submission that command is task run; for new files under an existing Task it is task rerun --mode new-files, and the error may legitimately include that existing task_id. The CLI transparently reuses ready uploads; the Agent must not track File Asset IDs or decide which files to upload. An operation_id without a Task/Run ID after another ambiguous submission permits one unchanged replay. Once a new task_id or run_id has been accepted for a logical submission, never return to task run for it. A task read or task export failure must not fall back to a new Task, serial parse, cached results, an alternate selector, or a different Run. Use task debug only for partial_failed/failed, not to investigate a completed Run whose result access returned a non-retryable error.

Read task-runtime.md before starting, inspecting, or recovering a durable Task.

Full document or conversion

Use one parse command:

xparse-cli parse <INPUT> --api auto

For PDFs, pass an output directory so long Markdown is not truncated in terminal output. The CLI creates the directory when it does not exist:

xparse-cli parse report.pdf --api auto --output <DIR>

Read the saved result before requesting more detail. Add --view json only when the task needs structured elements, coordinates, tables, pages, or title hierarchy.

Server-generated document exports

When the user explicitly asks to export one document as DOCX, PDF, or XLSX, explain that this requires the paid parse endpoint and obtain paid approval before running the command. Request only the formats the user needs:

xparse-cli parse <INPUT> --api paid --export docx,pdf,xlsx --output <DIR>

• --export accepts docx, pdf, and xlsx; pass a comma-separated list or repeat the flag. The CLI removes duplicates, and XLSX automatically uses the table export scope.
• --api paid and --output <DIR> are required when --export is present. Immediately before downloading, the CLI resolves the selected AppKey or OAuth identity again so a long parse can refresh an expired OAuth token. It then downloads each successful export and verifies the saved file size.
• The output directory contains the ordinary parse result plus <basename>.docx, <basename>.pdf, and/or <basename>.xlsx. Read or return those local files as the task result. If a name would overwrite the input, the CLI uses <basename>.export.<format>. Do not expose backend download URLs, file_id values, or authorization details to the user.
• This single-document feature is separate from task export, which exports the Markdown results of a durable multi-document Task.

Targeted reading, search, or extraction

For a local document, use:

get_doc_info -> parse the complete document -> navigate -> extract

1. Run get_doc_info <FILE> and retain its exact doc_id.
2. Run parse <FILE> --api auto without --page-range. A successful complete local parse writes the navigation cache automatically.
3. Use get_outline, search_text, or read_pages to locate relevant content.
4. Batch the required read_content calls after navigation is complete.

There is no separate cache-preparation command. A successful complete local parse is the only preparation step.

Page-range parses intentionally do not replace the complete-document navigation cache. URL parses have no stable local doc_id, so use their direct parse output instead of local navigation commands.

Read navigation.md before performing targeted navigation or extraction.

Efficiency and fallback rules

• Plan all navigation before reading sections; target no more than eight read_content calls per task and issue independent reads together.
• Prefer search_text for names, dates, amounts, and percentages. Read a full section only when its surrounding prose or table structure is needed.
• If an outline is truncated, drill down with --parent-id; do not guess IDs.
• Keep unrelated one-document parses serial. For a multi-document batch, use one durable Task instead of parallel parse commands.
• Retry a transient service failure once at most and only when its structured error says retryable=true. Stop immediately on any non-retryable service failure. Never silently skip a failure.
• For local documents, try this Skill before Python, PyMuPDF, pdfplumber, qpdf, OCR tools, image conversion, or custom scripts.
• If a document is encrypted or required input is missing, ask the user instead of trying alternate tools.
• Only fall back after xparse-cli clearly cannot complete the task, and explain why.

Quick reference

--output accepts a directory, not an output filename. The CLI creates a missing directory and writes <basename>.md or <basename>.json inside it.

Authentication boundary

• The CLI supports AppKey, Device OAuth, and browser PKCE as documented in authentication.md.
• Never print credential files or use --verbose while handling authentication.
• An explicitly selected authentication method must fail as that method; do not silently retry with another credential type.

Setup and command discovery

Check installation with xparse-cli version. The package requires Node.js 18 or newer and can be installed with:

npm i -g xparse-cli

For users in China, use the npmmirror registry:

npm i -g xparse-cli --registry=https://registry.npmmirror.com

Use this Skill and its references as the command index. When live discovery is necessary, read complete xparse-cli --help, then the complete help for the exact command. Do not truncate help output with head, tail, or a fixed sed range.

Stop on unsupported or corrupt files, invalid credentials, exhausted quota, missing paid approval, any non-retryable service failure, or a transient failure after its single allowed Agent-layer retry.

References

• navigation.md: targeted outline, search, page, and content workflow.
• task-runtime.md: durable multi-file routing, states, result access, and recovery.
• authentication.md: AppKey, Device OAuth, and browser authentication.
• cli-guidance.md: modes, output, parameters, and limits.
• api-reference.md: response fields and service error codes.
• error-handling.md: retry, stop, and paid-approval decisions.
• textin-key-setup.md: standalone legacy AppKey setup.