microsoft / microsoft/markitdown
MCP server should support converting without returning content to preserve agent context
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- Dominant language
- Python
- Stars
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- 13.7k
- Avg merge
- 1d 4h
- Merged PRs (30d)
- 49
Description
Currently, when using the MarkItDown MCP server to convert PDFs (or other large documents), the entire converted markdown content is returned to the agent/LLM, which consumes valuable context window space. This is problematic when working with large
PDFs that might contain thousands of lines of text.
Problem:
- Converting a large PDF adds all its content to the LLM's context window
- This reduces available context for subsequent operations
- Users may want to convert and save files without needing to see/process the content immediately
Proposed Solution:
Add an option to convert files without returning their content. This could be implemented as:
- A parameter like return_content: bool = True on the existing tool
- A separate tool that only saves to file and returns metadata (file size, path, success status)
Use Case Example:
Current behavior - all content returned and added to context
result = convert_to_markdown("large_document.pdf") # Returns full markdown content
Desired behavior - convert and save without returning content
result = convert_and_save("large_document.pdf", "output.md", return_content=False)
Returns: {"success": true, "saved_to": "output.md", "size": 150000}
This would allow agents to process large documents without exhausting their context window, while still providing the conversion functionality.
Contributor guide
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First steps
- Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
- Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
- Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
- Open a pull request that references the issue number.
Research direction
No file or test is named. Start by locating the MCP server's existing convert_to_markdown tool and determine how conversion output is currently returned and saved. The change is done when large-document conversion can avoid returning content while reporting the saved path, size, and success status; the exact parameter or separate-tool design still needs resolution.
Written by the indexing model from the issue text.
Assessment
- Tech stack
- python
- Domain
- api, tooling
- Issue type
- Feature
- Difficulty
- 4/5
- Estimated time
- 3-5 days
- Activity status
- Stale
- Clarity
- Mostly clear
- Newbie friendliness
- 35/100