OfficeReader-MCP

A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that converts Microsoft Office documents (Word, Excel, PowerPoint) to Markdown format with intelligent image extraction and optimization.

License: MIT Python 3.10+

Features

Multi-Format Support: Word (.docx, .doc), Excel (.xlsx, .xls), PowerPoint (.pptx, .ppt)
Intelligent Image Processing: Automatic extraction and optimization with WebP compression
Format Preservation: Maintains document structure including headings, tables, lists, and formatting
Metadata Extraction: Access document properties (author, title, creation date, etc.)
Efficient Caching: Smart caching system for quick reuse of converted documents
Cross-Platform: Works on Windows, macOS, and Linux

Supported Formats

Format	Extensions	Features
Word	`.docx` , `.doc`	Text formatting, headings, lists, tables, images
Excel	`.xlsx` , `.xls`	Multi-sheet support, tables, charts, embedded images
PowerPoint	`.pptx` , `.ppt`	Slides, text boxes, images, speaker notes, tables

Installation

Prerequisites

Python 3.10 or higher
Claude Desktop or Claude Code

Step 1: Install the Package

# Clone the repository git clone https://github.com/Asunainlove/office-reader-mcp.git cd office-reader-mcp # Install in editable mode pip install -e .

Step 2: Configure Claude

For Claude Desktop

Add to your Claude Desktop config file:

Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json macOS/Linux: ~/.config/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

{ "mcpServers": { "officereader": { "command": "python", "args": ["-m", "officereader_mcp.server"], "env": { "OFFICEREADER_CACHE_DIR": "/path/to/cache" } } } }

For Claude Code

Add to your Claude Code settings:

Windows: %LOCALAPPDATA%\claude-code\settings.json macOS/Linux: ~/.config/claude-code/settings.json

{ "mcpServers": { "officereader": { "command": "python", "args": ["-m", "officereader_mcp.server"], "env": { "OFFICEREADER_CACHE_DIR": "/path/to/cache" } } } }

Step 3: Restart Claude

Restart Claude Desktop or Claude Code to load the MCP server.

Quick Start

After installation, you can use OfficeReader-MCP directly in your conversations with Claude:

Convert my Excel file at D:\Reports\sales_2024.xlsx to markdown

Extract text and images from D:\Presentations\keynote.pptx

Get metadata from my document at C:\Documents\report.docx

Available Tools

1. `convert_document`

Convert any supported Office document to Markdown format.

Parameters:

file_path (required): Absolute path to the document
extract_images (optional, default: true): Extract embedded images
image_format (optional, default: "file"): How to handle images
- "file": Save images to disk (recommended)
- "base64": Embed images as base64 in markdown
- "both": Both save and embed
output_name (optional): Custom name for output files

Example:

Convert D:\Documents\report.xlsx with images

2. `read_converted_markdown`

Read the full content of a previously converted markdown file.

Parameters:

markdown_path (required): Path to the markdown file

Example:

Read the markdown at D:\cache\output\report_abc12345\report_abc12345.md

3. `list_conversions`

List all cached document conversions with details.

Example:

List all converted documents

4. `clear_cache`

Clear all cached conversions to free up disk space.

Example:

Clear the document cache

5. `get_document_metadata`

Extract metadata from a document without full conversion (faster).

Parameters:

file_path (required): Path to the document

Example:

Get metadata from D:\Documents\presentation.pptx

6. `get_supported_formats`

Get list of all supported file formats and extensions.

Example:

What file formats does officereader support?

Output Structure

Converted documents are organized in the cache directory:

cache/ └── output/ └── document_name_abc12345/ ├── document_name_abc12345.md # Converted markdown └── images/ ├── image_001.webp # Optimized images ├── slide2_image_002.webp └── excel_image_003.webp

Image Optimization

Images are automatically optimized to reduce file size while maintaining quality:

Max Dimensions: 1920×1080 pixels (configurable)
Format: WebP (preferred) or PNG/JPEG fallback
Quality: 80% for photos, 85% for JPEG, lossless PNG for graphics with transparency
Typical Compression: 50-80% size reduction
Smart Detection: Automatically distinguishes between photos and graphics

Technical Details

Architecture

OfficeReader-MCP/ ├── src/officereader_mcp/ │ ├── server.py # MCP server implementation │ ├── converter.py # Word converter (DocxConverter, OfficeConverter) │ ├── excel_converter.py # Excel to Markdown converter │ ├── pptx_converter.py # PowerPoint to Markdown converter │ ├── image_optimizer.py # Image compression utility │ └── __init__.py # Package initialization ├── test/ │ ├── test_converter.py # Basic functionality tests │ └── test_all_formats.py # Comprehensive test suite ├── pyproject.toml # Project configuration └── README.md # Documentation

Dependencies

Package	Version	Purpose
`mcp`	>=1.0.0	Model Context Protocol SDK
`python-docx`	>=1.1.0	DOCX file parsing and manipulation
`mammoth`	>=1.6.0	DOC/DOCX to HTML conversion (fallback)
`Pillow`	>=10.0.0	Image processing and optimization
`markdownify`	>=0.11.0	HTML to Markdown conversion
`openpyxl`	>=3.1.0	Excel file parsing
`python-pptx`	>=0.6.21	PowerPoint file parsing

All dependencies are automatically installed when you run pip install -e .

Testing

Run Tests

# Basic converter test python test/test_converter.py # Comprehensive test suite for all formats python test/test_all_formats.py # Test with a specific document python test/test_converter.py path/to/your/document.docx

Test Coverage

The test suite verifies:

Module imports and initialization
Converter functionality for all formats
Image extraction and optimization
File type detection
Cache management
Metadata extraction

Configuration

OfficeReader-MCP supports multiple configuration methods to customize cache locations and behavior.

