OpenParable
Skip to content
← Back to skills

Pandoc

Documents
pandoc

Pandoc is an Agent Skill for documents published in the AtomicBot-ai/atomic-agent repository on GitHub: a SKILL.md instruction file an AI agent can load to do this task.

Convert documents between formats (Markdown, DOCX, HTML, PDF, RST, EPUB, LaTeX) via the `pandoc` CLI. Use to transform a document from one format to another.

View on GitHub ↗
QUICK START

How to use this skill

Bring this guide into your coding agent with a prompt tailored to the tool you use.

  1. Open your project in Codex.
  2. Copy and paste the prompt below.
  3. Review files and risks before approving any action.
Prompt to paste
Inspect the Agent Skill at https://github.com/AtomicBot-ai/atomic-agent/blob/HEAD/starter-skills/pandoc/SKILL.md and all supporting files. Report provenance, permissions, scripts, dependencies, and security risks. Propose an exact installation into .agents/skills/pandoc, but wait for my approval before writing files or running scripts.

Copying this prompt does not install or run the skill. Review third-party files before use.

pandoc

Convert documents between formats with the universal pandoc CLI. Input/output formats are inferred from file extensions; override with -f <from> / -t <to> when needed.

PDF output requires a LaTeX engine (or --pdf-engine). Markdown/HTML/DOCX/EPUB conversions need only pandoc itself.

Setup health check (run first, every session)

Verify with one solo step:

[{ "tool": "os.shell.run", "args": { "cmd": "pandoc", "args": ["--version"] } }]

Outcome map:

  • exit 0 + version → ready, proceed.
  • command not found: pandoc → enter Setup playbook → "pandoc missing".
  • PDF target fails with pdflatex not found → enter Setup playbook → "PDF engine missing".

Setup playbook (when prerequisites are missing)

pandoc missing

Reply (solo reply step):

«pandoc не установлен. Могу поставить: brew install pandoc. Поставить?»

On yes:

[{ "tool": "os.shell.run", "args": { "cmd": "brew", "args": ["install", "pandoc"] } }]

On Linux: apt-get install pandoc.

PDF engine missing

PDF output needs a TeX engine. Offer the lightweight option:

«Для экспорта в PDF нужен движок TeX. Могу поставить: brew install --cask basictex (или лёгкий brew install tectonic). Что предпочитаете?»

tectonic is simplest (pandoc in.md -o out.pdf --pdf-engine=tectonic).

When to use

  • "Convert this Markdown to DOCX / PDF / HTML", "turn this HTML into Markdown".
  • "Make an EPUB from these chapters", "export notes to a Word doc".

When NOT to use

  • Reading a document's text — use os.fs.read_document.
  • Editing PDFs structurally (merge/split) — use the pdf skill.
  • Spreadsheet conversion — use the xlsx skill.

Common operations

All examples invoke os.shell.run with cmd: "pandoc". Outputs go to the session working directory; the approval gate surfaces each write.

Goalargs
Markdown → DOCX["notes.md", "-o", "notes.docx"]
Markdown → PDF["notes.md", "-o", "notes.pdf", "--pdf-engine=tectonic"]
Markdown → standalone HTML["notes.md", "-s", "-o", "notes.html"]
DOCX → Markdown["report.docx", "-o", "report.md"]
HTML → Markdown["page.html", "-f", "html", "-t", "gfm", "-o", "page.md"]
Many MD → one EPUB["ch1.md", "ch2.md", "-o", "book.epub", "--toc"]
With a table of contentsappend ["--toc", "--toc-depth=2"]

Rules

  1. Always specify an explicit -o <output> path and report it to the user.
  2. For PDF, prefer --pdf-engine=tectonic if installed (fewer dependencies).
  3. Verify the output exists (e.g. os.fs.list) before claiming success.
  4. Preserve the source file — pandoc writes a new file, never edit in place.