Markdown To PDF

[IMPORTANT] Use TaskCreate to break ALL work into small tasks BEFORE starting — including tasks for each file read. This prevents context loss from long files. For simple tasks, AI may ask user whether to skip.

Quick Summary

Goal: Convert Markdown files to PDF with syntax highlighting and custom CSS support.

Workflow:

1. Install -- Ensure required tools (pandoc + wkhtmltopdf or weasyprint) are available
2. Convert -- Run conversion with syntax highlighting and optional CSS
3. Verify -- Check PDF output for formatting and completeness

Key Rules:

• Requires pandoc + a PDF engine (wkhtmltopdf or weasyprint)
• Supports syntax highlighting for code blocks
• Custom CSS can be applied for styling

markdown-to-pdf

Convert markdown files to high-quality PDF documents with code syntax highlighting and custom CSS support.

Installation Required

This skill requires npm dependencies. Run one of the following:

# Option 1: Install via ClaudeKit CLI (recommended)
ck init  # Runs install.sh which handles all skills

# Option 2: Manual installation
cd .claude/skills/markdown-to-pdf
npm install

Dependencies: md-to-pdf, gray-matter

Note: First run may download Chromium (~150MB) unless system Chrome is detected.

Quick Start

# Basic conversion
node .claude/skills/markdown-to-pdf/scripts/convert.cjs --input ./README.md

# Specify output path
node .claude/skills/markdown-to-pdf/scripts/convert.cjs --input ./doc.md --output ./output.pdf

# With custom CSS
node .claude/skills/markdown-to-pdf/scripts/convert.cjs --input ./doc.md --css ./my-style.css

CLI Options

Features

• Syntax Highlighting: Code blocks rendered with highlight.js
• Custom CSS: Override default styles with your own CSS
• Cross-Platform: Works on Windows, macOS, Linux
• System Chrome: Uses installed Chrome/Chromium when available
• Frontmatter Support: YAML frontmatter extracted for title/metadata

Default Styling

The default PDF style includes:

• Serif font (Georgia) for body text
• Monospace font (Consolas/Monaco) for code
• Proper page margins (2cm)
• Code block background highlighting
• Table borders and alternating row colors

Output

Returns JSON on success:

{
    "success": true,
    "input": "/path/to/input.md",
    "output": "/path/to/output.pdf",
    "pages": 3
}

Troubleshooting

Chrome not found: The skill will automatically download Chromium. Set PUPPETEER_SKIP_DOWNLOAD=1 to prevent this.

Memory issues: Large documents may require more memory. Consider splitting into multiple files.

Font issues: Embed fonts via CSS @font-face with base64-encoded fonts for consistent rendering.

IMPORTANT Task Planning Notes (MUST FOLLOW)

• Always plan and break work into many small todo tasks
• Always add a final review todo task to verify work quality and identify fixes/enhancements