What is markitdown?
markitdown is a MCP server by microsoft that convert many file formats, local or remote, to Markdown for LLMs using MarkItDown. It is listed under Productivity and has 190,797 GitHub stars.
| Type | Mcp server |
|---|---|
| Author | microsoft |
| Repository | microsoft/markitdown |
| Popularity | 190,797 GitHub stars |
| Category | Productivity |
| Security | Low risk (100/100) |
| Rank | #2 of 4,418 MCP servers; #1 in Productivity |
| License | MIT |
| Last commit | 2026-10-04 |
| Stars this week | +1,231 |
| Runs | Locally |
| Language | Python |
Is markitdown safe to install?
markitdown scores 100/100 on the MCPMods security check: Low risk. No checks raised a concern. It passed 6 of 6 checks.
MCP server results come from listing signals: who publishes it, where your data goes and what it can do. The code itself is not scanned yet.
| Check | Result |
|---|---|
| Published by the service itself | Pass |
| Runs on your machine only | Pass |
| No credentials mentioned | Pass |
| Read-only by description | Pass |
| No code execution | Pass |
| Source on GitHub | Pass |
How do I install markitdown?
- Find the launch command. The README says how the server starts (npx, uvx, docker or a remote URL) and which API keys it needs.
https://github.com/microsoft/markitdown/tree/main/packages/markitdown-mcp
- Add it to Claude Code. Replace the part after -- with the command from the README. Remote servers use --transport http with a URL.
claude mcp add markitdown -- <command from README> claude mcp add --transport http markitdown <server-url>
- Check it connected. This lists your MCP servers and their status.
claude mcp list
Or ask Claude to set it up
Paste this into Claude Code and it installs markitdown for you:
Add the "markitdown" MCP server from https://github.com/microsoft/markitdown/tree/main/packages/markitdown-mcp to Claude Code. Read its README for the launch command and any API keys I need, run claude mcp add, then check that it connects.