anydoc · diff

git:20260807.f37dc73 to git:20260807.935299d

72 added, 55 removed. Audit A to A.

---

name: anydoc

description: >-

Convert Word (.doc/.docx/.docm), PowerPoint (.ppt/.pps/.pot/.pptx/.pptm/.ppsx/.ppsm),

Excel (.xls/.xlsx/.xlsm/.xlsb), OpenDocument (.odt/.ods/.odp), RTF, EPUB, CSV, and

PDF documents to clean GitHub-Flavored Markdown locally with the Any Doc CLI

(npx -y @firecrawl/anydoc@0.1.6): headings, GFM tables, slide structure, and

footnotes in one pass. Use when a task needs the contents of an office document,

spreadsheet, presentation, ebook, or PDF you cannot read directly. Do not use for

generating, editing, or validating documents (use documents), for ebook packaging

(use epub), or for OCR of scanned or image-only PDFs (anydoc does not OCR; route

to OCR tooling).

license: MIT

compatibility: >-

Node.js >= 20 and npx. The pinned CLI is @firecrawl/anydoc@0.1.6; the native

binary ships via npm optionalDependencies (no install step, no postinstall, no

compilation). Conversion runs entirely on your machine — no services, no API

keys, no uploads. The first npx run downloads the package once (network

required); later runs use the npm cache.

metadata:

skills: anydoc, markdown, conversion, docx, xlsx, pptx, pdf, odt, ods, odp, rtf, epub, csv, office, documents, firecrawl

tags: conversion, markdown, office, documents

source: https://github.com/firecrawl/anydoc

allowed-tools: Bash Read

---

# Any Doc — office documents to GitHub-Flavored Markdown

The `anydoc` skill converts office documents, spreadsheets, presentations,

ebooks, CSV, and text-based PDFs into GitHub-Flavored Markdown using the pinned

Any Doc CLI (`@firecrawl/anydoc` v0.1.6). One shared document model and one GFM

serializer produce the same logical output across formats, and conversion runs

locally in milliseconds — no service, no API key, no file upload.

## Overview

Load this skill when a task needs the *contents* of a document the agent cannot

read directly: a Word report to summarize, a spreadsheet to turn into a table,

a slide deck to extract, a CSV to analyze, or an ebook or PDF to quote from.

The skill ships a small Python helper (`scripts/anydoc`) that wraps the pinned

CLI and adds input pre-validation, friendly error hints, batch conversion, and

`--dry-run`/`--json` output. Every recipe in [references/workflows.md](references/workflows.md)

also shows the raw `npx` invocation, so the skill works with or without the

helper.

+ ## First-use decision gate

+ Before invoking anydoc, classify the request:

+ | If the user needs... | Do this |

+ | --- | --- |

+ | The contents of an existing supported document | Continue to [Command Map](#command-map). |

+ | Generation, editing, validation, EPUB packaging, HTML scraping, OCR, or password decryption | Stop and use the route in [When not to use](#when-not-to-use). |

+ | A format-fidelity or failure decision | Load the matching row in [Reference Routing](#reference-routing) before choosing a command. |

+ | A conversion result | Choose stdout, `-o`, or batch; run it; then follow [Verification](#verification). |

+ > **Hard boundary:** anydoc reads existing supported documents to Markdown. It does not create, edit, validate, package, OCR, decrypt, or scrape them.

## When to use

- **Convert a document to markdown** — Word, PowerPoint, Excel, OpenDocument,

RTF, EPUB, CSV, or text-based PDF.

- **Extract structure** — headings, GFM tables, slide titles, speaker notes

(as blockquotes), and footnotes.

- **Feed documents to an LLM** — one-pass conversion to clean markdown for

summarization, extraction, or retrieval ingestion.

- **Batch a folder** — convert a directory of mixed office files for a vault

or knowledge base.

- **Read a document from stdin** — pipe bytes into `anydoc -`.

## Format coverage (summary)

anydoc covers **8 format families / 21 extensions** through **12 canonical

parsers**. The canonical formats are `doc, docx, odt, pdf, ppt, pptx, rtf,

epub, xlsx, ods, odp, csv`; extension aliases map through them (`.docm`→docx,

`.xls`→xlsx, `.pptm`→pptx, and so on).

