liteparse 1.2.1

Python wrapper for LiteParse - fast, lightweight PDF and document parsing

LiteParse Python

Python wrapper for LiteParse - fast, lightweight document parsing with optional OCR.

Important: This package is a Python wrapper around the LiteParse Node.js CLI. You must have Node.js (>= 18) installed on your system. The CLI will be auto-installed via npm on first use if not already present, or you can install it manually beforehand.

Installation

Step 1: Install Node.js

LiteParse requires Node.js (>= 18). Install it from nodejs.org or via your package manager.

Step 2: Install the LiteParse CLI

npm install -g @llamaindex/liteparse

Step 3: Install the Python package

pip install liteparse

Note: If you skip Step 2, the Python package will attempt to auto-install the CLI via npm install -g @llamaindex/liteparse on first use (requires npm in your PATH).

Quick Start

from liteparse import LiteParse

# Create parser
parser = LiteParse()

# Parse a document
result = parser.parse("document.pdf")
print(result.text)

# Access structured data
for page in result.pages:
    print(f"Page {page.pageNum}: {len(page.textItems)} text items")

Configuration

All parsing options are passed per-call to parse():

from liteparse import LiteParse

parser = LiteParse()

result = parser.parse(
    "document.pdf",
    ocr_enabled=False,
    max_pages=10,
    dpi=150,
    preserve_very_small_text=True,
)
print(result.text)

Parsing from bytes

If you already have file contents in memory (e.g. from a web upload), pass them directly:

with open("document.pdf", "rb") as f:
    pdf_bytes = f.read()

result = parser.parse(pdf_bytes)
print(result.text)

Batch Processing

For parsing multiple files, batch mode is significantly faster as it reuses the PDF engine:

from liteparse import LiteParse

parser = LiteParse()

# Parse all documents in a directory
result = parser.batch_parse(
    input_dir="./documents",
    output_dir="./output",
    ocr_enabled=False,
    recursive=True,              # Include subdirectories
    extension_filter=".pdf",     # Only PDF files
)

print(f"Output written to: {result.output_dir}")

Supported Formats

• PDF (.pdf)
• Microsoft Office (.docx, .xlsx, .pptx, etc.) - requires LibreOffice
• OpenDocument (.odt, .ods, .odp) - requires LibreOffice
• Images (.png, .jpg, .tiff, etc.) - requires ImageMagick
• And more!

Performance Tips

1. Disable OCR if your documents have selectable text:

   result = parser.parse("doc.pdf", ocr_enabled=False)
   

2. Use batch mode for multiple files to avoid cold-start overhead:

   parser.batch_parse("./input", "./output")
   

3. Limit pages if you only need specific pages:

   result = parser.parse("doc.pdf", target_pages="1-5")