MD Converter

Version: 2.1.0
Status: Production Ready

Convert Markdown files to DOCX, XLSX, and PPTX formats with YAML front matter, strict validation, intelligent section breaks, and professional Word styling. Includes both CLI and MCP (Model Context Protocol) server interfaces.

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Why This Matters: Enabling IDE-First Consulting

The Innovation

While most consultants work in traditional office suites (Word, Excel, PowerPoint) and copy-paste from ChatGPT or Copilot, there's a more efficient approach waiting to be unlocked:

Working entirely in your IDE with AI assistance, then generating client deliverables automatically.

The Current Consulting Reality

Standard workflow (2024-2025):

1. Write in Word/PowerPoint
2. Copy-paste from ChatGPT/Copilot
3. Manual formatting and cleanup
4. Version control through file names
5. Collaboration through email attachments

Limitations:

• Context switching between tools breaks flow
• Manual formatting is time-consuming
• Version control is messy
• AI assistance is fragmented

The IDE-First Alternative

This tool enables a new approach:

• Think and write in Markdown - Clean, version-controlled, Git-based collaboration
• Leverage embedded AI - Claude in Cursor provides real-time assistance within your workflow
• Work in plain text - Fast, lightweight, powerful
• Single source of truth - Markdown is master, outputs are generated
• Stay in flow - No context switching to office applications

The Challenge

Clients and stakeholders need traditional formats (Word, Excel, PowerPoint):

• Executive briefings require Word documents
• Financial models need Excel workbooks
• Presentations need PowerPoint decks

Manually converting breaks the IDE workflow and wastes time.

The Solution: MD Converter MCP

Seamless bridge from IDE to client deliverables:

1. Work in Markdown - Full IDE power, AI assistance, version control
2. Add metadata in YAML - Professional document properties
3. One command conversion - Instant professional Word/Excel/PowerPoint
4. Built-in validation - Quality assurance ensures consistency
5. Smart exclusions - System files, notes, references stay in markdown

Result: You stay in flow, clients get professional deliverables.

Why This Approach is Faster

Traditional workflow:

• Draft in AI tool → Copy to Word → Format → Review → Revise (repeat in Word)

IDE-first workflow:

• Draft in IDE with AI → Revise in IDE with AI → Convert → Done

Advantages:

• ✅ Single environment for all work
• ✅ AI context persists throughout document lifecycle
• ✅ Version control built-in (Git)
• ✅ Consistent formatting automatically applied
• ✅ No manual copy-paste
• ✅ Markdown is portable and future-proof

Real-World Consulting Example

Challenge: Deliver comprehensive strategic planning to enterprise client

• 20+ planning documents covering strategy, architecture, delivery, budget
• Executive brief for C-suite decision
• Financial model for multi-year programme
• Professional formatting required (corporate classification, proper metadata)

Solution:

• All planning done in Markdown with AI assistance in IDE
• YAML front matter for classification, versions, authors
• Single command: md-convert "**/*.md" → 15 DOCX + 1 XLSX
• Intelligent exclusion of reference materials and system files
• Section breaks at major boundaries for independent formatting
• Professional Word styles for client template compatibility

Outcome:

• Planning completed in days, not weeks
• All documents professionally formatted
• Consistent metadata across deliverables
• Ready for executive distribution

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Features

🚀 Version 2.1.0 Enhancements

YAML Front Matter Support

• 14 metadata fields (format, title, author, date, classification, version, status, etc.)
• Automatic mapping to document properties in Word/Excel/PowerPoint
• Format detection (docx, xlsx, pptx, or combinations)
• Document type categorization (document, email, reference, note, system)

Strict Document Validation

• Heading hierarchy validation (no skipped levels)
• Table structure consistency checks
• Empty heading detection
• Metadata completeness warnings
• Optional --strict mode for production documents

Intelligent Section Breaks

• DOCX: section_breaks: auto only creates sections before ## H2 (major boundaries)
• PPTX: slide_breaks: h1|h2|hr controls slide creation
• Reduces unnecessary section breaks
• Enables independent section formatting

