Markdown to Office Skill Overview This skill enables conversion from Markdown to various Office formats using Pandoc - the universal document converter. Convert your Markdown files to professional Word documents, PowerPoint presentations, PDFs, and more while preserving formatting and structure. How to Use Provide the Markdown content or file Specify the target format (docx, pptx, pdf, etc.) Optionally provide a reference template for styling I'll convert using Pandoc with optimal settings Example prompts: "Convert this README.md to a professional Word document" "Turn my markdown notes into a PowerPoint presentation" "Generate a PDF from this markdown with custom styling" "Create a Word doc from this markdown using company template" Domain Knowledge Pandoc Fundamentals

Basic conversion

pandoc input.md -o output.docx pandoc input.md -o output.pdf pandoc input.md -o output.pptx

With template

pandoc input.md --reference-doc

template.docx -o output.docx

Multiple inputs

pandoc ch1.md ch2.md ch3.md -o book.docx Supported Conversions From To Command Markdown Word pandoc in.md -o out.docx Markdown PDF pandoc in.md -o out.pdf Markdown PowerPoint pandoc in.md -o out.pptx Markdown HTML pandoc in.md -o out.html Markdown LaTeX pandoc in.md -o out.tex Markdown EPUB pandoc in.md -o out.epub Markdown to Word (.docx) Basic Conversion pandoc document.md -o document.docx With Template (Reference Doc)

First create a template by converting sample

pandoc sample.md -o reference.docx

Edit reference.docx styles in Word, then use it

pandoc input.md --reference-doc

reference.docx -o output.docx With Table of Contents pandoc document.md --toc --toc-depth = 3 -o document.docx With Metadata pandoc document.md \ --metadata title = "My Report" \ --metadata author = "John Doe" \ --metadata date = "2024-01-15" \ -o document.docx Markdown to PDF Via LaTeX (Best Quality)

Requires LaTeX installation

pandoc document.md -o document.pdf

With custom settings

pandoc document.md \ --pdf-engine = xelatex \ -V geometry:margin = 1in \ -V fontsize = 12pt \ -o document.pdf Via HTML/wkhtmltopdf pandoc document.md \ --pdf-engine = wkhtmltopdf \ --css = style.css \ -o document.pdf PDF Options pandoc document.md \ -V papersize:a4 \ -V geometry:margin = 2cm \ -V fontfamily:libertinus \ -V colorlinks:true \ --toc \ -o document.pdf Markdown to PowerPoint (.pptx) Basic Conversion pandoc slides.md -o presentation.pptx Markdown Structure for Slides

title : Presentation Title author : Author Name date : January 2024

Section Header (creates section divider)

Slide Title

Bullet point 1

Bullet point 2

Sub-bullet

Another Slide Content here ::: notes Speaker notes go here (not visible in slides) :::

Slide with Image ! Description

Two Column Slide :::::::::::::: {.columns} ::: {.column width="50%"} Left column content ::: ::: {.column width="50%"} Right column content ::: :::::::::::::: With Template

Use corporate PowerPoint template

pandoc slides.md --reference-doc

template.pptx -o presentation.pptx YAML Frontmatter Add metadata at the top of your Markdown:

title : "Document Title" author : "Author Name" date : "2024-01-15" abstract : "Brief description" toc : true toc-depth : 2 numbersections : true geometry : margin=1in fontsize : 11pt documentclass : report

First Chapter

... Python Integration import subprocess import os def md_to_docx ( input_path , output_path , template = None ) : """Convert Markdown to Word document.""" cmd = [ 'pandoc' , input_path , '-o' , output_path ] if template : cmd . extend ( [ '--reference-doc' , template ] ) subprocess . run ( cmd , check = True ) return output_path def md_to_pdf ( input_path , output_path , ** options ) : """Convert Markdown to PDF with options.""" cmd = [ 'pandoc' , input_path , '-o' , output_path ] if options . get ( 'toc' ) : cmd . append ( '--toc' ) if options . get ( 'margin' ) : cmd . extend ( [ '-V' , f"geometry:margin= { options [ 'margin' ] } " ] ) subprocess . run ( cmd , check = True ) return output_path def md_to_pptx ( input_path , output_path , template = None ) : """Convert Markdown to PowerPoint.""" cmd = [ 'pandoc' , input_path , '-o' , output_path ] if template : cmd . extend ( [ '--reference-doc' , template ] ) subprocess . run ( cmd , check = True ) return output_path pypandoc (Python Wrapper) import pypandoc

