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MCP serverInstalls cleanly

Read Word, PDF and Excel files

MarkItDown MCP

Microsoft's MCP server converts PDFs, Word, Excel, PowerPoint and other files into Markdown, so your agent can read and summarise them.

Works with
Claude Code, Codex CLI, Gemini CLI
Good for
Daily work and research, Everyone

What it does

Agents read text well but cannot open a PDF or a Word file directly. MarkItDown converts these formats to Markdown, a plain text format that keeps headings, lists and tables.

This entry is the MCP server version. It gives the agent one tool: convert a file or web page address to Markdown.

Who it helps

Anyone who wants an agent to summarise reports, contracts, slide decks or spreadsheets.

How to start

Install the server, then ask: "Convert this PDF to Markdown and give me five key points."

Be careful

The tool can read any file address that the agent gives it. Do not leave it running with access to private folders. Check the summary against the source.

How to install

pip install markitdown-mcp

How to use it

After install, give the agent a file address, for example ~/Documents/report.pdf, and ask for a summary. The tool converts the file to Markdown text first.

What to watch out for

  • It reads any file address the agent gives it, including files outside the folder you meant. Run it in a limited setup if the agent is not fully trusted.
  • The optional image description feature sends images to a language model service.
  • Fetching web or file content can include hidden instructions for the agent.

Licence and author

Licence
MIT
Author
Microsoft
Source code
github.com/microsoft/markitdown

How we tested it

We installed it on an empty test computer on 12 Oct 2026. Installed and started in a clean test system. Not yet used in a real AI session.

Test level

No file was converted. The pip line was not run; we used uvx, which starts the same package. The first start downloaded many Python packages.

Technical details of the test
Date
12 Oct 2026
Method
In a clean container with no account we started uvx markitdown-mcp, sent the MCP initialize and tools/list requests, and it answered with 1 tool (convert_to_markdown). We also registered it with our own claude mcp add command (not from the README), and claude mcp list reported it as connected. We did not convert a file.

Checked again on 12 Oct 2026

Sources