Mdadf CLI

mdadf CLI

A CLI that converts Markdown into Atlassian Document Format (ADF). If shell or network access is unavailable, give the user the exact commands for their OS and say clearly that you did not run them.

Core Workflow

1. Check availability, then install only if needed

Run mdadf --version. If it works, skip installation entirely — do not include install commands even as a fallback. When the user states the tool is installed, trust them.

If the binary is missing, install it and then convert. See references/commands.md for exact commands by OS and install method.

2. Convert with the CLI instead of hand-writing ADF

Prefer mdadf over manually constructing ADF JSON.

• Default to --compact unless the user explicitly wants pretty-printed JSON
• For short snippets, pipe Markdown through stdin
• For larger inputs or reusable workflows, pass a file path
• Use -o when the result would be too large to paste comfortably

3. Keep the output lean

• If the JSON is long, save it to a file (-o) and report the path
• Avoid pretty-printing by default because it wastes tokens

4. Verify briefly

After install: confirm with mdadf --version. After conversion: sanity-check that the output looks like ADF (e.g. "type":"doc").

Agent Guidance

• Actually run commands when the environment allows it
• Do not claim install or conversion succeeded unless you verified it
• Do not silently switch platforms or shells; use the user's actual environment
• Do not handcraft ADF when the CLI can generate it
• If the user is working with Jira or Atlassian APIs, generating the payload with mdadf first is usually the right move

Troubleshooting

• If mdadf is not found right after install, use the full installed path for the current session
• If quoting multiline Markdown becomes messy, write the Markdown to a temp file and convert the file
• If the result is too large for chat, prefer -o
• If install would require elevated permissions and the user did not ask for that, switch to a user-local install directory instead
• mdadf reports failures on stderr with Error: and exits non-zero — treat these as hard failures

Examples

Example 1: convert a short snippet inline Input: "Turn this Markdown into Jira ADF and keep it compact: # Ship it" Approach: pipe the snippet to mdadf --compact and return the JSON.

Example 2: install first, then convert Input: "Install mdadf on this Mac and convert /tmp/release-notes.md to ADF" Approach: run the macOS installer, verify mdadf --version, then run mdadf /tmp/release-notes.md --compact.

Example 3: large output Input: "Convert spec.md to ADF but don't flood the chat" Approach: run mdadf spec.md --compact -o spec.adf.json and report the file path.

Example 4: Windows PowerShell inline conversion Input: "Turn this Markdown into Jira issue body JSON on Windows: # Ship it" Approach: pass a PowerShell here-string to mdadf --compact and return the compact JSON.