mdify-cli 3.6.3

Convert PDFs and document images into structured Markdown for LLM workflows

mdify

A lightweight CLI for converting documents to Markdown. The CLI is fast to install via pipx, while the heavy ML conversion runs inside a container.

Requirements

• Python 3.8+
• Docker, Podman, or native macOS container tools (for document conversion)
  • On macOS: Supports Apple Container (macOS 26+), OrbStack, Colima, Podman, or Docker Desktop
  • On Linux: Docker or Podman
  • Auto-detects available tools

Installation

macOS (recommended)

brew install pipx
pipx ensurepath
pipx install mdify-cli

Restart your terminal after installation.

For containerized document conversion, install one of these (or use Docker Desktop):

• Apple Container (macOS 26+): Download from https://github.com/apple/container/releases
• OrbStack (recommended): brew install orbstack
• Colima: brew install colima && colima start
• Podman: brew install podman && podman machine init && podman machine start
• Docker Desktop: Available at https://www.docker.com/products/docker-desktop

Linux

python3 -m pip install --user pipx
pipx ensurepath
pipx install mdify-cli

Install via pip

pip install mdify-cli

Development install

git clone https://github.com/tiroq/mdify.git
cd mdify
pip install -e .

Usage

Basic conversion

Convert a single file:

mdify document.pdf

The first run will automatically pull the container image (~2GB) if not present.

Convert multiple files

Convert all PDFs in a directory:

mdify /path/to/documents -g "*.pdf"

Recursively convert files:

mdify /path/to/documents -r -g "*.pdf"

GPU Acceleration

For faster processing with NVIDIA GPU:

mdify --gpu documents/*.pdf

Requires NVIDIA GPU with CUDA support and nvidia-container-toolkit.

🚀 Remote Server Execution (SSH)

NEW: Convert documents on remote servers via SSH to offload resource-intensive processing:

# Basic remote conversion
mdify document.pdf --remote-host server.example.com

# Use SSH config alias
mdify document.pdf --remote-host production

# With custom configuration
mdify docs/*.pdf --remote-host 192.168.1.100 \
  --remote-user admin \
  --remote-key ~/.ssh/id_rsa

# Validate remote server before processing
mdify document.pdf --remote-host server --remote-validate-only

How it works:

1. Connects to remote server via SSH
2. Validates remote resources (disk space, memory, Docker/Podman)
3. Uploads files via SFTP
4. Starts remote container automatically
5. Converts documents on remote server
6. Downloads results via SFTP
7. Cleans up remote files and stops container

Requirements:

• SSH key authentication (password auth not supported for security)
• Docker or Podman installed on remote server
• Minimum 5GB disk space and 2GB RAM on remote

SSH Configuration:

Create ~/.mdify/remote.conf for reusable settings:

host: production.example.com
port: 22
username: deploy
key_file: ~/.ssh/deploy_key
work_dir: /tmp/mdify-remote
container_runtime: docker
timeout: 30

Or use existing ~/.ssh/config:

Host production
  HostName 192.168.1.100
  User deploy
  Port 2222
  IdentityFile ~/.ssh/deploy_key

Then simply: mdify doc.pdf --remote-host production

Configuration Precedence (highest to lowest):

1. CLI arguments (--remote-*)
2. ~/.mdify/remote.conf
3. ~/.ssh/config
4. Built-in defaults

See the SSH Remote Server Guide below for all options.

⚠️ PII Masking (Deprecated)

The --mask flag is deprecated and will be ignored in this version. PII masking functionality was available in older versions using a custom runtime but is not supported with the current docling-serve backend.

If PII masking is critical for your use case, please use mdify v1.5.x or earlier versions.