Smart Exclusion Rules

• Path-based: Auto-exclude README, /notes/, /references/
• Front matter: convert: false or document_type: email|reference|note|system
• Cleaner batch conversions
• Clear skip reasons in output

Professional Word Styles

• Built-in styles: Normal, Heading 1-6, ListParagraph
• Character styles: Strong (bold), Emphasis (italic)
• Template compatible
• Easy bulk reformatting

Numbered Lists Fixed

• Proper Word numbering configuration
• Sequential numbering (1, 2, 3...)
• No more DOCX corruption

XLSX Rich Text

• Bold text (**text**) properly renders in Excel
• Italic text (*text*) properly renders
• Mixed formatting in cells works correctly

📄 Multiple Output Formats

• DOCX: Word documents with proper formatting, headings, tables, lists, and code blocks
• XLSX: Excel spreadsheets with formula support, data type detection, and formatting
• PPTX: PowerPoint presentations with automatic slide layouts

🔢 Excel Formula Support

• Convert {=FORMULA} syntax in Markdown tables to actual Excel formulas
• Support for 60+ Excel functions (SUM, AVERAGE, IF, VLOOKUP, etc.)
• Automatic data type detection (numbers, dates, booleans, text)
• Cell reference validation

🤖 Dual Interface

• CLI: Command-line tool for batch processing
• MCP Server: Integration with AI assistants like Claude in Cursor

🎨 Formatting Options

• Customizable fonts and sizes
• Auto-width columns in Excel
• Frozen header rows
• Light/dark themes for presentations
• Australian date format (DD/MM/YYYY)

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Installation

# Clone or navigate to the repository
cd /path/to/md_converter

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Build the project
npm run build

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Quick Start

1. Add Front Matter to Your Markdown

---
format: docx
title: "Executive Brief - AI Strategy"
author: "Dale Rogers"
date: "2025-11-10"
classification: "OFFICIAL"
version: "1.0"
status: final
keywords: ["AI", "strategy", "executive"]
section_breaks: auto
---

# Executive Brief

Your content here...

2. Convert to Word

md-convert document.md --format docx

3. Review Output

• Open the generated .docx file
• Check File → Info → Properties for metadata
• Verify styles in Home → Styles pane
• Check section breaks (View → Draft mode)

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YAML Front Matter Reference

Required Fields

format: docx              # docx, xlsx, pptx, or combinations
title: "Document Title"   # Document title (used in properties)

Extended Fields (Recommended)

author: "Your Name"                      # Creator/author name
date: "2025-11-10"                      # Document date (YYYY-MM-DD)
classification: "OFFICIAL"               # Security classification
version: "1.0"                          # Version number
status: final                           # draft|review|approved|final
description: "Brief description"         # Document description (<250 chars)
keywords: ["key1", "key2"]              # Search keywords (array)
subject: "Category"                     # Document subject/category

Document Control Fields

convert: false                          # Skip conversion (default: true)
document_type: reference                # document|email|reference|note|system

Format-Specific Fields

# DOCX only
section_breaks: auto                    # auto|all|none

# PPTX only
slide_breaks: h2                        # h1|h2|hr

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Exclusion Rules

Path-Based Exclusion (Automatic)

These files are automatically skipped:

• README.md (any location, case-insensitive)
• Files in /notes/ directory
• Files in /reference/ or /references/ directory

Front Matter Exclusion

Method 1: Explicit flag

convert: false

Method 2: Document type (automatic)

document_type: email     # Auto-skips: email, reference, note, system

Example Output

Found 24 file(s) to convert

Skipping: README.md (excluded by path pattern)
Skipping: notes/meeting-notes.md (excluded by path pattern)
Converting: EXECUTIVE_BRIEF.md
  ✓ DOCX: EXECUTIVE_BRIEF.docx
Converting: budget.md
  ⊘ Skipped (document_type: reference)

Conversion Summary:
  ✓ Success: 18
  ⊘ Skipped: 6

---

Section Break Rules (DOCX)

Control how --- horizontal rules are handled:

section_breaks: auto (Recommended)

Rule: Section break ONLY if --- is followed by ## H2

Example:

## Major Section A

Content here...

