convert_pdf_file

Instructions

Convert a local PDF file to Markdown. Output is saved in a new folder named after the PDF in its original directory.

Args:
    file_path: Path to a local PDF file or multiple paths separated by spaces, commas, or newlines.

Returns:
    A dictionary with the conversion results.

Implementation Reference

• src/pdf2md/server.py:145-208 (handler)

  The primary handler function for the 'convert_pdf_file' MCP tool. It processes local PDF file(s), uses Mistral AI OCR to convert to markdown, saves output files and images in a directory next to the original PDF, and returns results. Registered via @mcp.tool() decorator.

  @mcp.tool()
  async def convert_pdf_file(file_path: str) -> Dict[str, Any]:
      """
      Convert a local PDF file to Markdown. Output is saved in a new folder named after the PDF in its original directory.
  
      Args:
          file_path: Path to a local PDF file or multiple paths separated by spaces, commas, or newlines.
  
      Returns:
          A dictionary with the conversion results.
      """
      if not MISTRAL_API_KEY:
          return {"success": False, "error": "Missing API key, please set environment variable MISTRAL_API_KEY"}
  
      try:
          client = Mistral(api_key=MISTRAL_API_KEY)
      except Exception as e:
          return {"success": False, "error": f"Error initializing Mistral client: {e}"}
  
      file_paths = parse_input_string(file_path)
      results = []
  
      for path_str in file_paths:
          try:
              input_path = Path(path_str)
              if not input_path.exists() or not input_path.name.lower().endswith('.pdf'):
                  results.append({"file_path": path_str, "success": False, "error": "File does not exist or is not a PDF."})
                  continue
  
              # Create a new directory for output next to the original file
              output_dir = input_path.parent / input_path.stem
              output_dir.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
  
              output_md_path = output_dir / f"{input_path.stem}.md"
  
              with open(input_path, "rb") as pdf_file:
                  base64_pdf = base64.b64encode(pdf_file.read()).decode('utf-8')
  
              ocr_response = client.ocr.process(
                  model="mistral-ocr-latest",
                  document={"type": "document_url", "document_url": f"data:application/pdf;base64,{base64_pdf}"},
                  include_image_base64=True
              )
  
              markdown_content, saved_images = save_ocr_response_to_markdown_and_images(
                  ocr_response, output_md_path, output_dir
              )
  
              if markdown_content is not None:
                  results.append({
                      "file_path": path_str,
                      "success": True,
                      "markdown_file": str(output_md_path),
                      "images": saved_images,
                      "output_directory": str(output_dir),
                      "content_length": len(markdown_content)
                  })
              else:
                  results.append({"file_path": path_str, "success": False, "error": "Could not save markdown or images."})
  
          except Exception as e:
              results.append({"file_path": path_str, "success": False, "error": f"Error processing file '{path_str}': {e}"})
  
      return {"success": any(r.get("success", False) for r in results), "results": results}

• src/pdf2md/server.py:61-75 (helper)

  Helper utility to parse the input file_path string into a list of individual paths, handling quotes, commas, spaces, and newlines.

  def parse_input_string(input_string: str) -> List[str]:
      """Parses a string of paths or URLs separated by spaces, commas, or newlines."""
      if (input_string.startswith('"') and input_string.endswith('"')) or \
         (input_string.startswith("'") and input_string.endswith("'")):
          input_string = input_string[1:-1]
      items = " ".join(input_string.replace(",", " ").split()).split()
      cleaned_items = []
      for item in items:
          if (item.startswith('"') and item.endswith('"')) or \
             (item.startswith("'") and item.endswith("'")):
              cleaned_items.append(item[1:-1])
          else:
              cleaned_items.append(item)
      return [item for item in cleaned_items if item]

• src/pdf2md/server.py:40-60 (helper)

  Helper function that saves the OCR response's markdown content to a file and extracts/saves embedded images to disk.

  def save_ocr_response_to_markdown_and_images(ocr_response, output_md_path, output_dir_for_images):
      """
      Saves the markdown content from each page of the OCR response to a file
      and saves any associated images.
      """
      full_markdown_content = []
      saved_images = []
      try:
          with open(output_md_path, "wt", encoding='utf-8') as f:
              for page in ocr_response.pages:
                  f.write(page.markdown)
                  full_markdown_content.append(page.markdown)
                  for image in page.images:
                      saved_image_path = save_image(image, output_dir_for_images)
                      if saved_image_path:
                          saved_images.append(saved_image_path)
          return "".join(full_markdown_content), saved_images
      except Exception as e:
          print(f"Error saving markdown file '{output_md_path}' or processing images: {e}")
          return None, []