Performance

mdify now uses docling-serve for significantly faster batch processing:

• Single model load: Models are loaded once per session, not per file
• ~10-20x speedup for multiple file conversions compared to previous versions
• GPU acceleration: Use --gpu for additional 2-6x speedup (requires NVIDIA GPU)

First Run Behavior

The first conversion takes longer (~30-60s) as the container loads ML models into memory. Subsequent files in the same batch process quickly, typically in 1-3 seconds per file.

Options

Option	Description
input	Input file or directory to convert (required)
-o, --out-dir DIR	Output directory for converted files (default: output)
-g, --glob PATTERN	Glob pattern for filtering files (default: *)
-r, --recursive	Recursively scan directories
--flat	Disable directory structure preservation
--overwrite	Overwrite existing output files
-q, --quiet	Suppress progress messages
-m, --mask	⚠️ Deprecated: PII masking not supported in current version
--gpu	Use GPU-accelerated container (requires NVIDIA GPU and nvidia-container-toolkit)
--port PORT	Container port (default: 5001)
--runtime RUNTIME	Container runtime: docker, podman, orbstack, colima, or container (auto-detected)
--image IMAGE	Custom container image (default: ghcr.io/docling-project/docling-serve-cpu:main)
--pull POLICY	Image pull policy: always, missing, never (default: missing)
--check-update	Check for available updates and exit
--version	Show version and exit

SSH Remote Server Options

Option	Description
--remote-host HOST	SSH hostname or IP (required for remote mode)
--remote-port PORT	SSH port (default: 22)
--remote-user USER	SSH username (uses ~/.ssh/config or current user)
--remote-key PATH	SSH private key file path
--remote-key-passphrase PASS	SSH key passphrase
--remote-timeout SEC	SSH connection timeout in seconds (default: 30)
--remote-work-dir DIR	Remote working directory (default: /tmp/mdify-remote)
--remote-runtime RT	Remote container runtime: docker or podman (auto-detected)
--remote-config PATH	Path to mdify remote config file (default: ~/.mdify/remote.conf)
--remote-skip-ssh-config	Don't load settings from ~/.ssh/config
--remote-skip-validation	Skip remote resource validation (not recommended)
--remote-validate-only	Validate remote server and exit (dry run)
--remote-debug	Enable detailed SSH debug logging

Container Runtime Selection

mdify automatically detects and uses the best available container runtime. The detection order differs by platform:

macOS (recommended):

1. Apple Container (native, macOS 26+ required)
2. OrbStack (lightweight, fast)
3. Colima (open-source alternative)
4. Podman (via Podman machine)
5. Docker Desktop (full Docker)

Linux:

1. Docker
2. Podman

Override runtime: Use the MDIFY_CONTAINER_RUNTIME environment variable to force a specific runtime:

export MDIFY_CONTAINER_RUNTIME=orbstack
mdify document.pdf

Or inline:

MDIFY_CONTAINER_RUNTIME=colima mdify document.pdf

Supported values: docker, podman, orbstack, colima, container

If the selected runtime is installed but not running, mdify will display a helpful warning:

Warning: Found container runtime(s) but daemon is not running:
  - orbstack (/opt/homebrew/bin/orbstack)

Please start one of these tools before running mdify.
macOS tip: Start OrbStack, Colima, or Podman Desktop application

With --flat, all output files are placed directly in the output directory. Directory paths are incorporated into filenames to prevent collisions:

• docs/subdir1/file.pdf → output/subdir1_file.md
• docs/subdir2/file.pdf → output/subdir2_file.md

Examples

Convert all PDFs recursively, preserving structure:

mdify documents/ -r -g "*.pdf" -o markdown_output

Convert with Podman instead of Docker:

mdify document.pdf --runtime podman

Use a custom/local container image:

mdify document.pdf --image my-custom-image:latest

Force pull latest container image:

mdify document.pdf --pull

Architecture

┌──────────────────┐     ┌─────────────────────────────────┐
│   mdify CLI      │     │  Container (Docker/Podman)      │
│   (lightweight)  │────▶│  ┌───────────────────────────┐  │
│                  │     │  │  Docling + ML Models      │  │
│  - File handling │◀────│  │  - PDF parsing            │  │
│  - Container     │     │  │  - OCR (Tesseract)        │  │
│    orchestration │     │  │  - Document conversion    │  │
└──────────────────┘     │  └───────────────────────────┘  │
                         └─────────────────────────────────┘