Quick Configuration (Recommended)

Copy the example config file:
cp config.example.json config.json
Edit config.json to set your cache directory:
{ "cache_dir": "D:/MyDocuments/OfficeReaderCache", "image_optimization": { "enabled": true, "max_dimension": 1920, "quality": 80 } }
The config file will be automatically loaded on startup.

For detailed configuration options, see CONFIG.md.

Environment Variables

Variable	Description	Default
`OFFICEREADER_CACHE_DIR`	Directory for cached conversions	System temp directory

Example usage:

# Set custom cache directory export OFFICEREADER_CACHE_DIR=/path/to/custom/cache # Or in Windows set OFFICEREADER_CACHE_DIR=C:\path\to\custom\cache

Note: Environment variables take priority over config file settings.

Usage Examples

Converting Excel with Multiple Sheets

User: Convert my Excel file at D:\Reports\Q4_sales.xlsx Claude: I'll convert that Excel file. Each sheet will be converted to a separate section in the markdown with properly formatted tables... [Output includes all sheets as markdown tables with preserved formatting]

Extracting PowerPoint Content

User: Extract all text and images from D:\Presentations\product_launch.pptx Claude: Converting the PowerPoint presentation. I'll extract text from each slide, including speaker notes, along with all embedded images... [Output includes slide-by-slide breakdown with images and notes]

Batch Processing

User: Convert all Office documents in D:\Documents\ Claude: I'll convert each document and cache the results for quick access... [Processes all supported files and provides summary]

Troubleshooting

"Module not found" Error

# Reinstall the package pip install -e .

Configuration Not Loading

Verify the config file location is correct
Check JSON syntax is valid (use a JSON validator)
Restart Claude Desktop or Claude Code completely
Check logs for error messages

Images Not Extracting

Possible causes:

Document contains linked images (not embedded)
Insufficient write permissions for cache directory
Image format not supported by the document library

Solution:

# Verify cache directory is writable ls -la /path/to/cache # Unix/Mac dir /path/to/cache # Windows # Check if images are embedded # Use convert_document with extract_images=true explicitly

Encoding Issues

The converter uses UTF-8 encoding throughout. If you see garbled text:

Check the source document encoding
Ensure your terminal/console supports UTF-8
Try converting with different system locale settings

Changelog

v2.0.0 (2024-11)

Major Features:

Added Excel (.xlsx, .xls) support with multi-sheet conversion
Added PowerPoint (.pptx, .ppt) support with slide extraction
Implemented intelligent image optimization with WebP compression
Added unified OfficeConverter interface for all document types
Enhanced metadata extraction for all formats

Improvements:

Smart caching system with hash-based file identification
Lazy-loading of format-specific converters for better performance
Better error handling and validation
Comprehensive test suite for all formats

Tools:

Added get_supported_formats tool
Enhanced get_document_metadata for all formats
Improved list_conversions with detailed cache information

v1.0.0 (2024-09)

Initial release
Word document (.docx, .doc) conversion
Basic image extraction
MCP server implementation

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Here's how you can help:

Report Bugs: Open an issue with details and steps to reproduce
Suggest Features: Describe your idea and use case
Submit Pull Requests:
- Fork the repository
- Create a feature branch (git checkout -b feature/amazing-feature)
- Commit your changes (git commit -m 'Add amazing feature')
- Push to your branch (git push origin feature/amazing-feature)
- Open a Pull Request

Development Setup

# Clone and install with dev dependencies git clone https://github.com/Asunainlove/office-reader-mcp.git cd office-reader-mcp pip install -e ".[dev]" # Run tests python test/test_all_formats.py # Run linting (if configured) black src/ ruff check src/

License

MIT License - see LICENSE file for details.

Author

Asunainlove

GitHub: @Asunainlove
Repository: office-reader-mcp
Issues: Report a bug

Acknowledgments

This project uses the following open-source libraries:

Model Context Protocol (MCP) by Anthropic
python-docx for Word processing
openpyxl for Excel processing
python-pptx for PowerPoint processing
Pillow for image processing

Support

If you find this project helpful, please:

⭐ Star the repository
🐛 Report bugs and issues
💡 Suggest new features
🔀 Contribute code improvements

Happy converting! 🚀

OfficeReader-MCP

Features

Supported Formats

Installation

Prerequisites

Step 1: Install the Package

Step 2: Configure Claude

For Claude Desktop

For Claude Code

Step 3: Restart Claude

Quick Start

Available Tools

1. convert_document

2. read_converted_markdown

3. list_conversions

4. clear_cache

5. get_document_metadata

6. get_supported_formats

Output Structure

Image Optimization

Technical Details

Architecture

Dependencies

Testing

Run Tests

Test Coverage

Configuration

Quick Configuration (Recommended)

Environment Variables

Usage Examples

Converting Excel with Multiple Sheets

Extracting PowerPoint Content

Batch Processing

Troubleshooting

"Module not found" Error

Configuration Not Loading

Images Not Extracting

Encoding Issues

Changelog

v2.0.0 (2024-11)

v1.0.0 (2024-09)

Contributing

Development Setup

License

Author

Acknowledgments

Support

Related Resources

New MCP Servers

MCP directory API

1. `convert_document`

2. `read_converted_markdown`

3. `list_conversions`

4. `clear_cache`

5. `get_document_metadata`

6. `get_supported_formats`