# MarkItDown Skill - Creation Summary

## Overview

A comprehensive skill for using Microsoft's MarkItDown tool has been created for the Claude Scientific Writer. This skill enables conversion of 15+ file formats to Markdown, optimized for LLM processing and scientific workflows.

## What Was Created

### Core Documentation

1. **SKILL.md** (Main skill file)
   - Complete guide to MarkItDown
   - Quick start examples
   - All supported formats
   - Advanced features (AI, Azure DI)
   - Best practices
   - Use cases and examples

2. **README.md**
   - Skill overview
   - Key features
   - Quick reference
   - Integration guide

3. **QUICK_REFERENCE.md**
   - Cheat sheet for common tasks
   - Quick syntax reference
   - Common commands
   - Troubleshooting tips

4. **INSTALLATION_GUIDE.md**
   - Step-by-step installation
   - System dependencies
   - Virtual environment setup
   - Optional features
   - Troubleshooting

### Reference Documentation

Located in `references/`:

1. **api_reference.md**
   - Complete API documentation
   - Class and method references
   - Custom converter development
   - Plugin system
   - Error handling
   - Breaking changes guide

2. **file_formats.md**
   - Detailed format-specific guides
   - 15+ supported formats
   - Format capabilities and limitations
   - Best practices per format
   - Example outputs

### Utility Scripts

Located in `scripts/`:

1. **batch_convert.py**
   - Parallel batch conversion
   - Multi-format support
   - Recursive directory search
   - Progress tracking
   - Error reporting
   - Command-line interface

2. **convert_with_ai.py**
   - AI-enhanced conversions
   - Predefined prompt types (scientific, medical, data viz, etc.)
   - Custom prompt support
   - Multiple model support
   - OpenRouter integration (Claude Sonnet 4.5 default)

3. **convert_literature.py**
   - Scientific literature conversion
   - Metadata extraction from filenames
   - Year-based organization
   - Automatic index generation
   - JSON catalog creation
   - Front matter support

### Assets

Located in `assets/`:

1. **example_usage.md**
   - 20+ practical examples
   - Basic conversions
   - Scientific workflows
   - AI-enhanced processing
   - Batch operations
   - Error handling patterns
   - Integration examples

### License

- **LICENSE.txt** - MIT License from Microsoft

## Skill Structure

```
.claude/skills/markitdown/
├── SKILL.md                    # Main skill documentation
├── README.md                   # Skill overview
├── QUICK_REFERENCE.md          # Quick reference guide
├── INSTALLATION_GUIDE.md       # Installation instructions
├── SKILL_SUMMARY.md           # This file
├── LICENSE.txt                 # MIT License
├── references/
│   ├── api_reference.md       # Complete API docs
│   └── file_formats.md        # Format-specific guides
├── scripts/
│   ├── batch_convert.py       # Batch conversion utility
│   ├── convert_with_ai.py     # AI-enhanced conversion
│   └── convert_literature.py  # Literature conversion
└── assets/
    └── example_usage.md       # Practical examples
```

## Capabilities

### File Format Support

- **Documents**: PDF, DOCX, PPTX, XLSX, XLS, EPUB
- **Images**: JPEG, PNG, GIF, WebP (with OCR)
- **Audio**: WAV, MP3 (with transcription)
- **Web**: HTML, YouTube URLs
- **Data**: CSV, JSON, XML
- **Archives**: ZIP files
- **Email**: Outlook MSG files

### Advanced Features

1. **AI Enhancement via OpenRouter**
   - Access to 100+ AI models through OpenRouter
   - Multiple preset prompts (scientific, medical, data viz)
   - Custom prompt support
   - Default: Claude Sonnet 4.5 (best for scientific vision)
   - Choose best model for each task

2. **Azure Integration**
   - Azure Document Intelligence for complex PDFs
   - Enhanced layout understanding
   - Better table extraction

3. **Batch Processing**
   - Parallel conversion with configurable workers
   - Recursive directory processing
   - Progress tracking and error reporting
   - Format-specific organization

4. **Scientific Workflows**
   - Literature conversion with metadata
   - Automatic index generation
   - Year-based organization
   - Citation-friendly output

## Integration with Scientific Writer

The skill has been added to the Scientific Writer's skill catalog:

- **Location**: `.claude/skills/markitdown/`
- **Skill Number**: #5 in Document Manipulation Skills
- **SKILLS.md**: Updated with complete skill description

