--- title: "MarkItDown MCP: review, setup & limitations · Undominated.ai" canonical: https://undominated.ai/mcp-servers/markitdown/ description: "Converts supported documents and web resources into Markdown through a local MCP tool." --- # MarkItDown MCP: review, setup & limitations · Undominated.ai > Converts supported documents and web resources into Markdown through a local MCP tool. [← Explore all mcp servers](/mcp-servers/) DOCUMENT CONVERSION / Microsoft # MarkItDown MCP Converts supported documents and web resources into Markdown through a local MCP tool. See setup guidance ↓Original source ↗ SOURCE REVIEW Reviewed 2026-09-21 Evidence 6 linked sources Publisher Microsoft Licence MIT ↗ Revision d51937de3aca Read what was—and wasn’t—checked ↓ “An MCP server for the "markitdown" library.” Microsoft · upstream description ↗ Our analysis follows below. 01 / THE REASONING ## Why this made the selection. - Provides document ingestion across office files, PDFs and web resources without requiring a separate MCP server for each format. - Its small tool surface is inspectable: conversion returns Markdown rather than offering a general file-editing API. ### A good fit for - Extracting text and document structure from trusted local material for an assistant. - Converting a supported URL or office document into Markdown for further analysis. ### Weigh up before choosing - The URI tool reads files and fetches network resources with the process owner’s privileges; it is not a path-restricted document sandbox. - HTTP mode has no authentication and is intended for trusted local use. Keep its loopback binding unless you supply appropriate external controls. - Conversion preserves useful text structure, but is not a high-fidelity document-layout or OCR guarantee. 02 / THE REVIEW RECORD ## What we actually inspected. Source review has boundaries. A clear record is more useful than a “safe” badge. ### Material inspected - packages/markitdown-mcp/README.md: installation, local transports and access warnings. - packages/markitdown-mcp/pyproject.toml: Python requirement, dependency bundle and console script. - packages/markitdown-mcp/src/markitdown_mcp/__main__.py: conversion tool, transport selection and plugin setting. - README.md and packages/markitdown/src/markitdown/_markitdown.py: conversion scope and resource-access boundary. - LICENSE: MIT terms. ### Our findings - convert_to_markdown passes the supplied URI to MarkItDown.convert_uri and returns the Markdown result; file and network permissions remain those of the server process. - Plugins are disabled unless MARKITDOWN_ENABLE_PLUGINS is explicitly enabled. - The HTTP entrypoint defaults to loopback and warns that exposing it gives reachable clients the server user’s file and network access. ### Not established by this review - No server was started and no documents, URLs, plugins or conversion accuracy were tested. The review applies to the material and revision named here. A newer upstream release can change its behavior. 03 / PUT IT TO WORK ## Connect a server deliberately. Upstream setup instructions ↗ DOCUMENTED COMMAND pip install markitdown-mcp Copy command ↗ Copying does not execute this command. It may retrieve a newer version than the reviewed source. - Install in an appropriate Python environment, then configure your MCP client to start markitdown-mcp for stdio. - For the documented local HTTP alternative, run markitdown-mcp --http --host 127.0.0.1 --port 3001 and use a supported local transport. - Restrict the process permissions, mounted files and allowed inputs to the documents you intend to convert. ### Before you start - Python satisfying the package requirement and pip; the package installs its declared conversion dependencies. - Read access to selected local documents or network access to the intended URLs. ### Compatibility Local MCP clients using stdio. · Local clients supporting the documented Streamable HTTP or SSE endpoints. ### Implementation Python ### Transports stdio · Streamable HTTP · SSE ### Local file and URL conversion - Reads accessible local files and follows supported network URLs supplied to the conversion tool. - Returns extracted document content to the connected assistant; plugins are an explicit additional trust decision. ### Cost model The local package is MIT licensed; it uses your computing resources and any separately enabled conversion services. 04 / FOLLOW THE EVIDENCE ## The source trail. Our notes are separate from the original resource. Check upstream before adopting a new version. - MCP installation and local-use guidance ↗ Checked 2026-09-21 https://github.com/microsoft/markitdown/blob/d51937de3aca315febea3fa8b2eea50ef088e74a/packages/markitdown-mcp/README.md Supports: summary, whySelected, bestFor, install, compatibility, transports, limitations, access - Python package manifest ↗ Checked 2026-09-21 https://github.com/microsoft/markitdown/blob/d51937de3aca315febea3fa8b2eea50ef088e74a/packages/markitdown-mcp/pyproject.toml Supports: upstreamDescription, descriptionSourceUrl, language, install.prerequisites, review - MCP tool and transport implementation ↗ Checked 2026-09-21 https://github.com/microsoft/markitdown/blob/d51937de3aca315febea3fa8b2eea50ef088e74a/packages/markitdown-mcp/src/markitdown_mcp/__main__.py Supports: review, transports, access, limitations - Converter scope and security considerations ↗ Checked 2026-09-21 https://github.com/microsoft/markitdown/blob/d51937de3aca315febea3fa8b2eea50ef088e74a/README.md Supports: summary, bestFor, whySelected, limitations, access - Resource conversion implementation ↗ Checked 2026-09-21 https://github.com/microsoft/markitdown/blob/d51937de3aca315febea3fa8b2eea50ef088e74a/packages/markitdown/src/markitdown/_markitdown.py Supports: review, access - Repository licence ↗ Checked 2026-09-21 https://github.com/microsoft/markitdown/blob/d51937de3aca315febea3fa8b2eea50ef088e74a/LICENSE Supports: license, access.cost KEEP COMPARING ## Other approaches to consider. Related by category or shared topics. These are alternatives to inspect, not a measured quality order. [### Fetch MCP reference server ↗ Retrieve a URL as text or Markdown in chunks through a small local MCP server.](/mcp-servers/fetch/)[### Meilisearch MCP ↗ Search and administer Meilisearch indexes, documents, settings and API keys from a local MCP process.](/mcp-servers/meilisearch/) [AI Tools ↗](/tools/)[Skills ↗](/skills/)[Agents ↗](/agents/)[MCP Servers ↗](/mcp-servers/)