- | Family | Extensions | Expected GFM output |

- | --- | --- | --- |

- | Word | `.doc` `.docx` `.docm` | `#`–`######` headings, GFM tables, `[^n]` footnotes |

- | PowerPoint | `.ppt` `.pps` `.pot` `.pptx` `.pptm` `.ppsx` `.ppsm` | slide titles as plain paragraphs, bullet lists, speaker notes as `>` blockquotes, GFM tables (PPTX/ODP; legacy `.ppt` flattens tables to text lines) |

- | Excel | `.xls` `.xlsx` `.xlsm` `.xlsb` | `## <sheet name>` heading + one GFM table per worksheet; number formats dropped (raw cell values) |

- | OpenDocument | `.odt` `.ods` `.odp` | same document/slide shapes as DOCX/PPTX; ODS keeps formatted display values |

- | Rich Text Format | `.rtf` | same document shape as DOCX/ODT |

- | EPUB | `.epub` | `#` chapter headings, GFM tables, internal anchor links |

- | CSV | `.csv` | one GFM table; label-like first row promoted to header; delimiter sniffing; UTF-16 with BOM |

- | PDF | `.pdf` | headings + inline emphasis, but a lower-fidelity pipeline: tables flatten to text, footnotes and links degrade. **Scanned or image-only PDFs fail** — anydoc does not OCR |

+ | --- | --- | --- | --- |

+ | PowerPoint | `.ppt` `.pps` `.pot` `.pptx` `.pptm` `.ppsx` `.ppsm` | slide titles as plain paragraphs, bullet lists, speaker notes as `>` blockquotes, GFM tables (PPTX/ODP; legacy `.ppt` flattens tables to text lines) | Need table fidelity? Prefer PPTX or ODP; legacy `.ppt` preserves cell text but not table structure. |

+ | Excel | `.xls` `.xlsx` `.xlsm` `.xlsb` | `## <sheet name>` heading + one GFM table per worksheet; number formats dropped (raw cell values) | Need displayed percentages, currency, or number formats? Prefer ODS; XLS/XLSX output is raw values. |

+ | CSV | `.csv` | one GFM table; label-like first row promoted to header; delimiter sniffing; UTF-16 with BOM | Use for delimited tabular content; inspect delimiter and encoding when output looks wrong. |

+ | PDF | `.pdf` | headings + inline emphasis, but a lower-fidelity pipeline: tables flatten to text, footnotes and links degrade. **Scanned or image-only PDFs fail** — anydoc does not OCR | Use only for text-based PDFs; route scanned PDFs to OCR and treat tables as lower fidelity. |

See [references/formats.md](references/formats.md) for the full per-format

expectations and fidelity caveats, and [references/errors.md](references/errors.md)

for the exact failure messages (including the no-OCR error).

## Command Map

Commands are shown relative to the repository root. `<file>` is any document

path (for example `anydoc/fixtures/fixture-handmade-outline.docx`); `-` reads

the document from stdin.

- | Need | Command |

- | --- | --- |

- | Convert one file (markdown to stdout) | `anydoc/scripts/anydoc convert <file>` |

- | Convert one file to a markdown file | `anydoc/scripts/anydoc convert <file> -o out.md` |

- | Convert many files to a directory | `anydoc/scripts/anydoc batch <file1> <file2> ... --out-dir out/` |

- | Show the tool and pinned CLI version | `anydoc/scripts/anydoc info` |

- | Raw pinned CLI, one document | `npx -y @firecrawl/anydoc@0.1.6 <file> [-o out.md]` |

- | Raw pinned CLI, read stdin | `cat data.csv \| npx -y @firecrawl/anydoc@0.1.6 - --format csv` |

+ | Need | Command | Choose it when |

+ | --- | --- | --- |

+ | Convert one file to small markdown on stdout | `anydoc/scripts/anydoc convert <file>` | The caller needs immediate content and does not need a saved artifact. |

+ | Convert one file to a markdown file | `anydoc/scripts/anydoc convert <file> -o out.md` | The output is large, must be reviewed later, or should be preserved as an artifact. |

+ | Convert many files to a directory | `anydoc/scripts/anydoc batch <file1> <file2> ... --out-dir out/` | The request is a bounded batch and per-file output/status is useful. |

+ | Show the tool and pinned CLI version | `anydoc/scripts/anydoc info` | You need to confirm the executable and version before troubleshooting or reporting an environment issue. |

+ | Raw pinned CLI, one document | `npx -y @firecrawl/anydoc@0.1.6 <file> [-o out.md]` | The wrapper is unavailable; preserve the pinned CLI and its documented semantics. |

Notes:

- `scripts/anydoc` is an executable Python 3 script (shebang `#!/usr/bin/env

python3`); `python3 anydoc/scripts/anydoc ...` is equivalent when the

executable bit is unavailable.