### Usage Examples

```
> Convert all PDFs in the literature folder to Markdown
> Convert this PowerPoint presentation to Markdown with AI-generated descriptions
> Extract tables from this Excel file
> Transcribe this lecture recording
```

## Scripts Usage

### Batch Convert
```bash
python scripts/batch_convert.py input_dir/ output_dir/ --extensions .pdf .docx --workers 4
```

### AI-Enhanced Convert
```bash
export OPENROUTER_API_KEY="sk-or-v1-..."
python scripts/convert_with_ai.py paper.pdf output.md \
  --model anthropic/claude-sonnet-4.5 \
  --prompt-type scientific
```

### Literature Convert
```bash
python scripts/convert_literature.py papers/ markdown/ --organize-by-year --create-index
```

## Key Features

1. **Token-Efficient Output**: Markdown optimized for LLM processing
2. **Comprehensive Format Support**: 15+ file types
3. **AI Enhancement**: Detailed image descriptions via OpenAI
4. **OCR Support**: Extract text from scanned documents
5. **Audio Transcription**: Speech-to-text for audio files
6. **YouTube Support**: Video transcript extraction
7. **Plugin System**: Extensible architecture
8. **Batch Processing**: Efficient parallel conversion
9. **Error Handling**: Robust error management
10. **Scientific Focus**: Optimized for research workflows

## Installation

```bash
# Full installation
pip install 'markitdown[all]'

# Selective installation
pip install 'markitdown[pdf,docx,pptx,xlsx]'
```

## Quick Start

```python
from markitdown import MarkItDown

# Basic usage
md = MarkItDown()
result = md.convert("document.pdf")
print(result.text_content)

# With AI via OpenRouter
from openai import OpenAI
client = OpenAI(
    api_key="your-openrouter-api-key",
    base_url="https://openrouter.ai/api/v1"
)
md = MarkItDown(
    llm_client=client,
    llm_model="anthropic/claude-sonnet-4.5"  # or openai/gpt-4o
)
result = md.convert("presentation.pptx")
```

## Documentation Files

| File | Purpose | Lines |
|------|---------|-------|
| SKILL.md | Main documentation | 400+ |
| api_reference.md | API documentation | 500+ |
| file_formats.md | Format guides | 600+ |
| example_usage.md | Practical examples | 500+ |
| batch_convert.py | Batch conversion | 200+ |
| convert_with_ai.py | AI conversion | 200+ |
| convert_literature.py | Literature conversion | 250+ |
| QUICK_REFERENCE.md | Quick reference | 300+ |
| INSTALLATION_GUIDE.md | Installation guide | 300+ |

**Total**: ~3,000+ lines of documentation and code

## Use Cases

1. **Literature Review**: Convert research papers to Markdown for analysis
2. **Data Extraction**: Extract tables from Excel/PDF for processing
3. **Presentation Processing**: Convert slides with AI descriptions
4. **Document Analysis**: Prepare documents for LLM consumption
5. **Lecture Transcription**: Convert audio recordings to text
6. **YouTube Analysis**: Extract video transcripts
7. **Archive Processing**: Batch convert document collections

## Next Steps

1. Install MarkItDown: `pip install 'markitdown[all]'`
2. Read `QUICK_REFERENCE.md` for common tasks
3. Try example scripts in `scripts/` directory
4. Explore `SKILL.md` for comprehensive guide
5. Check `example_usage.md` for practical examples

## Resources

- **MarkItDown GitHub**: https://github.com/microsoft/markitdown
- **PyPI**: https://pypi.org/project/markitdown/
- **OpenRouter**: https://openrouter.ai (AI model access)
- **OpenRouter API Keys**: https://openrouter.ai/keys
- **OpenRouter Models**: https://openrouter.ai/models
- **License**: MIT (Microsoft Corporation)
- **Python**: 3.10+ required
- **Skill Location**: `.claude/skills/markitdown/`

## Success Criteria

✅ Comprehensive skill documentation created  
✅ Complete API reference provided  
✅ Format-specific guides included  
✅ Utility scripts implemented  
✅ Practical examples documented  
✅ Installation guide created  
✅ Quick reference guide added  
✅ Integration with Scientific Writer complete  
✅ SKILLS.md updated  
✅ Scripts made executable  
✅ MIT License included  

## Skill Status

**Status**: ✅ Complete and Ready to Use

The MarkItDown skill is fully integrated into the Claude Scientific Writer and ready for use. All documentation, scripts, and examples are in place.

