# PDF to Markdown for RAG and LLMs (`metaparse/pdf-to-markdown`) Actor

Convert PDF URLs to clean Markdown with headings and pipe tables, ready for RAG and LLM pipelines. Flags scanned files. Pay per page converted.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/metaparse/pdf-to-markdown.md
- **Developed by:** [Meta Parse](https://apify.com/metaparse) (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 converteds

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 to Markdown

Convert PDF links to clean Markdown for RAG pipelines, LLM prompts and search indexes. Headings are inferred from font size, ruled tables become pipe tables, wrapped lines are rejoined, and rotated margin stamps are removed.

### Input

```json
{
  "urls": ["https://arxiv.org/pdf/1706.03762"],
  "includePerPage": false,
  "maxPagesPerFile": 500,
  "maxFileSizeMb": 50
}
```

### Output

```json
{
  "url": "https://arxiv.org/pdf/1706.03762",
  "title": null,
  "totalPages": 15,
  "convertedPages": 15,
  "truncated": false,
  "likelyScanned": false,
  "characters": 44097,
  "markdown": "## Attention Is All You Need\n\n…"
}
```

Set `includePerPage` to also get a `pages` array, which helps when you need page citations.

### Pricing

**$0.0005 per page converted**, so a 10-page file costs half a cent. Files that fail to download or parse aren't charged. Pages over your limit are skipped and not charged.

Each run also has a $0.00005 start fee per GB of memory. All compute is included.

### Limits

Be aware of these before running a large batch:

- **Scanned PDFs:** there's no OCR. They come back nearly empty with `likelyScanned: true`.
- **Multi-column layouts:** columns can interleave, because text is read line by line across the page.
- **Tables:** tables need visible grid lines. Tables with only horizontal rules, which are common in academic papers, come through as plain text.
- **Headings:** they're inferred from font size, so documents that signal headings only with bold type won't get them.

# Actor input Schema

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

Direct links to PDF files.

## `includePerPage` (type: `boolean`):

Also return each page's Markdown separately.

## `maxPagesPerFile` (type: `integer`):

Pages after this are skipped and not charged.

## `maxFileSizeMb` (type: `integer`):

Larger files are reported as errors and not charged.

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

How many requests run at once.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "urls": [
    "https://arxiv.org/pdf/1706.03762"
  ],
  "includePerPage": false,
  "maxPagesPerFile": 500,
  "maxFileSizeMb": 50,
  "concurrency": 3
}
```

# Actor output Schema

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

No description

# 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("metaparse/pdf-to-markdown").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("metaparse/pdf-to-markdown").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 metaparse/pdf-to-markdown --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

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

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/NwcwidNgIe5CtbXQq/builds/RNrVpk5b1cK5lnFnu/openapi.json