---

## Major Section B

New section with independent formatting

Result: Section break created (can have different headers/footers)

Content here...

---

More content in same section (just visual divider)

Result: Visual divider only (no section break)

section_breaks: all

Every --- creates a Word section break.

Use when: Need maximum control over section formatting

section_breaks: none

All --- are visual dividers only.

Use when: Simple document, no section independence needed

---

Slide Break Rules (PPTX)

Control when new slides are created:

slide_breaks: h2 (Default)

New slide at every # H1 and ## H2

Best for: Standard presentations with clear sections

slide_breaks: h1

New slide only at # H1

Best for: Dense presentations with more content per slide

slide_breaks: hr

New slide at every --- horizontal rule

Best for: Manual control over slide breaks

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CLI Usage

Basic Conversion

# Convert to DOCX (Word)
md-convert input.md --format docx

# Convert to XLSX (Excel) - tables only
md-convert input.md --format xlsx

# Convert to PPTX (PowerPoint)
md-convert input.md --format pptx

# Convert to all formats
md-convert input.md --format all

Batch Processing

# Convert all markdown files
md-convert "**/*.md" --format docx

# Convert with output directory
md-convert "./docs/**/*.md" --format all --output-dir ./exports

Validation

# Standard mode (shows warnings, continues)
md-convert document.md --format docx

# Strict mode (fails on warnings)
md-convert document.md --format docx --strict

# Skip validation (faster, not recommended)
md-convert document.md --format docx --no-validate

Options

# XLSX options
md-convert report.md --format xlsx --freeze-headers --auto-width

# PPTX options
md-convert slides.md --format pptx --theme dark

# Font options
md-convert document.md --format docx --font-family "Calibri" --font-size 11

Commands

# Preview table extraction
md-convert preview report.md

# Validate formulas
md-convert validate report.md

# Start MCP server
md-convert serve

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MCP Server Usage

Configure in Cursor

Add to .cursor/mcp.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "md-converter": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": [
        "/Users/dalerogers/Projects/active/experimental/md_converter/dist/cli/index.js",
        "serve"
      ],
      "disabled": false
    }
  }
}

Available MCP Tools

1. convert_md_to_docx - Convert Markdown to Word document
2. convert_md_to_xlsx - Convert Markdown tables to Excel with formulas
3. convert_md_to_pptx - Convert Markdown to PowerPoint presentation
4. preview_tables - Preview table extraction and formulas
5. validate_formulas - Validate formula syntax

Using in Cursor with Claude

You: "Convert this markdown to Word"
Claude: [Uses convert_md_to_docx tool]

You: "Create Excel from these budget tables"
Claude: [Uses convert_md_to_xlsx tool]

Benefit: Seamless conversion without leaving your IDE workflow.

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Word Document Features

Styles Applied

Paragraph Styles:

• Normal - Body text (base style for all content)
• Heading 1 through Heading 6 - Structural headings
• ListParagraph - All list items (bullets and numbered)

Character Styles:

• Strong - Bold text (**text**)
• Emphasis - Italic text (*text*)

Benefits:

• ✅ Compatible with corporate Word templates
• ✅ Easy bulk reformatting (change Normal style → all text updates)
• ✅ Follows Microsoft Word best practices
• ✅ Professional appearance

Section Breaks

Documents are split into Word sections at major boundaries:

Features per section:

• Independent headers and footers
• Different page numbering (restart or different style)
• Different page orientation (portrait/landscape mix)
• Different margins
• Different page sizes

Viewing section breaks:

• View → Draft mode → Shows "Section Break (Next Page)"
• Status bar shows "Section X of Y"

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Excel Workbook Features

Table Conversion

Each markdown table becomes a separate worksheet:

Features:

• Headers with grey background and bold text
• Frozen header row (scroll data, headers stay visible)
• Auto-width columns (fits content automatically)
• Proper borders and gridlines

Formula Support

Use {=FORMULA} in markdown tables:

| Product | Price | Qty | Total |
|---------|-------|-----|-------|
| Apples  | 2.50  | 10  | {=B2*C2} |
| Oranges | 3.00  | 5   | {=B3*C3} |
| **Total** | | | {=SUM(D2:D3)} |

Converts to actual Excel formulas that calculate automatically.

