PDF-to-Markdown API for extraction, AI pipelines, and developer workflows

Use Nutrient DWS to convert PDF documents into Markdown files for LLM pipelines, retrieval-augmented generation, search indexing, internal knowledge bases, developer documentation, and downstream content-processing workflows. Start with a cloud API instead of building your own PDF parsing and Markdown conversion layer.

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Turn PDFs into usable Markdown files

Convert PDF content into Markdown files, a lightweight markup format, so teams can feed documents into AI systems, documentation workflows, content repositories, and developer tools that prefer text-first formats over page images.

Built for API-first extraction pipelines

Use REST, Postman, curl, JavaScript, Python, Java, C#, PHP, or HTTP to automate PDF-to-Markdown conversion inside larger DWS workflows for extraction, search, classification, ingestion, and retrieval pipelines.

Faster evaluation for AI document workflows

Give developers and coding agents a direct path from a high-intent query like “PDF-to-Markdown API” to a free DWS trial, pricing, and adjacent extraction APIs for text, JSON, table, and AI ingestion workflows.

Try it out

This example will convert your uploaded PDF file to an MD.

Try it out in three steps

Add a PDF file named document.pdf to your project folder.
Run the code from the same folder.
Open result.md in your project folder to view the results.

curl -X POST https://api.nutrient.io/build \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer your_api_key_here" \
  -o result.md \
  --fail \
  -F file=@document.pdf \
  -F instructions='{
      "parts": [
        {
          "file": "file"
        }
      ],
      "output": {
        "type": "markdown"
      }
    }'

curl -X POST https://api.nutrient.io/build ^
  -H "Authorization: Bearer your_api_key_here" ^
  -o result.md ^
  --fail ^
  -F file=@document.pdf ^
  -F instructions="{\"parts\": [{\"file\": \"file\"}], \"output\": {\"type\": \"markdown\"}}"

package com.example.pspdfkit;

import java.io.File;
import java.io.IOException;
import java.nio.file.FileSystems;
import java.nio.file.Files;
import java.nio.file.StandardCopyOption;

import org.json.JSONArray;
import org.json.JSONObject;

import okhttp3.MediaType;
import okhttp3.MultipartBody;
import okhttp3.OkHttpClient;
import okhttp3.Request;
import okhttp3.RequestBody;
import okhttp3.Response;

public final class PspdfkitApiExample {
  public static void main(final String[] args) throws IOException {
    final RequestBody body = new MultipartBody.Builder()
      .setType(MultipartBody.FORM)
      .addFormDataPart(
        "file",
        "document.pdf",
        RequestBody.create(
          MediaType.parse("application/pdf"),
          new File("document.pdf")
        )
      )
      .addFormDataPart(
        "instructions",
        new JSONObject()
          .put("parts", new JSONArray()
            .put(new JSONObject()
              .put("file", "file")
            )
          )
          .put("output", new JSONObject()
            .put("type", "markdown")
          ).toString()
      )
      .build();

    final Request request = new Request.Builder()
      .url("https://api.nutrient.io/build")
      .method("POST", body)
      .addHeader("Authorization", "Bearer your_api_key_here")
      .build();

    final OkHttpClient client = new OkHttpClient()
      .newBuilder()
      .build();

    final Response response = client.newCall(request).execute();

    if (response.isSuccessful()) {
      Files.copy(
        response.body().byteStream(),
        FileSystems.getDefault().getPath("result.md"),
        StandardCopyOption.REPLACE_EXISTING
      );
    } else {
      // Handle the error
      throw new IOException(response.body().string());
    }
  }
}

using System;
using System.IO;
using System.Net;
using RestSharp;

namespace PspdfkitApiDemo
{
  class Program
  {
    static void Main(string[] args)
    {
      var client = new RestClient("https://api.nutrient.io/build");

      var request = new RestRequest(Method.POST)
        .AddHeader("Authorization", "Bearer your_api_key_here")
        .AddFile("file", "document.pdf")
        .AddParameter("instructions", new JsonObject
        {
          ["parts"] = new JsonArray
          {
            new JsonObject
            {
              ["file"] = "file"
            }
          },
          ["output"] = new JsonObject
          {
            ["type"] = "markdown"
          }
        }.ToString());

      request.AdvancedResponseWriter = (responseStream, response) =>
      {
        if (response.StatusCode == HttpStatusCode.OK)
        {
          using (responseStream)
          {
            using var outputFileWriter = File.OpenWrite("result.md");
            responseStream.CopyTo(outputFileWriter);
          }
        }
        else
        {
          var responseStreamReader = new StreamReader(responseStream);
          Console.Write(responseStreamReader.ReadToEnd());
        }
      };

      client.Execute(request);
    }
  }
}

// This code requires Node.js. Do not run this code directly in a web browser.

const axios = require('axios')
const FormData = require('form-data')
const fs = require('fs')

const formData = new FormData()
formData.append('instructions', JSON.stringify({
  parts: [
    {
      file: "file"
    }
  ],
  output: {
    type: "markdown"
  }
}))
formData.append('file', fs.createReadStream('document.pdf'))

