pdf2md

A web application that batch-converts documents (PDF, DOCX, PPTX, XLSX, EPUB) to editable Markdown.

Features

• Batch upload — drag & drop or pick multiple files at once
• Dual conversion engines — opendataloader-pdf (PDF only) and kreuzberg (all formats)
• Sidebar file list — shows conversion status per file (pending, converting, done, error)
• Split-pane editor — live Markdown editor + HTML preview side by side
• Dirty state tracking — unsaved edit indicator, confirm dialog when switching files
• ZIP export — one-click download of all converted .md files
• Keyboard shortcuts — Cmd/Ctrl+S save, Cmd/Ctrl+E export ZIP
• Click-to-retry — click failed files in sidebar to re-queue conversion

Getting Started

git clone https://github.com/jo9900/pdf2md.git
cd pdf2md
npm install
pip3 install opendataloader-pdf   # requires Python 3 + Java Runtime
npm start                         # http://localhost:3000

Requirements

• Node.js >= 18
• Python 3
• Java Runtime

Tech Stack

Backend

• Node.js + Express — API server (port 3000)
• Multer — file upload handling (max 50MB)
• opendataloader-pdf (Python) — PDF to Markdown conversion
• @kreuzberg/node — multi-format document to Markdown conversion

Frontend

• Vanilla HTML/CSS/JS — no framework, no build step
• marked.js (CDN) — Markdown to HTML preview rendering
• JSZip (CDN) — client-side ZIP generation for batch export

API

POST /api/convert?engine=opendataloader|kreuzberg
  Content-Type: multipart/form-data
  Body: pdf=<file>
  Response: { "markdown": "...", "filename": "original.pdf", "engine": "..." }

Project Structure

pdf2md/
├── server.js          # Express server + conversion API
├── package.json
├── public/
│   ├── index.html     # SPA layout (sidebar + editor)
│   ├── app.js         # Client-side state management & UI logic
│   └── style.css      # Dark theme styles
├── uploads/           # Temporary upload storage (cleaned after conversion)
├── output/            # Temporary conversion output (cleaned after response)
├── test-resumes/      # Sample PDF files for testing
└── docs/              # Design docs, plans, changelog

Limitations

• Scanned / image-only PDFs not supported — requires text-layer PDFs
• Conversion timeout: 120 seconds
• Max upload size: 50MB