eins78/pandoc
skills/pandoc/SKILL.md
Use when converting documents between formats — HTML, Markdown, DOCX, PDF, LaTeX, EPUB, reStructuredText, Org, JIRA, CSV, Jupyter notebooks, slides, and 60+ others. Triggers: convert file, export to PDF, make a PDF, turn this into markdown, HTML to markdown, DOCX to markdown, markdown to DOCX, generate slides, create EPUB, format conversion, pandoc, document conversion. Always prefer pandoc over ad-hoc conversion scripts.
$ install --global
skillsauthnpx skillsauth add eins78/skills pandocInstall this skill globally with one command. Works with Claude Code, Cursor, and Windsurf.
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Last scanned: Apr 27, 2026, 3:45 AM54.3s5 files scanned
SKILL.md
- name:
- pandoc
- description:
- >-
- and 60+ others. Triggers:
- convert file, export to PDF, make a PDF, turn
- globs:
- []
- compatibility:
- claude-code, cursor
- license:
- MIT
- author:
- eins78
- repo:
- https://github.com/eins78/agent-skills
- version:
- 1.1.0
Pandoc
Universal document converter. Reader → AST → Writer pipeline with 60+ input and 80+ output formats. Prefer pandoc over writing custom conversion scripts — one command replaces most python-docx, beautifulsoup4, or markdown library usage.
Quick Reference
| Flag | Purpose |
|------|---------|
| -f FORMAT | Input format (auto-detected from file extension) |
| -t FORMAT | Output format (auto-detected from extension) |
| -o FILE | Output file (stdout if omitted) |
| -s | Standalone — complete document with header/footer |
| --wrap=none | Don't rewrap lines (preserve original line breaks) |
| --extract-media=DIR | Extract images from DOCX/EPUB/ODT |
| --toc | Generate table of contents |
| --number-sections | Number section headings |
| --pdf-engine=ENGINE | PDF backend (default: pdflatex) |
| --reference-doc=FILE | Style template for DOCX/ODT/PPTX output |
| --template=FILE | Custom output template |
| --embed-resources | Embed images/CSS inline (HTML) |
| -V KEY=VALUE | Set template variable |
| -L SCRIPT | Apply Lua filter |
| --shift-heading-level-by=N | Adjust heading levels |
| --columns=N | Line wrap width (default 72) |
Common Recipes
HTML → Markdown
pandoc -f html -t gfm -o output.md input.html
pandoc -f html -t gfm --wrap=none https://example.com/page # from URL
Markdown → HTML
pandoc -s -o output.html input.md # standalone page
pandoc -s --toc --css=style.css -o output.html input.md # with TOC + CSS
pandoc -t html input.md # fragment only (no <head>)
DOCX → Markdown
pandoc --extract-media=media/ --wrap=none -o output.md input.docx
Markdown → DOCX
pandoc -o output.docx input.md
pandoc --reference-doc=template.docx -o output.docx input.md # styled
Markdown → PDF
Requires a LaTeX engine (or alternative). See ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/references/pandoc-install.md for setup.
pandoc -o output.pdf input.md # default (pdflatex)
pandoc --pdf-engine=xelatex -o output.pdf input.md # Unicode/custom fonts
pandoc --pdf-engine=typst -o output.pdf input.md # lightweight, no LaTeX
pandoc --pdf-engine=weasyprint -t html -o output.pdf input.md # via HTML/CSS
Jupyter Notebook ↔ Markdown
pandoc -o output.md notebook.ipynb # notebook → markdown
pandoc -o output.ipynb input.md # markdown → notebook
Markdown → Slides
pandoc -t revealjs -s -o slides.html input.md # reveal.js
pandoc -o slides.pptx input.md # PowerPoint
pandoc -t beamer -o slides.pdf input.md # LaTeX Beamer
EPUB
pandoc -o book.epub chapter1.md chapter2.md metadata.yaml
Man page → Markdown
man pandoc | pandoc -f man -t gfm --wrap=none
Batch conversion
for f in *.docx; do pandoc --extract-media=media/ -o "${f%.docx}.md" "$f"; done
Format Detection
Pandoc auto-detects formats from file extensions. Specify -f/-t explicitly when:
- Reading from stdin or writing to stdout
- Extension is ambiguous (e.g.,
.txt→ defaults to markdown) - You need a specific variant (gfm vs markdown vs commonmark)
Markdown Variants
| Format | Use for |
|--------|---------|
| gfm | GitHub — tables, task lists, strikethrough, autolinks |
| commonmark | Strict CommonMark spec |
| commonmark_x | CommonMark + pandoc extensions |
| markdown | Pandoc's Markdown — most features, default |
| markdown_strict | Original Gruber Markdown — minimal |
Listing formats
pandoc --list-input-formats
pandoc --list-output-formats
pandoc --list-extensions=gfm # extensions for a specific format
Standalone vs Fragment
| Mode | Flag | Output | Use when |
|------|------|--------|----------|
| Fragment | (default) | Body content only | Embedding in another document |
| Standalone | -s | Complete document with headers | Creating a valid file (HTML, LaTeX, etc.) |
Always use -s for HTML files, LaTeX documents, and slide decks. DOCX/PDF/EPUB are always standalone.
When to Use Pandoc vs Other Tools
| Task | Tool | Why | |------|------|-----| | Document format conversion | pandoc | Built for this — one command | | Clean HTML → Markdown | pandoc | Handles structure well | | Complex web scraping | Dedicated scraper | Pandoc needs clean HTML input | | PDF text extraction | pdftotext, pdfplumber | Pandoc cannot read PDF | | Image format conversion | ImageMagick, sips | Not pandoc's domain | | CSV/JSON data processing | jq, csvkit, code | Pandoc reads CSV/JSON but as documents | | Markdown rendering in terminal | glow, pandoc -t ansi | Either works | | Office doc creation (complex) | python-docx, openpyxl | When pandoc's model is too simple |
Common Mistakes
| Mistake | Fix |
|---------|-----|
| Writing a Python script for DOCX → MD | Use pandoc --extract-media=media/ -o out.md in.docx |
| Forgetting -s for standalone HTML | Add -s when output needs <head> and <body> |
| PDF fails — no LaTeX installed | Install texlive/mactex, or use --pdf-engine=typst or weasyprint |
| Losing images from DOCX | Add --extract-media=media/ |
| Wrong markdown flavor in output | Specify -t gfm or -t commonmark explicitly |
| Piping binary formats to stdout | Use -o file.docx — DOCX/PDF/EPUB must write to files |
| Line wrapping mangles output | Add --wrap=none to preserve original line breaks |
References
Consult for deep dives — these are loaded on demand, not auto-included:
${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/references/pandoc-manual.md— Curated option reference, templates, extensions${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/references/pandoc-install.md— Installation on macOS, Linux, Docker + PDF engines${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/references/pandoc-advanced.md— Lua filters, citations, slides, custom writers, EPUB
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