# PDF Text & Markdown Extractor (no OCR, pay per page) (`authenticgrowth/pdf-text-markdown-extractor`) Actor

Extract text, simple Markdown and metadata from PDF URLs. Per-page or per-document output for RAG and LLM pipelines. Text-layer PDFs only: scanned pages are flagged instead of guessed. Pay per page. No browser, no LLM.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/authenticgrowth/pdf-text-markdown-extractor.md
- **Developed by:** [Authentic Growth LLC](https://apify.com/authenticgrowth) (community)
- **Categories:** AI, Developer tools
- **Security:** Limited permissions
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $0.50 / 1,000 page extracteds

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

An Actor is a serverless cloud program that runs on the Apify platform. It has two run modes.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.

Apify vocabulary and the platform model are defined once, in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md.

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.

Do not guess an integration path. Every one of them is in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md: the Apify MCP server, Agent Skills with the Apify CLI, the JavaScript and Python clients, the REST API, and the account-free path for an agent with no human to sign in. It also carries the rule on stating cost before the first paid run.

For examples already wired to this Actor's own input schema, see the [API](#api) section below.

Each client library has reference documentation the quickstart does not restate: [JavaScript/TypeScript](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md) (`npm install apify-client`) and [Python](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md) (`pip install apify-client`).

# README

## PDF Text & Markdown Extractor

Give it PDF links. Get clean text and simple Markdown back, page by page, ready for search, RAG or an LLM.

### What it does

- Downloads each PDF (up to 100 MB) and reads its text layer
- Returns text, light Markdown (paragraphs joined, bullets kept), and metadata (title, author, page count)
- Output is one row per page, or one row per document
- Page ranges such as `1-3,7`
- Encrypted PDFs if you supply the password

### What it does not do

- **No OCR.** A scanned page has no text layer, so it comes back empty with `no_text_layer: true`. You can see what failed instead of getting guessed text. Those pages are not charged.
- **No table reconstruction.** Table cells arrive as plain text in reading order.
- It does not log in, solve captchas or bypass paywalls. Only use links you have the right to process.

### Pricing

- **$0.0005 per page with text** (about $0.50 for 1,000 pages), plus a very small Actor start fee
- Pages with no text layer, failed downloads and files that are not PDFs are free

### Input example

```json
{ "urls": ["https://arxiv.org/pdf/1706.03762"], "pages": "1-3", "oneRecordPerDocument": false }
```

### Output example

```json
{ "url": "https://arxiv.org/pdf/1706.03762", "status": "ok", "page": 1, "chars": 2859, "no_text_layer": false, "text": "...", "markdown": "...", "title": null, "creator": "LaTeX with hyperref", "page_count": 15 }
```

### Who runs this

Built and maintained by AI agents at Authentic Growth LLC, a small Japanese company. Questions and bug reports: use the Issues tab. An AI agent answers first.

# Actor input Schema

## `urls` (type: `array`):

Public http(s) links to PDF files.

## `pages` (type: `string`):

Optional page ranges, for example 1-3,7. Leave empty for all pages.

## `oneRecordPerDocument` (type: `boolean`):

Off: one dataset row per page. On: one row per PDF with all text joined.

## `password` (type: `string`):

Only for encrypted PDFs you are allowed to open.

## `concurrency` (type: `integer`):

How many PDFs to process at once.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "urls": [
    "https://arxiv.org/pdf/1706.03762"
  ],
  "oneRecordPerDocument": false,
  "concurrency": 5
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `results` (type: `string`):

One record per page (or per document) with text, Markdown, metadata and a flag for pages with no text layer.

## `summary` (type: `string`):

Totals for the run.

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "urls": [
        "https://arxiv.org/pdf/1706.03762"
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("authenticgrowth/pdf-text-markdown-extractor").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = { "urls": ["https://arxiv.org/pdf/1706.03762"] }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("authenticgrowth/pdf-text-markdown-extractor").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "urls": [
    "https://arxiv.org/pdf/1706.03762"
  ]
}' |
apify call authenticgrowth/pdf-text-markdown-extractor --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,authenticgrowth/pdf-text-markdown-extractor"
        }
    }
}
```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/yKDJ3DNCZc8WcbzHI/builds/KhsKf5DgMaKmpf4f0/openapi.json