Markdownify MCP Server

markdownify mcp logo

Markdownify is a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that converts various file types and web content to Markdown format. It provides a set of tools to transform PDFs, images, audio files, web pages, and more into easily readable and shareable Markdown text.

Features

Convert multiple file types to Markdown:
- PDF
- Images
- Audio (with transcription)
- DOCX
- XLSX
- PPTX
Convert web content to Markdown:
- YouTube video transcripts
- Bing search results
- General web pages
Retrieve existing Markdown files

Getting Started

Clone this repository
Install dependencies:
```
bun install
```
The preinstall step creates a Python virtual environment at .venv and installs markitdown[all].
Build the project:
```
bun run build
```
Start the server:
```
bun start
```

Development

Use bun run dev to start the TypeScript compiler in watch mode
Modify src/server.ts to customize server behavior
Add or modify tools in src/tools.ts

Usage with Desktop App

To integrate this server with a desktop app, add the following to your app's server configuration:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "markdownify": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": [
        "{ABSOLUTE PATH TO FILE HERE}/dist/index.js"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Environment variables

All paths default to sensible values; override only when the defaults don't fit your install layout.

Variable	Default	Purpose
`MARKITDOWN_PATH`	`<project>/.venv/bin/markitdown`, then `markitdown` on `PATH`	Absolute path to the `markitdown` executable. Set this when you've installed markitdown system-wide (e.g. `pipx install "markitdown[pdf]"`) instead of using the bundled venv.
`REPOMIX_PATH`	`<project>/node_modules/.bin/repomix`, then `repomix` on `PATH`	Absolute path to the `repomix` executable used by `git-repo-to-markdown`.
`MD_ALLOWED_PATHS`	unset (unrestricted)	Path-delimiter-separated list (`:` on POSIX, `;` on Windows) of directories the server is allowed to read. When set, all file-input tools (`pdf-to-markdown`, `get-markdown-file`, etc.) reject paths outside these directories.
`MD_SHARE_DIR`	unset	Deprecated alias for `MD_ALLOWED_PATHS` (single directory). Still honored for backward compatibility.

Usage with Docker

Build and run:

docker build -t markdownify-mcp .
docker run --rm -i \
  -v "$HOME/Documents:/data:ro" \
  -e MD_ALLOWED_PATHS=/data \
  markdownify-mcp

Notes for the Docker MCP catalog (mcp/markdownify):

Mount any host directories you want the server to read into the container, then pass the container paths to the tools (e.g. /data/foo.pdf, not /Users/you/Documents/foo.pdf).
Set MD_ALLOWED_PATHS to the colon-separated list of mounted directories so the server enforces a read boundary that matches the bind mount.
The published Docker image installs markitdown[pdf] only — audio transcription and image OCR (audio-to-markdown, image-to-markdown) require the [all] extras and will fail in the slim image. Use the local install (bun install) for the full feature set.

Available Tools

youtube-to-markdown: Convert YouTube videos to Markdown
pdf-to-markdown: Convert PDF files to Markdown
bing-search-to-markdown: Convert Bing search results to Markdown
webpage-to-markdown: Convert web pages to Markdown
image-to-markdown: Convert images to Markdown with metadata
audio-to-markdown: Convert audio files to Markdown with transcription
docx-to-markdown: Convert DOCX files to Markdown
xlsx-to-markdown: Convert XLSX files to Markdown
pptx-to-markdown: Convert PPTX files to Markdown
get-markdown-file: Retrieve an existing Markdown file. File extension must end with: *.md, *.markdown.
OPTIONAL: set MD_ALLOWED_PATHS to restrict every file-input tool to a list of directories, e.g. MD_ALLOWED_PATHS=/data/in:/data/out bun start.

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request.

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.