MarkItDown MCP

# MarkItDown-MCP [](https://pypi.org/project/markitdown-mcp/)  [](https://github.com/microsoft/autogen) The `markitdown-mcp` package provides a lightweight STDIO, Streamable HTTP, and SSE MCP server for calling MarkItDown. It exposes one tool: `convert_to_markdown(uri)`, where uri can be any `http:`, `https:`, `file:`, or `data:` URI. ## Installation To install the package, use pip: ```bash pip install markitdown-mcp ``` ## Usage To run the MCP server, using STDIO (default) use the following command: ```bash markitdown-mcp ``` To run the MCP server, using Streamable HTTP and SSE use the following command: ```bash markitdown-mcp --http --host 127.0.0.1 --port 3001 ``` ## Running in Docker To run `markitdown-mcp` in Docker, build the Docker image using the provided Dockerfile: ```bash docker build -t markitdown-mcp:latest . ``` And run it using: ```bash docker run -it --rm markitdown-mcp:latest ``` This will be sufficient for remote URIs. To access local files, you need to mount the local directory into the container. For example, if you want to access files in `/home/user/data`, you can run: ```bash docker run -it --rm -v /home/user/data:/workdir markitdown-mcp:latest ``` Once mounted, all files under data will be accessible under `/workdir` in the container. For example, if you have a file `example.txt` in `/home/user/data`, it will be accessible in the container at `/workdir/example.txt`. ## Accessing from Claude Desktop It is recommended to use the Docker image when running the MCP server for Claude Desktop. Follow [these instructions](https://modelcontextprotocol.io/quickstart/user#for-claude-desktop-users) to access Claude's `claude_desktop_config.json` file. Edit it to include the following JSON entry: ```json { "mcpServers": { "markitdown": { "command": "docker", "args": [ "run", "--rm", "-i", "markitdown-mcp:latest" ] } } } ``` If you want to mount a directory, adjust it accordingly: ```json { "mcpServers": { "markitdown": { "command": "docker", "args": [ "run", "--rm", "-i", "-v", "/home/user/data:/workdir", "markitdown-mcp:latest" ] } } } ``` ## Debugging To debug the MCP server you can use the `mcpinspector` tool. ```bash npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector ``` You can then connect to the inspector through the specified host and port (e.g., `http://localhost:5173/`). If using STDIO: * select `STDIO` as the transport type, * input `markitdown-mcp` as the command, and * click `Connect` If using Streamable HTTP: * select `Streamable HTTP` as the transport type, * input `http://127.0.0.1:3001/mcp` as the URL, and * click `Connect` If using SSE: * select `SSE` as the transport type, * input `http://127.0.0.1:3001/sse` as the URL, and * click `Connect` Finally: * click the `Tools` tab, * click `List Tools`, * click `convert_to_markdown`, and * run the tool on any valid URI. ## Security Considerations The server does not support authentication, and runs with the privileges of the user running it. For this reason, when running in SSE or Streamable HTTP mode, it is recommended to run the server bound to `localhost` (default). ## Trademarks This project may contain trademarks or logos for projects, products, or services. Authorized use of Microsoft trademarks or logos is subject to and must follow [Microsoft's Trademark & Brand Guidelines](https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/legal/intellectualproperty/trademarks/usage/general). Use of Microsoft trademarks or logos in modified versions of this project must not cause confusion or imply Microsoft sponsorship. Any use of third-party trademarks or logos are subject to those third-party's policies.