A read-only tool that converts documents to clean Markdown, returning only what matters. It focuses on producing Markdown output suitable for AI agents and LLMs, with small files output directly and large files yielding a document map.

🛠️ Key Features

Read-only document conversion to Markdown
Handles both small and large files with appropriate output
Produces a document map for complex inputs
MIT-licensed and available via PyPI
MCP Registry listed for discoverability

🚀 Use Cases

Convert various document formats to clean Markdown for AI workflows
Extract essential content for prompt engineering
Generate Markdown-ready data for knowledge bases and agents

⚡ Developer Benefits

Clear, minimal Markdown output tailored for LLM consumption
Straightforward integration via standard inputs/outputs
Visible MCP Registry entry for easy discovery

⚠️ Limitations

Output is read-only; cannot modify source documents
Large files produce a document map rather than full content
Specific format support depends on input types (documentation not guaranteed)

🇨🇳 中文

shuck-file

Any file in, Markdown out — read only what matters.

shuck-file converts documents to clean Markdown for AI agents and LLMs. Small files output directly; large files return a document map with section summaries, token counts, and actionable next steps — so agents only pull what they need.

Why shuck-file?

AI agents need a bridge that's context-aware:

Small file → shuck report.docx → full Markdown on stdout
Large file → shuck report.docx → document map with sections and extraction options
Targeted extraction → shuck report.docx --sections s1,s3 → only what you need
Search → shuck report.docx --grep "revenue" → find without reading everything

Supported Formats

Format	Extension	Library	What's Preserved
Word	`.docx`	python-docx	Headings, bold/italic, lists, tables
PDF	`.pdf`	pdfplumber	Text content, page breaks
Excel	`.xlsx`	openpyxl	All sheets as Markdown tables
PowerPoint	`.pptx`	python-pptx	Titles, text, tables, speaker notes
CSV	`.csv`	stdlib	All rows/columns as a table

Installation

Via pip (recommended)

bash

pip install shuck-file

This installs the shuck CLI command and the MCP server.

From source

bash

git clone https://github.com/Shan-Zhu/shuck-file.git
cd shuck-file
pip install -e .

Quick Start

bash

# Convert a document
shuck report.docx

# Force full output (bypass map mode)
shuck large-report.pdf --all

# Search within a document
shuck report.pdf --grep "revenue"

Usage

Auto-Routing (default)

Small files output directly, large files return a document map.

bash

# Small file → direct Markdown output
shuck document.pdf

# Large file → document map with sections table + next steps
shuck large-report.pdf

Extraction Options

bash

# Force full output (bypass map mode)
shuck report.pdf --all

# Extract specific sections
shuck report.pdf --sections s1,s3

# Tables only
shuck report.pdf --tables-only

# Search within document
shuck report.pdf --grep "revenue"

# Token budget (smart compression)
shuck report.pdf --budget 4000

# Combinations work
shuck report.pdf --sections s2,s3 --budget 2000

Excel/CSV Specific

bash

# Column headers and types
shuck data.xlsx --schema-only

# Headers + first N rows
shuck data.xlsx --sample 5

Power User Subcommands

bash

# Force map mode (even on small files)
shuck probe document.docx

# Force full extraction (alias for --all)
shuck pull document.docx

Output Control

bash

# Write to file
shuck document.pdf -o output.md

# Write to directory (auto-named)
shuck document.pdf -d ./converted/

# Skip YAML frontmatter
shuck document.pdf --no-frontmatter

# List supported formats
shuck --formats

Map Mode Output

When a file is large, shuck returns a document map:

markdown

# Document Map: quarterly-report.pdf

**6 pages | ~12,400 tokens | 6 sections**

## Sections

| # | Title | Type | Tokens | Density |
|---|-------|------|--------|---------|
| s1 | Executive Summary | narrative | 450 | high |
| s2 | Q3 Financial Results | mixed | 2,800 | high |
| s3 | Revenue Breakdown | tabular | 3,200 | high |
| ...

## Next Steps

- `shuck quarterly-report.pdf --all` -- full document (~12,400 tokens)
- `shuck quarterly-report.pdf --sections s1,s2` -- high-density (~3,250 tokens)
- `shuck quarterly-report.pdf --grep "..."` -- search for keywords

MCP Server

shuck-file includes an MCP (Model Context Protocol) server, making it available to any MCP-compatible AI tool.

Claude Code

bash

claude mcp add shuck-file -- shuck-file

Or add to your project's .mcp.json:

json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "shuck-file": {
      "command": "shuck-file",
      "args": []
    }
  }
}

Cursor

Add to ~/.cursor/mcp.json:

json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "shuck-file": {
      "command": "shuck-file",
      "args": []
    }
  }
}

Windsurf

Add to your MCP configuration:

json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "shuck-file": {
      "command": "shuck-file",
      "args": []
    }
  }
}

Any MCP Client

shuck-file registers as an MCP server via the mcp.servers entry point. Tools exposed:

shuck — Convert a document to Markdown with all options (mode, sections, grep, budget, etc.)
list_formats — List supported document formats

Claude Code Plugin

Install as a Claude Code plugin for the /shuck skill:

bash

claude plugin add /path/to/shuck-file

Architecture

code

src/shuck_file/
├── cli.py                # CLI entrypoint
├── server.py             # MCP Server (FastMCP)
├── core/
│   ├── router.py          # Auto-routing logic
│   ├── segmenter.py       # Document segmentation
│   ├── mapper.py          # Map mode renderer
│   ├── budget.py          # Smart compression
│   ├── grep.py            # In-document search
│   ├── frontmatter.py     # YAML frontmatter
│   └── models.py          # Data models
├── extractors/
│   ├── base.py            # Base extractor ABC
│   ├── docx_ext.py        # Word extractor
│   ├── pdf_ext.py         # PDF extractor
│   ├── xlsx_ext.py        # Excel extractor
│   ├── pptx_ext.py        # PowerPoint extractor
│   └── csv_ext.py         # CSV extractor
plugin/                    # Claude Code plugin wrapper
tests/
├── test_extractors.py
├── test_router.py
├── test_segmenter.py
├── test_budget.py
└── test_grep.py

License

MIT

🛠️ Key Features

🚀 Use Cases

⚡ Developer Benefits

⚠️ Limitations

shuck-file

Why shuck-file?

Supported Formats

Installation

Via pip (recommended)

From source

Quick Start

Usage

Auto-Routing (default)

Extraction Options

Excel/CSV Specific

Power User Subcommands

Output Control

Map Mode Output

MCP Server

Claude Code

Cursor

Windsurf

Any MCP Client

Claude Code Plugin

Architecture

License

Install

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