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---
name: firecrawl-parse
description: |
Convert a local file (PDF, DOCX, XLSX, HTML, …) to markdown, or answer questions about its content. Use whenever the input is a file path, not a URL.
allowed-tools:
- Bash(firecrawl *)
- Bash(npx firecrawl-cli *)
---
# firecrawl parse
Turn a local document into clean markdown on disk. Supports **PDF, DOCX, DOC, ODT, RTF, XLSX, XLS, HTML/HTM**.
## Quick start
Always save to `.firecrawl/` with `-o` — parsed docs can be hundreds of KB and blow up context if streamed to stdout. Add `.firecrawl/` to `.gitignore`.
```bash
mkdir -p .firecrawl
# File → markdown
firecrawl parse ./paper.pdf -o .firecrawl/paper.md
# AI summary
firecrawl parse ./paper.pdf -S -o .firecrawl/paper-summary.md
# Ask a question about the doc
firecrawl parse ./paper.pdf -Q "What are the main conclusions?" \
-o .firecrawl/paper-qa.md
```
Then read the output incrementally with `head`, `grep`, or `rg`.
Run `firecrawl parse --help` for the full option list.
**Done when:** the markdown, summary, or answer is written under `.firecrawl/` and you have inspected it with bounded reads.
## Tips
- Quote paths with spaces: `firecrawl parse "./My Doc.pdf" -o .firecrawl/mydoc.md`.
- Max upload size: **50 MB** per file.
- Credits: ~1 per PDF page; HTML is 1 flat.
- Check `.firecrawl/` before re-parsing the same file.
- To check your credit balance (recommended for batch processing and similar workflows), use `firecrawl credit-usage` (requires authentication).
## See also
- [firecrawl-scrape](../firecrawl-scrape/SKILL.md) — same idea for URLs
- [firecrawl-build-scrape](https://github.com/firecrawl/skills/tree/main/skills/build/firecrawl-build-scrape) — building document extraction into an app instead of running it here
