mq-conv

mq-conv converts PDFs, Office docs, markup, spreadsheets, data formats, media and archives into Markdown. It runs locally: no API keys, no network calls, no Python runtime. It is a single binary, built to feed mq, the jq-like query tool for Markdown.

Most "convert to Markdown" tools either dump raw text or call a cloud parser. mq-conv reconstructs structure (headings, tables, lists, links) from the file format's own layout, so the output is Markdown you can query, diff and give to an LLM.

mq-conv report.pdf                 # whole document
mq-conv report.pdf -q '.h2'        # only what a query selects
mq-conv book.pdf --max-tokens 4000 # one prompt-sized chunk at a time

Features

• Layout-aware PDF parsing: columns, headings, lists, ruled and borderless tables, CJK fonts
• Documents, markup, spreadsheets, media and archives in one CLI, detected by extension and magic bytes
• Parallel conversion of PDF pages and input files
• Token budgeting and page selection
• Built-in mq queries
• Image extraction and OCR
• Any input to docx, HTML, LaTeX, EPUB and more
• Feature flags per format and a WebAssembly build

Head to Getting Started to install it and convert your first file.