Web Data and Document Extraction
MarkItDown
A lightweight Python utility that converts files and Office documents into markdown for LLMs and text pipelines.
Quick decision
- Best for
- Pipelines that already have files on disk and need clean markdown for an LLM, with fine-grained optional installs.
- Not ideal for
- Fetching live web pages or crawling sites. MarkItDown converts files you supply. Pair it with a fetcher or crawler for web work.
- Pricing model
- Open source under MIT and free to use locally. Optional Azure Document Intelligence and Azure Content Understanding paths are billable Azure calls when you choose them.
- Deployment
- Self-hosted library. Command line. Docker.
- Authentication
- No account needed for local conversion. Azure options need your Azure endpoint and credentials when enabled.
- Review state
- Source verified. Facts checked 2026-10-03. Not locally tested by AgentsUse.
What it does
MarkItDown converts files to markdown while preserving document structure such as headings, lists, tables, and links. The output is meant for LLMs and text analysis pipelines rather than high-fidelity human documents.
Supported inputs include PDF, PowerPoint, Word, Excel, images with EXIF and OCR options, audio transcription, HTML, CSV, JSON, XML, ZIP archives, YouTube URLs, and EPubs. Optional dependencies install only the converters you need.
It runs as a command line tool or a Python API. Plugins are disabled by default, and the project documents security notes: MarkItDown performs I/O with the privileges of the current process, so sanitize inputs in untrusted environments.
Verified capabilities
Data access
Office and PDF conversion Source verified
Convert PDF, Word, PowerPoint, and Excel files to markdown with structure preserved.
Images and audio Source verified
Read image EXIF metadata with optional OCR, and transcribe wav and mp3 audio with the right extras.
Web-adjacent formats Source verified
Convert HTML, CSV, JSON, XML, ZIP contents, EPubs, and YouTube URLs.
Optional Azure upgrades Source verified
Route hard documents to Azure Document Intelligence or Content Understanding when local conversion is not enough.
Setup
Granular installs Source verified
Install only the format extras you need, such as pdf and docx, instead of the full set.
CLI and Python API Source verified
Run the markitdown command or call MarkItDown().convert() from Python.
Quick start
Install and convert a file
From the official README and PyPI page. Use the [all] extra for every format, or name only the extras you need.
pip install 'markitdown[all]'
markitdown path-to-file.pdf > document.mdSource: https://github.com/microsoft/markitdown. Examples use placeholders only. Never paste a real key into a profile, config file you share, or a ticket.
MCP support: Not claimed here. AgentsUse found no MCP server claim in the checked README, so this profile makes no MCP claim for MarkItDown.
Works with
MCP
No MCP claim verified in the checked source.
Packages
PyPI: markitdown, with per-format extras such as [pdf], [docx], and [pptx].
Inputs
Local files, streams, and YouTube URLs. Not a web crawler.
Deployment
Local library or CLI, Docker image documented by the project.
Only sourced support is listed. A missing framework means AgentsUse has not verified it yet, not that it cannot work.
Health and maintenance
- GitHub stars
- 188,213 (checked 2026-10-03)
- GitHub forks
- 13,932 (checked 2026-10-03)
- Package
- PyPI: markitdown, version 0.1.8
- License
- Open source, MIT
- Maintainer
- Microsoft
Stars and forks from the GitHub repository page; version from PyPI release files (0.1.8, uploaded Sep 21, 2026). Maintenance signals only, not a quality rating.
Pricing and license
Open source under MIT and free to use locally. Optional Azure Document Intelligence and Azure Content Understanding paths are billable Azure calls when you choose them.
Limitations and safety
- Output favors LLM consumption over human fidelity. Check tables and formatting before publishing converted documents to people.
- It performs I/O with your process privileges. The project advises sanitizing inputs and calling the narrowest convert function in untrusted environments.
- No independently checked benchmark is published by AgentsUse for this tool yet.
Browser and data tools can read pages, fill forms, and download files. Start with a test account or read-only access, keep credentials in environment variables, and review agent actions before connecting anything that can spend money, send messages, or delete data.
Alternatives to MarkItDown
Choose Jina Reader when the document lives at a URL and you want markdown back with one HTTP call.
Tradeoff: Hosted rate limits apply, and local private files are not its path.
Choose Crawl4AI when you need to crawl pages and extract structured data, not just convert files.
Tradeoff: A heavier stack with browsers to operate.
Choose Firecrawl when you want a hosted API that scrapes URLs and returns markdown or JSON.
Tradeoff: Hosted use needs an account and metered key.
Related tools
Common questions
What does MarkItDown do for an AI agent?
A lightweight Python utility that converts files and Office documents into markdown for LLMs and text pipelines.
Is MarkItDown open source?
Yes. This profile records the license as MIT from the official repository.
Does MarkItDown support MCP?
Not claimed here. AgentsUse found no MCP server claim in the checked README, so this profile makes no MCP claim for MarkItDown.
Sources and freshness
- GitHub repository: https://github.com/microsoft/markitdown
- PyPI package: https://pypi.org/project/markitdown/
Last checked 2026-10-03. Verification label: source verified, which means public claims trace to the sources above. It does not mean AgentsUse ran the tool. Spotted an error? Send a correction. Back to the tools directory.