markitdown
Python tool for converting files and office documents to Markdown.
MarkItDown is a Python-based MCP server that converts various file formats—including PDF, Word, PowerPoint, Excel, images, audio, HTML, and more—into Markdown for processing by large language models and text analysis pipelines. Developed by Microsoft, it preserves document structure (headings, lists, tables) while generating LLM-friendly output. The tool supports optional Azure Document Intelligence and Azure Content Understanding integrations for higher-quality cloud-based conversion, OCR plugins for extracting text from embedded images, and custom third-party plugins. Developers can use it via command-line, Python API, Docker, or as an MCP server component in AI agent workflows.
Key Features
Use Cases
- 01Preparing document collections for RAG (retrieval-augmented generation) pipelines by converting mixed file types to uniform Markdown
- 02Extracting structured invoice, receipt, or contract data from PDFs using Azure Content Understanding with custom analyzers
- 03Transcribing meeting recordings or video content to Markdown for analysis and summarization by LLMs
- 04Converting legacy Office documents and scanned PDFs to searchable, analyzable text for knowledge bases
- 05Batch processing ZIP archives of mixed file types into Markdown for document indexing systems
- 06Integrating file-to-Markdown conversion as an MCP server capability within AI agent frameworks
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markitdown — FAQ
What is the MarkItDown MCP server?+
MarkItDown is a Microsoft-developed MCP server and Python utility that converts various file formats (PDF, Office documents, images, audio, HTML, and more) into Markdown optimized for large language model processing. It preserves document structure and supports optional cloud-based conversion via Azure services.
How do I install MarkItDown?+
Install via pip with 'pip install markitdown[all]' for all format support, or install specific converters like 'pip install markitdown[pdf,docx,pptx]'. Requires Python 3.10 or higher, and it's recommended to use a virtual environment to avoid dependency conflicts.
Does MarkItDown require API keys or Azure services?+
Basic file conversion runs entirely offline with no API keys required. Optional Azure Document Intelligence and Azure Content Understanding integrations require Azure endpoints and are billable services. LLM-powered image descriptions require an OpenAI-compatible client.
Which AI clients work with the MarkItDown MCP server?+
The markitdown-mcp package works with MCP-compatible clients like Claude Desktop and other tools that support the Model Context Protocol. The Python library can also be integrated directly into custom AI agent pipelines.
Is MarkItDown free to use?+
Yes, MarkItDown is open source and free for local conversion of supported file types. Azure Document Intelligence and Content Understanding integrations are optional paid Azure services billed per API call.
Can MarkItDown handle scanned PDFs and images with text?+
Yes, through multiple methods: the markitdown-ocr plugin uses LLM vision models for OCR, Azure Document Intelligence provides cloud-based OCR, and Azure Content Understanding offers multi-modal extraction. The basic PDF converter works best with text-based PDFs.
How do I install markitdown?+
Open the source repository on GitHub and follow its README. markitdown is a mcp server — MCP Agents Market links you directly to the official repo.
Is markitdown free?+
markitdown is an open-source project hosted on GitHub. Check the repository for its license and any usage requirements.