Simple conversion

output

pypandoc . convert_file ( 'input.md' , 'docx' , outputfile = 'output.docx' )

With options

output

pypandoc . convert_file ( 'input.md' , 'docx' , outputfile = 'output.docx' , extra_args = [ '--toc' , '--reference-doc=template.docx' ] )

From string

md_content

"# Hello\n\nThis is markdown."

output

=

pypandoc

.

convert_text

(

md_content

,

'docx'

,

format

=

'md'

,

outputfile

=

'output.docx'

)

Best Practices

Use Templates

Create a reference document for consistent branding

Structure Headers

Use consistent heading levels (## for slides, # for sections)

Test Incrementally

Convert small sections first to verify formatting

Include Metadata

Use YAML frontmatter for document properties

Handle Images

Use relative paths and specify dimensions Common Patterns Batch Conversion import subprocess from pathlib import Path def batch_convert ( input_dir , output_format , output_dir = None ) : """Convert all markdown files in a directory.""" input_path = Path ( input_dir ) output_path = Path ( output_dir ) if output_dir else input_path for md_file in input_path . glob ( '*.md' ) : output_file = output_path / md_file . with_suffix ( f'. { output_format } ' ) . name subprocess . run ( [ 'pandoc' , str ( md_file ) , '-o' , str ( output_file ) ] , check = True ) print ( f"Converted: { md_file . name } -> { output_file . name } " ) batch_convert ( './docs' , 'docx' , './output' ) Report Generator def generate_report ( title , sections , output_path , template = None ) : """Generate Word report from structured data."""

Build markdown

md_content

f"""--- title: " { title } " date: " { datetime . now ( ) . strftime ( '%B %d, %Y' ) } "

""" for section_title , content in sections . items ( ) : md_content += f"# { section_title } \n\n { content } \n\n"

Write temp file

with open ( 'temp_report.md' , 'w' ) as f : f . write ( md_content )

Convert

cmd

[ 'pandoc' , 'temp_report.md' , '-o' , output_path , '--toc' ] if template : cmd . extend ( [ '--reference-doc' , template ] ) subprocess . run ( cmd , check = True ) os . remove ( 'temp_report.md' ) Examples Example 1: Technical Documentation import subprocess

Create comprehensive markdown

doc

"" " - - - title : "API Documentation" author : "Dev Team" date : "2024-01-15" toc : true toc - depth : 2 - - -

Introduction

This document describes the REST API for our service .

Authentication

All API requests require an API key in the header : Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY

Endpoints

GET /users

Retrieve all users. Response: | Field | Type | Description | |-------|------|-------------| | id | integer | User ID | | name | string | Full name | | email | string | Email address |

POST /users

Create a new user. Request Body: ```json { "name": "John Doe", "email": "john@example.com" } Error Codes Code Meaning 400 Bad Request 401 Unauthorized 404 Not Found 500 Server Error """ Save markdown with open('api_docs.md', 'w') as f: f.write(doc) Convert to Word subprocess.run([ 'pandoc', 'api_docs.md', '-o', 'api_documentation.docx', '--toc', '--reference-doc', 'company_template.docx' ], check=True) Convert to PDF subprocess.run([ 'pandoc', 'api_docs.md', '-o', 'api_documentation.pdf', '--toc', '-V', 'geometry:margin=1in', '-V', 'fontsize=11pt' ], check=True)

Example 2: Presentation from Markdown

```python slides_md = """--- title: "Q4 Business Review" author: "Sales Team" date: "January 2024"

Overview

Agenda

• Q4 Performance Summary
• Regional Highlights
• 2024 Outlook
• Q&A

Q4 Performance

Key Metrics

• Revenue: $12.5M (+15% YoY)
• New Customers: 250
• Retention Rate: 94%

Regional Performance

:::::::::::::: {.columns} ::: {.column width="50%"} North America - Revenue: $6.2M - Growth: +18% ::: ::: {.column width="50%"} Europe - Revenue: $4.1M - Growth: +12% ::: ::::::::::::::

2024 Outlook

Strategic Priorities

1. Expand APAC presence
2. Launch new product line
3. Improve customer onboarding

Revenue Targets