Use the Markit REST API to convert PDF, Word, PowerPoint, Excel, and other documents to Markdown programmatically. Integrate document-to-Markdown conversion into your own applications, scripts, or CI/CD pipelines. For interactive use, try the free web converter instead.

Conversion Settings

The following optional fields may be included in any multipart conversion request to control conversion behaviour.

Field	Type	Default	Valid Values	Description
`do_ocr`	boolean	`false`	`true`, `false`	Run OCR on scanned pages or images inside the document.
`force_ocr`	boolean	`false`	`true`, `false`	Force OCR even when the document contains selectable text.
`table_mode`	string	`fast`	`fast`, `accurate`	Table extraction mode. `accurate` uses a slower ML-based pipeline.
`images_scale`	number	`2`	Positive number (e.g. `1`, `2`, `3`)	Resolution scale factor for images embedded in the output.
`heading_style`	string	`atx`	`atx`, `setext`	Markdown heading style. `atx` uses `#` prefixes; `setext` uses underlines.

POST /api/convert

Convert a single file to Markdown. The request must be multipart/form-data.

Parameters

Field	Type	Required	Description
`file`	file	Yes	The document to convert (PDF, DOCX, PPTX, XLSX, HTML, CSV, JSON, XML, …).
`split_headers`	boolean	No	When `true`, splits the output on top-level headings and returns a ZIP archive instead of a single `.md` file.
Conversion Settings	—	No	See the Conversion Settings section above.

Example

curl -X POST https://mitdown.ca/api/convert \
  -F "file=@report.pdf" \
  -F "split_headers=false"

Response

{
  "success": true,
  "conversion_id": "a1b2c3d4",
  "filename": "report.md",
  "download_url": "/api/download/a1b2c3d4/report.md",
  "is_split": false,
  "markdown": "# Report\n\nContent here…"
}

POST /api/convert/batch

Convert multiple files in a single request. The request must be multipart/form-data.

Parameters

Field	Type	Required	Description
`files[]`	file[]	Yes	One or more files to convert. Repeat the field for each file.
`split_headers`	boolean	No	When `true`, each converted file is split on top-level headings.
Conversion Settings	—	No	See the Conversion Settings section above.

Example

curl -X POST https://mitdown.ca/api/convert/batch \
  -F "files[]=@doc1.pdf" \
  -F "files[]=@doc2.docx" \
  -F "split_headers=false"

Response

{
  "success": true,
  "batch_id": "e5f6g7h8",
  "results": [
    {
      "filename": "doc1.md",
      "download_url": "/api/download/batch/e5f6g7h8/doc1.md",
      "success": true
    },
    {
      "filename": "doc2.md",
      "download_url": "/api/download/batch/e5f6g7h8/doc2.md",
      "success": true
    }
  ],
  "all_download_url": "/api/download/batch/e5f6g7h8/all"
}

GET /api/convert/current-backend

Returns the conversion backend currently active for this session.

Example

curl https://mitdown.ca/api/convert/current-backend

Response

{
  "backend": "markitdown"
}

POST /api/convert/switch-backend

Switch the conversion backend for the current session. Send a JSON body.

Parameters

Field	Type	Required	Valid Values	Description
`backend`	string	Yes	`markitdown`, `docling`, `markit`	The backend to activate for subsequent conversions.

Example

curl -X POST https://mitdown.ca/api/convert/switch-backend \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"backend": "docling"}'

Response

{
  "success": true,
  "backend": "docling"
}

GET /api/download/<id>/<filename>

Download a previously converted file by its conversion ID and filename.

Path Parameters

Parameter	Description
`id`	The `conversion_id` returned by POST /api/convert.
`filename`	The filename returned in the conversion response.

Query Parameters

Parameter	Type	Description
`is_split`	boolean	Set to `true` when downloading a split ZIP archive.

Example

curl -O "https://mitdown.ca/api/download/a1b2c3d4/report.md"

# For split output:
curl -O "https://mitdown.ca/api/download/a1b2c3d4/report.zip?is_split=true"

GET /api/download/batch/<id>/<filename>

Download a single converted file from a batch conversion result.

Path Parameters

Parameter	Description
`id`	The `batch_id` returned by POST /api/convert/batch.
`filename`	The filename of the individual converted file within the batch.

Example

curl -O "https://mitdown.ca/api/download/batch/e5f6g7h8/doc1.md"

GET /api/download/batch/<id>/all

Download all files from a batch conversion as a single ZIP archive.

Path Parameters

Parameter	Description
`id`	The `batch_id` returned by POST /api/convert/batch.

Example

curl -O "https://mitdown.ca/api/download/batch/e5f6g7h8/all"

GET /api/history

Retrieve the conversion history for the current session.

Example

curl https://mitdown.ca/api/history

Response

{
  "history": [
    {
      "conversion_id": "a1b2c3d4",
      "filename": "report.md",
      "original_filename": "report.pdf",
      "converted_at": "2026-03-22T14:30:00Z",
      "download_url": "/api/download/a1b2c3d4/report.md",
      "is_split": false,
      "backend": "markitdown"
    }
  ]
}

DELETE /api/history

Clear all conversion history for the current session.

Example

curl -X DELETE https://mitdown.ca/api/history

Response

{
  "success": true,
  "message": "History cleared."
}