Rich Text Formatting

Bold and italic formatting from markdown:

| Item | Value |
|------|-------|
| **Total Cost** | $1,500 |
| *Estimated* | $1,200 |

Result: Bold and italic text display correctly in Excel cells.

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PowerPoint Presentation Features

Slide Structure

Headings and horizontal rules control slide breaks:

# Main Title
Presentation subtitle

---

## Section Header Slide

---

### Content Slide

- Bullet point 1
- Bullet point 2

---

Mapping:

• # H1 → Title slide
• ## H2 → Section header slide
• ### H3 → Content slide with title
• --- → Slide separator (if slide_breaks: hr)

Themes

# Light theme (default)
md-convert slides.md --format pptx --theme light

# Dark theme
md-convert slides.md --format pptx --theme dark

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Validation

What's Validated

YAML Front Matter:

• Valid YAML syntax
• Required fields present (format, title)
• Valid enum values (format, status, document_type)
• Date format (YYYY-MM-DD recommended)

Content Structure:

• Heading hierarchy (no skipped levels: H1 → H2 → H3)
• Empty headings
• Table column consistency
• Orphaned lists

Metadata Completeness:

• Warns if missing recommended fields (author, date, classification, version, keywords)
• Warns if description > 250 characters

Validation Modes

Standard (default):

md-convert document.md --format docx

• Shows warnings in yellow
• Continues conversion
• Recommended for most use

Strict mode:

md-convert document.md --format docx --strict

• Treats warnings as errors
• Fails conversion on any warning
• Use for production/client documents

No validation:

md-convert document.md --format docx --no-validate

• Skips all validation
• Faster for trusted documents
• Not recommended for client deliverables

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Complete Front Matter Example

---
# Required fields
format: docx                                    # Output format
title: "Executive Brief - AI Strategy"          # Document title

# Extended metadata (recommended)
author: "Dale Rogers"                           # Author name
date: "2025-11-10"                             # Date (YYYY-MM-DD)
classification: "OFFICIAL"                      # Security level
version: "1.0"                                 # Version number
status: final                                  # draft|review|approved|final
description: "Executive decision brief"         # Brief description
keywords: ["AI", "strategy", "executive"]      # Search keywords
subject: "Executive Briefing"                  # Category

# Document control (optional)
convert: true                                  # Enable conversion (default)
document_type: document                        # document|email|reference|note|system

# Format-specific (optional)
section_breaks: auto                           # auto|all|none (DOCX)
slide_breaks: h2                               # h1|h2|hr (PPTX)
---

# Your Document Starts Here

Content goes here...

See: FRONTMATTER.md for complete specification

---

Formula Syntax

Basic Usage

| Item | Amount | Tax | Total |
|------|--------|-----|-------|
| Product A | 100 | {=B2*0.1} | {=B2+C2} |
| Product B | 200 | {=B3*0.1} | {=B3+C3} |
| **Total** | {=SUM(B2:B3)} | {=SUM(C2:C3)} | {=SUM(D2:D3)} |

Supported Functions

Math: SUM, AVERAGE, COUNT, MIN, MAX, ROUND, ABS, SQRT, POWER, MOD, PRODUCT

Logical: IF, AND, OR, NOT, XOR, IFERROR, IFNA

Text: CONCATENATE, CONCAT, LEFT, RIGHT, MID, LEN, TRIM, UPPER, LOWER

Date: TODAY, NOW, DATE, YEAR, MONTH, DAY, WEEKDAY, DATEDIF, DAYS

Lookup: VLOOKUP, HLOOKUP, XLOOKUP, INDEX, MATCH, CHOOSE

Statistical: STDEV, VAR, RANK, PERCENTILE

Financial: PMT, FV, PV, RATE, NPV, IRR

Cell References

{=A1}           # Simple reference
{=$A$1}         # Absolute reference
{=A1:A10}       # Range
{=B:B}          # Entire column
{=1:10}         # Row range