- The raw `npx -y @firecrawl/anydoc@0.1.6` rows are the ground truth for

conversion behavior; the wrapper delegates to exactly that command.

- Always pin `@0.1.6` for reproducible conversions. `-y` answers npx's

"Ok to proceed?" prompt non-interactively — the CLI itself never prompts.

- Both forms share the same contract: one document per invocation, exit code

`0` success / `1` conversion or IO failure / `2` usage error, diagnostics as

exactly one `anydoc: <message>` line on stderr, and no prompts.

## Reference Routing

- Load these on demand — one per topic:

+ Load only the row that answers the immediate question; the command examples and verification contract remain in this file.

- - [references/formats.md](references/formats.md) — the 8 families / 21

- extensions / 12 parsers, what GFM each format produces, and the fidelity

- caveats (xlsx/xls number-format drop vs ODS preserved display values, legacy

- `.ppt` table flattening, PDF lower-fidelity pipeline, merged-cell covered

- spans, ODP same-serializer).

- - [references/cli-reference.md](references/cli-reference.md) — verbatim

- `--help`, every flag (`-o`, `-f`, `-h`, `-V`, `--format=x`, `--`), stdin via

- `-`, stdout/stderr conventions including EPIPE, version pinning, Node >= 20,

- and first-run/offline network behavior.

- - [references/errors.md](references/errors.md) — exit codes 0/1/2, the verbatim

- error-message vocabulary (io, unsupported, malformed, encrypted, EISDIR,

- resource-limit, usage errors), the no-OCR caveat, and troubleshooting recipes.

- - [references/workflows.md](references/workflows.md) — single conversion,

- batch loops, vault ingestion, stdin/stdout piping, output verification,

- large-file/resource-limit behavior, and startup cost.

- - [references/sources.md](references/sources.md) — upstream URLs, access dates,

- fixture provenance, and how every documented claim was verified against the

- real CLI.

+ | When you need to... | Load | It answers |

+ | --- | --- | --- |

+ | Choose a format or predict fidelity | [references/formats.md](references/formats.md) | Supported families, output shapes, and caveats such as raw XLSX values, ODS display values, legacy `.ppt` table flattening, and PDF degradation. |

+ | Select flags, stdin syntax, output behavior, or version details | [references/cli-reference.md](references/cli-reference.md) | Verbatim help, accepted options, stdin rules, stdout/stderr behavior, pinning, and runtime requirements. |

+ | Classify a failure or decide whether to retry | [references/errors.md](references/errors.md) | Exit codes, exact error vocabulary, no-OCR/encryption boundaries, and the next route. |

+ | Choose a single-file, stdin, batch, vault, or large-output recipe | [references/workflows.md](references/workflows.md) | End-to-end recipes, safe output handling, per-file failure routing, and resource-limit behavior. |

+ | Verify a documented upstream or fixture claim | [references/sources.md](references/sources.md) | Source URLs, access dates, fixture provenance, and the verification basis for documented claims. |

+ | Shape the final evidence report | [references/report-examples.md](references/report-examples.md) | Complete success, expected-failure, and fidelity-boundary reports to imitate after following Verification. |

## When not to use

- - **Generating, editing, or validating documents** — anydoc only converts

- existing documents *to markdown*; it never creates, edits, or checks

- documents. Use the `documents` skill for generation, inspection, and

- validation of PDF/Word/Excel/PowerPoint artifacts.

- - **Ebook packaging or EPUB authoring** — use the `epub` skill. anydoc reads

- EPUBs to markdown but never writes or validates EPUB containers.

- - **Scanned or image-only PDFs (OCR)** — anydoc does not perform OCR. Such

- PDFs fail as `unsupported` with the OCR message; route the file to OCR

- tooling or the hosted Firecrawl Parse API instead of retrying locally. Do

- not claim local OCR support.

- - **HTML and other web content** — HTML is not a supported input format; use a

- web-scraping skill instead.

