Pandoc Converter

Convert documents between common formats using Pandoc.

Quick Start

bash

# Basic conversion (format auto-detected from extensions)
python scripts/convert.py input.md output.docx

# Specify output format only
python scripts/convert.py document.md --to html

# Check if Pandoc is installed
python scripts/convert.py --check

# List supported formats
python scripts/convert.py --formats

Supported Formats

Document formats (read/write): markdown, html, docx, latex, epub, rtf, pptx, pdf
Data formats (read only): csv, tsv, xlsx
Markdown variants: gfm (GitHub), commonmark

For detailed compatibility, see references/format-compatibility.md.

Common Conversions

From	To	Command
Markdown	Word	`python scripts/convert.py doc.md doc.docx`
Markdown	PDF	`python scripts/convert.py doc.md doc.pdf`
Markdown	HTML	`python scripts/convert.py doc.md doc.html`
Word	Markdown	`python scripts/convert.py doc.docx doc.md`
CSV	HTML table	`python scripts/convert.py data.csv data.html`
LaTeX	PDF	`python scripts/convert.py paper.tex paper.pdf`

Options

Option	Description
`--from <fmt>`	Override input format detection
`--to <fmt>`	Specify output format (if no output file)
`--standalone`	Include document headers/footers
`--toc`	Add table of contents
`--pdf-engine <eng>`	PDF engine: pdflatex, xelatex, lualatex

Additional Pandoc options pass through directly.

Workflow

•Check installation: Run python scripts/convert.py --check
•If not installed: Follow the installation instructions provided
•Convert: Run the conversion with input and output files
•Present result: Provide the converted file to the user

Installation (if needed)

The script provides installation guidance, but here's a summary:

bash

# macOS
brew install pandoc

# Ubuntu/Debian  
sudo apt-get install pandoc

# For PDF output, also install LaTeX:
# macOS: brew install --cask mactex-no-gui
# Ubuntu: sudo apt-get install texlive-xetex

Limitations

•CSV/TSV/XLSX: Input only (converts to tables in other formats)
•PDF output: Requires LaTeX installation
•PPTX: Text extraction works; complex layouts may simplify
•Complex formatting: Some features may not transfer between formats