---

Best Practices

For Consulting Deliverables

1. Always add YAML front matter

   • Provides professional metadata
   • Enables format detection
   • Shows document ownership and version

2. Use section_breaks: auto for DOCX

   • Clean section structure
   • Major sections get independence
   • Avoids over-sectioning

3. Set proper classification

   • OFFICIAL, PROTECTED, etc.
   • Shows in document properties
   • Important for government/enterprise

4. Include version and status

   • Tracks document maturity
   • status: draft for work-in-progress
   • status: final for client delivery

5. Use keywords for searchability

   • 3-6 keywords per document
   • Helps clients find documents later
   • Good for document management systems

For Multi-Format Output

Strategy documents → DOCX only

format: docx

Financial models → XLSX only (for formulas)

format: xlsx

Executive presentations → DOCX + PPTX

format: docx,pptx

Comprehensive deliverable → All formats

format: all

For Project Organization

Deliverables → format: docx, status: final

References → document_type: reference (auto-excluded)

Working notes → In /notes/ directory (auto-excluded)

System docs → convert: false or document_type: system

---

Examples

Executive Brief

---
format: docx
title: "Executive Brief – Digital Transformation Strategy"
author: "Jane Smith"
date: "2025-11-10"
classification: "CONFIDENTIAL"
version: "1.0"
status: final
description: "Executive decision brief presenting strategic recommendations"
keywords: ["strategy", "digital transformation", "executive brief"]
subject: "Executive Briefing"
section_breaks: auto
---

# Executive Brief

## Situation
...

Financial Model

---
format: xlsx
title: "Project Budget Model"
author: "John Doe"
date: "2025-11-10"
classification: "CONFIDENTIAL"
version: "1.0"
status: final
description: "Budget model with detailed cost breakdown and forecasts"
keywords: ["budget", "costing", "financial model", "forecast"]
subject: "Financial Planning"
---

# Budget Model

## Phase 1 Costs

| Item | Cost |
|------|------|
| Labour | {=SUM(B2:B10)} |
| Infrastructure | $50,000 |
| **Total** | {=SUM(B2:B11)} |

Reference Material

---
format: docx
title: "Background Research"
author: "Team"
date: "2025-11-07"
classification: "OFFICIAL"
version: "0.5"
status: draft
document_type: reference        # Auto-excluded from batch conversion
description: "Background research and analysis"
keywords: ["research", "background"]
subject: "Reference"
---

---

Validation Reference

Common Errors (Fail Conversion)

❌ Missing required field: format or title
❌ Invalid format value
❌ Heading hierarchy violation (H1 → H3, skipping H2)
❌ Empty heading
❌ Table column count mismatch

Common Warnings (Continue with Warning)

⚠️ Missing recommended field (author, date, version)
⚠️ Date not in YYYY-MM-DD format
⚠️ Description > 250 characters
⚠️ No H1 title in document
⚠️ Code block without language tag
⚠️ Empty list

Viewing Validation Output

Converting: document.md
  ⚠ Warnings:
    • Recommended field missing: author
    • Recommended field missing: version
  📄 Executive Brief (docx)
     v1.0 - final
  ✓ DOCX: document.docx

