CLI Markdown to PDF and HTML - mduck

Convert Markdown files to styled HTML and PDF.

Open source notice

This project is part of the Open Collective project Simply Hexagonal and is open to updates by its users, we ensure that PRs are relevant to the community. In other words, if you find a bug or want a new feature, please help us by becoming one of the contributors ✌️ ! See the contributing section.

Like this module? ❤

Please consider:

• Buying me a coffee ☕
• Supporting me on Patreon 🏆
• Starring this repo on Github 🌟

AI and Compliance Notice

The ⛩️ OpenKai quality framework for AI-assisted production was used in the creation of this project, making it ISO 42001 compliant by ensuring human oversight and governance.

30% Human · 70% AI · 100% epic

Run Without Installing

bunx

bunx mduck convert ./notes.md

bunx mduck convert ./notes.md ./dist/

bunx mduck convert ./notes.md ./dist/notes.html --template ./my-template.html

npx

npx mduck convert ./notes.md

npx mduck convert ./notes.md ./dist/

npx mduck convert ./notes.md ./dist/notes.html --template ./my-template.html

Install Globally

With Bun

bun add -g mduck

With npm

npm install -g mduck

Then run:

mduck --help

Commands

convert

mduck convert <input-file> [output-file] [--template <template-path>]

• <input-file> is required.
• [output-file] is optional.
• If output is omitted, output HTML uses input path with .html extension.
• If output is an existing directory, output file uses input basename + .html.
• PDF is always generated next to the resolved HTML output, with .pdf extension.
• --template (or -t) accepts absolute or relative path to an HTML template file.

Examples:

mduck convert ./docs/readme.md

mduck convert ./docs/readme.md ./output/

mduck convert ./docs/readme.md ./output/custom.html

mduck convert ./docs/readme.md ./output/ --template ./custom.template.html

eject-template

Write the built-in default template to disk so you can customize it.

mduck eject-template [output-template-html-path]

• No path: writes ./mduck.template.html
• File path: writes exactly there
• Directory path: writes mduck.template.html in that directory

Examples:

mduck eject-template

mduck eject-template ./templates/

mduck eject-template ./templates/my-template.html

Troubleshooting

Puppeteer error: browser not found

If you see an error saying Chromium/Chrome cannot be found, install Puppeteer's browser binary:

npx puppeteer browsers install chrome

If you use Bun:

bunx puppeteer browsers install chrome

Contributing

Yes, thank you! This plugin is community-driven, most of its features are from different authors. Please update the docs and tests and add your name to the package.json file.

Contributors ✨

Thanks goes to these wonderful people (emoji key):

License

Copyright (c) 2026 mduck Contributors. Licensed under the Apache License 2.0.