The CLI:

• Installs in seconds via pipx (no ML dependencies)
• Automatically detects Docker or Podman
• Pulls the runtime container on first use
• Mounts files and runs conversions in the container

Container Images

mdify uses official docling-serve containers:

CPU Version (default):

ghcr.io/docling-project/docling-serve-cpu:main

GPU Version (use with --gpu flag):

ghcr.io/docling-project/docling-serve-cu126:main

These are official images from the docling-serve project.

Updates

mdify checks for updates daily. When a new version is available:

==================================================
A new version of mdify is available!
  Current version: 0.3.0
  Latest version:  0.4.0
==================================================

Run upgrade now? [y/N]

Disable update checks

export MDIFY_NO_UPDATE_CHECK=1

Uninstall

pipx uninstall mdify-cli

Or if installed via pip:

pip uninstall mdify-cli

Troubleshooting

SSH Remote Server Issues

Connection Refused

Error: SSH connection failed: Connection refused (host:22)

• Verify SSH server is running on remote: ssh user@host
• Check firewall allows port 22 (or custom SSH port)
• Verify hostname/IP is correct

Authentication Failed

Error: SSH authentication failed

• Use SSH key authentication (password auth not supported)
• Verify key file exists: ls -l ~/.ssh/id_rsa
• Check key permissions: chmod 600 ~/.ssh/id_rsa
• Test SSH manually: ssh -i ~/.ssh/id_rsa user@host
• Add key to ssh-agent: ssh-add ~/.ssh/id_rsa

Remote Container Runtime Not Found

Error: Container runtime not available: docker/podman

• Install Docker on remote: sudo apt install docker.io (Ubuntu/Debian)
• Or install Podman: sudo dnf install podman (Fedora/RHEL)
• Add user to docker group: sudo usermod -aG docker $USER
• Verify remote Docker running: ssh user@host docker ps

Insufficient Remote Resources

Warning: Less than 5GB available on remote

• Free up disk space on remote server
• Use --remote-work-dir to specify different partition
• Use --remote-skip-validation to bypass check (not recommended)

File Transfer Timeout

Error: File transfer timeout

• Increase timeout: --remote-timeout 120
• Check network bandwidth and stability
• Try smaller files first to verify connection

Container Health Check Fails

Error: Container failed to become healthy within 60 seconds

• Check remote Docker logs: ssh user@host docker logs mdify-remote-<id>
• Verify port 5001 not in use: ssh user@host netstat -tuln | grep 5001
• Try different port: --port 5002

SSH Config Not Loaded

If using SSH config alias but getting connection errors:

# Verify SSH config is valid
cat ~/.ssh/config

# Test SSH config works
ssh your-alias

# Use explicit connection if needed
mdify doc.pdf --remote-host 192.168.1.100 --remote-user admin

Permission Denied on Remote

Error: Work directory not writable: /tmp/mdify-remote

• SSH to remote and check permissions: ssh user@host ls -ld /tmp
• Use directory in your home: --remote-work-dir ~/mdify-temp
• Fix permissions: ssh user@host chmod 777 /tmp/mdify-remote

Debug Mode

Enable detailed logging for troubleshooting:

# Debug SSH operations
mdify doc.pdf --remote-host server --remote-debug

# Debug local operations
MDIFY_DEBUG=1 mdify doc.pdf

Development

Task automation

This project uses Task for automation:

# Show available tasks
task

# Build package
task build

# Build container locally
task container-build

# Release workflow
task release-patch

Building for PyPI

See PUBLISHING.md for complete publishing instructions.

License

MIT