---

Development

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Build
npm run build

# Run CLI in dev mode (with TypeScript)
npm run dev -- input.md --format docx

# Start MCP server in dev mode
npm run serve

# Type check (without building)
npm run type-check

# Watch mode (auto-rebuild on changes)
tsc --watch

---

Project Structure

md_converter/
├── src/
│   ├── core/
│   │   ├── parsers/
│   │   │   ├── markdown.ts              # Markdown parsing
│   │   │   ├── frontmatter-parser.ts    # YAML front matter
│   │   │   ├── table-parser.ts          # Table processing
│   │   │   └── formula-parser.ts        # Formula validation
│   │   ├── converters/
│   │   │   ├── docx-converter.ts        # Word generation
│   │   │   ├── xlsx-converter.ts        # Excel generation
│   │   │   ├── pptx-converter.ts        # PowerPoint generation
│   │   │   └── section-rules.ts         # Section/slide break logic
│   │   └── validators/
│   │       └── document-validator.ts     # Document validation
│   ├── mcp/
│   │   ├── server.ts                    # MCP server
│   │   └── tools.ts                     # MCP tool definitions
│   ├── cli/
│   │   └── index.ts                     # CLI interface
│   └── index.ts                         # Main exports
├── examples/
│   ├── frontmatter-template.md          # Template for new docs
│   ├── sample.md                        # Formula example
│   └── presentation.md                  # Presentation example
├── FRONTMATTER.md                       # Complete specification
├── CHANGELOG.md                         # Version history
├── README.md                            # This file
├── package.json                         # Dependencies
└── tsconfig.json                        # TypeScript config

---

Technical Details

Markdown Parsing: markdown-it - Robust AST-based parsing

DOCX Generation: docx library - Professional Word documents with:

• Built-in Word styles (Normal, Heading 1-6, ListParagraph, Strong, Emphasis)
• Proper numbering configuration for lists
• Section management for independent formatting
• Document properties (title, author, subject, keywords, classification)

XLSX Generation: exceljs - Excel workbooks with:

• Native formula support (actual Excel formulas, not text)
• Rich text formatting (bold, italic in cells)
• Multiple worksheets (one per markdown table)
• Auto-width columns and frozen headers
• Document properties

PPTX Generation: pptxgenjs - PowerPoint presentations with:

• Flexible slide layouts
• Theme support (light/dark)
• Tables and bullet points
• Document properties

YAML Parsing: js-yaml - Industry standard YAML parser

MCP Integration: @modelcontextprotocol/sdk - Official Model Context Protocol SDK

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Limitations

Formula Support by Format

Format	Formula Support	Description
XLSX	✅ Full Support	Formulas converted to actual Excel formulas that calculate automatically
DOCX	❌ Text Only	Formulas displayed as plain text (Word doesn't support cell calculations)
PPTX	❌ Text Only	Formulas displayed as plain text in table cells

Important: For working formulas, always use format: xlsx.

Other Limitations

• Images: Not yet supported (planned for v2.2)
• Complex nested lists: Limited to single-level lists
• Very large tables: May need manual adjustment in PPTX
• Custom Word templates: Not yet supported (uses built-in styles only)
• Mermaid diagrams: Not supported (render as code blocks)

---

Troubleshooting

"No tables found" error

Solution: XLSX format requires markdown tables. Add at least one table to your document.

Bold text not showing in Excel

Solution: Use v2.1.0 or later. Earlier versions had a rich text formatting bug (now fixed).

Numbered lists not working in Word

Solution: Use v2.1.0 or later. Earlier versions were missing numbering configuration (now fixed).

Section breaks everywhere in Word

Solution: Use section_breaks: auto instead of section_breaks: all. Auto mode only creates sections at major boundaries (before ## H2).

Files being skipped during conversion

Solution: Check if file matches exclusion rules:

• Is it README.md?
• Is it in /notes/ or /references/ directory?
• Does front matter have convert: false?
• Does front matter have document_type: email|reference|note|system?

---

Contributing

This is an active project. Contributions welcome!

Areas for contribution:

• Image support
• Custom Word templates
• Multi-level list support
• Mermaid diagram rendering
• Additional formula functions
• Enhanced validation rules

---

Changelog

See CHANGELOG.md for version history.

---

License

MIT

---

Author

Dale Rogers
Service Design Lead
2025

---

Acknowledgments

Built for real-world consulting needs, refined through production use on enterprise and government consulting projects.

Developed to support the IDE-first consulting approach, enabling consultants to leverage AI assistance while maintaining professional client deliverables.

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Note: This project uses Australian English spelling and date formats (DD/MM/YYYY) throughout.