git:20260818.6a9f57d to git:20260820.980163d

4 added, 17 removed. Audit A to A.

---

name: firecrawl-parse

description: |

- Efficiently extract and convert the contents of any local file—such as PDF, DOCX, DOC, ODT, RTF, XLSX, XLS, or HTML—into clean, well-formatted markdown saved to disk. Use this skill whenever the user requests to parse, read, or extract information from a file on their computer, including phrases like “parse this PDF”, “convert this document”, “read this file”, “extract text from”, or when a local file path (not a URL) is provided. This skill offers advanced options like generating AI-powered summaries and answering questions based on the file's content. Prefer this tool over `scrape` when handling local files to deliver precise, structured outputs for downstream tasks.

+ Convert a local file (PDF, DOCX, XLSX, HTML, …) to markdown, or answer questions about its content. Use whenever the input is a file path, not a URL.

allowed-tools:

- Bash(firecrawl *)

- Bash(npx firecrawl-cli *)

---

# firecrawl parse

Turn a local document into clean markdown on disk. Supports **PDF, DOCX, DOC, ODT, RTF, XLSX, XLS, HTML/HTM**.

- ## When to use

- - You have a file on disk (not a URL) and want its text as markdown

- - User drops a PDF/DOCX and asks what it says, or to summarize it

- - Use `scrape` instead when the source is a URL

## Quick start

Always save to `.firecrawl/` with `-o` — parsed docs can be hundreds of KB and blow up context if streamed to stdout. Add `.firecrawl/` to `.gitignore`.

```bash

mkdir -p .firecrawl

# File → markdown

firecrawl parse ./paper.pdf -o .firecrawl/paper.md

# AI summary

firecrawl parse ./paper.pdf -S -o .firecrawl/paper-summary.md

# Ask a question about the doc

firecrawl parse ./paper.pdf -Q "What are the main conclusions?" \

-o .firecrawl/paper-qa.md

```

- Then `head`, `grep`, `rg` etc., or incrementally read the file - don't load the whole thing at once.

+ Then read the output incrementally with `head`, `grep`, or `rg`.

- ## Options

+ Run `firecrawl parse --help` for the full option list.

- | Option | Description |

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

- | `-S, --summary` | AI-generated summary |

- | `-Q, --query <prompt>` | Ask a question about the parsed content |

- | `-o, --output <path>` | Output file path — **always use this** |

- | `-f, --format <formats>` | Comma-separated: `markdown`, `html`, `rawHtml`, `links`, `images`, `summary`, `json`, `attributes`. Multiple formats output JSON |

- | `--timeout <ms>` | Timeout for the parse job |

- | `--timing` | Show request duration |

+ **Done when:** the markdown, summary, or answer is written under `.firecrawl/` and you have inspected it with bounded reads.

## Tips

- Quote paths with spaces: `firecrawl parse "./My Doc.pdf" -o .firecrawl/mydoc.md`.

- Max upload size: **50 MB** per file.

- Credits: ~1 per PDF page; HTML is 1 flat.

- Check `.firecrawl/` before re-parsing the same file.

- To check your credit balance (recommended for batch processing and similar workflows), use `firecrawl credit-usage` (requires authentication).

## See also

- [firecrawl-scrape](../firecrawl-scrape/SKILL.md) — same idea for URLs