;(async () => {
  try {
    const response = await axios.post('https://api.nutrient.io/build', formData, {
      headers: formData.getHeaders({
        'Authorization': 'Bearer your_api_key_here'
      }),
      responseType: "stream"
    })

    response.data.pipe(fs.createWriteStream("result.md"))
  } catch (e) {
    const errorString = await streamToString(e.response.data)
    console.log(errorString)
  }
})()

function streamToString(stream) {
  const chunks = []
  return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
    stream.on("data", (chunk) => chunks.push(Buffer.from(chunk)))
    stream.on("error", (err) => reject(err))
    stream.on("end", () => resolve(Buffer.concat(chunks).toString("utf8")))
  })
}

import requests
import json

response = requests.request(
  'POST',
  'https://api.nutrient.io/build',
  headers = {
    'Authorization': 'Bearer your_api_key_here'
  },
  files = {
    'file': open('document.pdf', 'rb')
  },
  data = {
    'instructions': json.dumps({
      'parts': [
        {
          'file': 'file'
        }
      ],
      'output': {
        'type': 'markdown'
      }
    })
  },
  stream = True
)

if response.ok:
  with open('result.md', 'wb') as fd:
    for chunk in response.iter_content(chunk_size=8096):
      fd.write(chunk)
else:
  print(response.text)
  exit()

<?php

$FileHandle = fopen('result.md', 'w+');

$curl = curl_init();

curl_setopt_array($curl, array(
  CURLOPT_URL => 'https://api.nutrient.io/build',
  CURLOPT_CUSTOMREQUEST => 'POST',
  CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER => true,
  CURLOPT_ENCODING => '',
  CURLOPT_POSTFIELDS => array(
    'instructions' => '{
      "parts": [
        {
          "file": "file"
        }
      ],
      "output": {
        "type": "markdown"
      }
    }',
    'file' => new CURLFILE('document.pdf')
  ),
  CURLOPT_HTTPHEADER => array(
    'Authorization: Bearer your_api_key_here'
  ),
  CURLOPT_FILE => $FileHandle,
));

$response = curl_exec($curl);

curl_close($curl);

fclose($FileHandle);

POST https://api.nutrient.io/build HTTP/1.1
Content-Type: multipart/form-data; boundary=--customboundary
Authorization: Bearer your_api_key_here

--customboundary
Content-Disposition: form-data; name="instructions"
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "parts": [
    {
      "file": "file"
    }
  ],
  "output": {
    "type": "markdown"
  }
}
--customboundary
Content-Disposition: form-data; name="file"; filename="document.pdf"
Content-Type: application/pdf

(file data)
--customboundary--

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Most common next steps

Connect PDF-to-Markdown evaluation to first-call setup, pricing, trust, and broader extraction workflows

OPEN GETTING STARTED

Use the following:

Extract text from PDFs If the workflow needs plain text rather than Markdown output

Get started:

Getting started For API key setup

Postman collection For the fastest first request

REST API reference For endpoint details

Platform resources:

Processor API pricing For credits

Security documentation For document handling and compliance review

Privacy documentation For data handling and retention review

Security is our top priority

No document storage

No input or resulting documents are stored on our infrastructure. All files are deleted as soon as a request finishes. Alternatively, check out our self-hosted product.

HTTPS encryption

All communication between your application and Nutrient is done via HTTPS to ensure your data is encrypted when it’s sent to us.

Safe payment processing

All payments are handled by Paddle. Nutrient DWS Processor API never has direct access to any of your payment data.

Frequently asked questions

What is a PDF-to-Markdown API?

A PDF-to-Markdown API lets you convert PDF documents into Markdown files with a single API call. Nutrient’s DWS Processor API extracts PDF content as Markdown for LLM pipelines, retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), search indexing, and knowledge bases without building your own PDF parsing layer.

How do I convert a PDF to Markdown programmatically?

Send a request to the Nutrient DWS Processor API with your PDF file, and the API returns the extracted content as Markdown. You can call it via REST, Postman, curl, JavaScript, Python, Java, C#, PHP, or plain HTTP.

Why convert PDFs to Markdown for AI workflows?

Markdown is a lightweight, text-first format that LLMs and search-indexing systems handle better than PDF images or complex layouts. Converting PDFs to Markdown lets you feed document content directly into AI pipelines, RAG systems, and knowledge bases.

Which programming languages does the PDF-to-Markdown API support?

You can call the API from any language that makes HTTP requests. Nutrient provides examples for JavaScript, Python, Java, C# (.NET), and PHP, plus REST and a Postman collection.

Can I use the PDF-to-Markdown API for search indexing and knowledge bases?

Yes. Teams use the API to extract PDF content as Markdown for search indexing, internal knowledge bases, documentation repositories, and other text-processing workflows that benefit from a clean, structured format.

Is there a free PDF-to-Markdown API?

Yes. Sign up to receive processing credits and try the PDF-to-Markdown API before choosing a Processor API plan.

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