MinerU PDF Parser

An AI-Native skill for parsing PDF / Office / image files into clean Markdown with MinerU — a fast, zero-config document parser for AI agents. Works with NO token via the lightweight Agent API and auto-upgrades to the Standard API (token) for large files, batches, and DOCX/HTML/LaTeX export. Use when: (1) Converting PDF/Word/PPT/Excel/image to Markdown, (2) Extracting text, tables, formulas, or running OCR on scanned docs, (3) Batch-parsing a folder in parallel, (4) Piping parsed Markdown straight back to an agent or into Obsidian.

Parse PDF, Office (Word/PPT/Excel), and image files into clean Markdown — with LaTeX formulas, tables, images, and OCR. One zero-dependency script, two backends, automatic routing.

Zero-config quick start (no token, no install)

# Parse a local file or URL — the Agent API needs no login
python3 scripts/mineru.py paper.pdf

# Pipe the Markdown straight back to an agent
python3 scripts/mineru.py paper.pdf --stdout

# Machine-readable status for tool pipelines
python3 scripts/mineru.py paper.pdf --json

No pip install, no API key. The free Agent API handles files ≤ 10 MB / ≤ 20 pages.

Run with uv (zero-install, managed Python)

scripts/mineru.py carries PEP 723 inline metadata, so uv runs it directly — no venv, no pip install, with a uv-managed interpreter:

uv run scripts/mineru.py paper.pdf --stdout       # zero-install run
uv run --no-project --with pytest pytest -q       # dev suite via uv

Power mode (token) — large files, batches, extra formats

export MINERU_TOKEN="..."          # https://mineru.net/apiManage/token

# Parallel batch a directory, resume on re-run
python3 scripts/mineru.py ./pdfs/ --output ./out/ --workers 8 --resume

# Export DOCX/HTML/LaTeX alongside Markdown (auto-routes to the Standard API)
python3 scripts/mineru.py report.pdf --format docx --format latex

When a token is set, the tool auto-routes: small single files still use the free Agent API; anything large (> 10 MB / > 20 pages), batched, or needing extra export formats uses the Standard API (≤ 200 MB / ≤ 200 pages). If the Agent API hits a size/page limit, it auto-escalates to the Standard API.

Supported modalities

Modality	Extensions	OCR
PDF	.pdf	--ocr
Image	.png .jpg .jpeg .jp2 .webp .gif .bmp	built-in
Word	.doc .docx	—
Slides	.ppt .pptx	—
Sheet	.xls .xlsx	—
HTML	.html (Standard API, MinerU-HTML model)	—

Common options

INPUT...          One or more files, a directory, or a URL
--output, -o      Output directory (default: ./output)
--api             auto | agent | standard   (default: auto)
--model           pipeline | vlm | MinerU-HTML  (default: vlm)
--format          docx | html | latex  (repeatable; forces Standard API)
--lang            OCR/document language (default: ch)
--ocr             Enable OCR for scanned documents
--pages           Page range, e.g. "1-10" or "2,4-6"
--workers, -w     Concurrent submit/upload/download slots (default: 8)
--resume          Skip inputs already parsed
--stdout          Print Markdown to stdout
--json            Print machine-readable status to stdout
--to SINK         Deliver into a content tool (repeatable); --list-sinks to enumerate
--obsidian PATH   Shortcut for --to obsidian with this vault
--engine          cloud | local | auto  (local/auto parse born-digital PDFs offline)
--split           Split oversized PDFs past the page caps, parse parts, merge (needs pypdf)
--chunk           Emit heading-aware RAG chunks (.chunks.json + --json)
--doctor          Environment self-check and exit

MCP server

Expose MinerU over MCP (zero-dependency stdio JSON-RPC) so an MCP host can call it:

python3 scripts/mineru_mcp.py

Tools: mineru_parse, mineru_parse_to (parse + deliver to sinks), mineru_list_sinks.

Deliver into your tools (--to)

Parse once and push the Markdown into content tools via each one's official path:

python3 scripts/mineru.py paper.pdf --to obsidian --to notion --to feishu

Targets: obsidian logseq siyuan notion linear yuque coda slack feishu confluence onenote ticktick dingtalk airtable wecom (all zero-dependency), plus roam and wps via optional extras. Each reads its config from env vars (run --list-sinks). Per-target auth, fidelity, and image notes: references/integrations.md.

Output

output/
└── document-name/
    ├── document-name.md    # clean Markdown
    └── images/             # extracted figures (Standard API)

Performance (real, measured)

End-to-end latency for the official demo PDF via the free Agent API: cold ≈ 14 s · warm ≈ 13 s (submit → poll → download). Batches scale with --workers. Numbers come from the no-mock live benchmark in tests/test_live.py.

Testing

python3 -m pytest                      # fast unit suite (offline)
MINERU_LIVE=1 python3 -m pytest -m live -s   # real API + benchmark (no mocks)

API Reference

See references/api_reference.md. Official docs: https://mineru.net/apiManage/docs · Token: https://mineru.net/apiManage/token