- - **Binary media (images, video, audio)** — embedded images render as alt text

- only; anydoc cannot transcribe media content.

- - **Layout or rendering work** — output is GitHub-Flavored Markdown only; there

- is no pagination, font, or template control.

- - **Password-protected files** — encrypted documents fail with

- `anydoc: document is encrypted`; there is no password or decryption option.

+ Use this routing table before reaching for a conversion command:

+ | User's request | Reach for | Why |

+ | --- | --- | --- |

+ | Generate, edit, inspect, or validate a PDF/Word/Excel/PowerPoint artifact | `documents` skill | anydoc converts existing documents to Markdown; it does not author or validate them. |

+ | Package or author an EPUB | `epub` skill | anydoc reads an existing EPUB to Markdown but never writes or validates an EPUB container. |

+ | OCR a scanned or image-only PDF | OCR tooling or the hosted Firecrawl Parse API | anydoc has no OCR path; report the documented unsupported error and do not retry locally. |

+ | Scrape HTML or other web content | A web-scraping skill | HTML is not a supported anydoc input. |

+ | Transcribe binary media such as images, video, or audio | A media or transcription tool | Embedded images become alt text; anydoc cannot transcribe media. |

+ | Preserve pagination, fonts, templates, or rendered layout | A document/layout tool | The only output contract is GitHub-Flavored Markdown. |

+ | Convert a password-protected file | An unencrypted copy from the document owner | anydoc has no password or decryption option. |

## Verification

+ **Report evidence, not just success.** For every attempted conversion, return the input, exact command or wrapper path, observed exit code, output destination (stdout or file), structural markers checked, and any documented caveat or next route.

+ **Compact report shape:**

+ ```text

+ Input: <path or stdin source>

+ Command: <exact wrapper or pinned CLI path>

+ Exit: <observed code>

+ Output: <stdout or destination file>

+ Checks: <markers or fidelity facts observed>

+ Caveat/route: <documented limitation or next action>

+ ```

+ ### Common stop conditions

+ | Condition | Do not | Next |

+ | --- | --- | --- |

+ | Scanned or image-only PDF / OCR-required error | Retry the same file locally | Route to OCR tooling or the hosted Firecrawl Parse API. |

+ | Encrypted or password-protected document | Guess a password or retry unchanged | Request an unencrypted copy or owner-authorized re-export. |

+ | Unsupported, malformed, or resource-limit error | Guess a parser or claim partial success | Match the exact error in [references/errors.md](references/errors.md) and follow its bounded route. |

+ | Exit 0 but expected structural markers are absent | Report success from the exit code alone | Inspect the output shape and source fidelity before reporting completion. |

Confirm a conversion before reporting it as done:

1. **Check the exit code.** `0` means the CLI produced markdown. `1` means the

document could not be read or converted — read the single `anydoc: <message>`

stderr line and match it against [references/errors.md](references/errors.md).

`2` means the command itself was a usage error (bad flag, missing input,

invalid `--format`).

2. **Check the output shape.** The markdown must contain the structural markers

your format actually produces:

- Word / ODT / RTF / text-based PDF: `#`/`##` headings. For PDF, do not

expect GFM tables or `[^1]:` footnote definitions — that pipeline

flattens them.

- Spreadsheets (xlsx/xls/ods) and CSV: `|`-delimited GFM tables. xlsx/xls

show raw cell values (`0.155`, `1234.5`); ODS shows formatted display

values (`15.5%`, `$1,234.50`).

- Presentations (pptx/odp): slide titles as plain paragraphs, `>`

blockquote speaker notes, GFM tables. Legacy `.ppt` flattens tables to

bare text lines.

- EPUB: `#` chapter headings and internal anchor links.

3. **Write large outputs to a file with `-o`.** `-o out.md` keeps stdout silent

and gives a reviewable file instead of streaming the whole document into

context.

4. **Verify tables survived.** If the source had tables and the output has no

`|` rows, consult the format caveats — PDF and legacy `.ppt` flatten tables

by design, not by error.

**Stop when** the conversion exits 0 and the structural markers match the

source format. Do not re-run or retry on a documented failure mode (encrypted,

malformed, scanned/image-only, unsupported) without changing the input; report

the documented message and route as [references/errors.md](references/errors.md)

instructs.