@mdgate/ppt

Convert legacy PowerPoint .ppt files to Markdown in TypeScript.

@mdgate/ppt reads binary PowerPoint files (.ppt, .pps, .pot) directly in JavaScript and converts slides into GitHub-Flavored Markdown, without Python, native addons, WASM, or PowerPoint.

Works in Node.js, Cloudflare Workers, Edge runtimes, and browsers.

npm install @mdgate/ppt

import { toMarkdown } from '@mdgate/ppt';

const markdown = await toMarkdown(bytes);

bytes is a Uint8Array, so the deck can come from a file upload, object storage, an HTTP request, a browser file picker, or anywhere else your application gets bytes.

Why @mdgate/ppt

Binary PowerPoint is still common in older mail threads and shared drives.

@mdgate/ppt reads the OLE compound file in the same runtime as your application:

• Pure TypeScript
• PPT → Markdown locally
• No Python runtime
• No native addons
• No WASM runtime
• Zero third-party runtime dependencies
• Works with raw Uint8Array input
• Detects binary PowerPoint from OLE streams, not only the filename

What it extracts

@mdgate/ppt parses the binary presentation stream and rebuilds a shared document model.

The converter handles PowerPoint 97-2003 concerns including:

• slide text in reading order
• titles and body copy
• lists
• speaker notes when present
• encrypted document detection

OOXML decks (.pptx) are a different format. Use @mdgate/pptx for those.

Node.js

import { readFile } from 'node:fs/promises';
import { toMarkdown } from '@mdgate/ppt';

const bytes = new Uint8Array(await readFile('deck.ppt'));
const markdown = await toMarkdown(bytes);

console.log(markdown);

Browser

import { toMarkdown } from '@mdgate/ppt';

const file = input.files![0];
const bytes = new Uint8Array(await file.arrayBuffer());

const markdown = await toMarkdown(bytes);

Cloudflare Workers and Edge runtimes

import { toMarkdown } from '@mdgate/ppt';

export default {
  async fetch(request: Request) {
    const bytes = new Uint8Array(await request.arrayBuffer());
    const markdown = await toMarkdown(bytes);

    return new Response(markdown, {
      headers: {
        'content-type': 'text/markdown; charset=utf-8',
      },
    });
  },
};

Format detection

You do not need to trust the file extension.

@mdgate/ppt recognizes binary PowerPoint from OLE compound-file streams.

const markdown = await toMarkdown(bytes);

A path can still be supplied as a format hint when @mdgate/ppt is used through @mdgate/converters or a reader composed with @mdgate/core, but the path is never used to read a file from disk.

Encrypted presentations

Encrypted or password-protected files are reported as encrypted rather than returning misleading partial output.

Compose it with other file readers

@mdgate/ppt implements the converter interface from @mdgate/core.

import { create } from '@mdgate/core';
import { ppt } from '@mdgate/ppt';
import { pptx } from '@mdgate/pptx';

const read = create([
  ppt(),
  pptx(),
]);

The application still uses one reading interface while each format remains independently installable.

Need more than PowerPoint?

If your application needs to read many different file types, use the complete converter set:

npm install @mdgate/converters

import { toMarkdown } from '@mdgate/converters';

const markdown = await toMarkdown(bytes, {
  path: filename,
});

@mdgate/ppt is one of the single-format packages in the open-source mdgate/converters project.

For AI agents, the same converter architecture can be used to extend read_file from text files to real-world document formats.

License

MIT