Report · marked 25 Aug 2026

microsoft/markitdown

An agent will struggle here, mostly for fixable reasons.

Python · 176,216 stars · 165 files · branch main

46 /100 C

Instructions 3/27Whether the repo tells an agent how to behave before it starts guessing. Losing marks on agent instruction file and instruction quality.Setup 2/20Whether an agent can install the project and get it running without a human. Losing marks on deterministic install and discoverable commands.Verification loop 14/25Whether an agent can check its own work. This is the category that most decides whether agent output is trustworthy. Losing marks on test command is discoverable and lint and format rules.Context economy 20/20Whether the repo fits in a context window, or fights it. Full marks.Navigability 8/10How quickly anything new can orient itself. Losing marks on written documentation.

Higher is better. Accent marks what is costing you most.

Fix these first

Agent instruction file

Add an AGENTS.md at the root: what the project is, how to install, how to run, how to test, and the two or three conventions a newcomer always gets wrong.

Instruction quality

Instructions earn their keep by naming exact commands. 'Run the tests with `pnpm test`' beats three paragraphs of philosophy.

Test command is discoverable

Add a `test` script or a `test` target that runs the whole suite with no arguments. The convention is the interface — an agent tries `npm test` and `make test` before it tries reading your CI config.

The full marking

Every deduction below names the file or setting it came from.

Instructions 3/27 F

Whether the repo tells an agent how to behave before it starts guessing.

✗Agent instruction file 0/12

None found. Every agent that opens this repo starts from zero.

Add an AGENTS.md at the root: what the project is, how to install, how to run, how to test, and the two or three conventions a newcomer always gets wrong.

Looked for AGENTS.md, CLAUDE.md, .github/copilot-instructions.md, .cursorrules

✗Instruction quality 0/12

Nothing to judge, since there are no instructions.

Instructions earn their keep by naming exact commands. 'Run the tests with `pnpm test`' beats three paragraphs of philosophy.

✓README as an entry point 3/3

README has a clear getting-started section.

Setup 2/20 F

Whether an agent can install the project and get it running without a human.

✗Deterministic install 0/6

No lockfile. An agent installing dependencies may not get what CI got.

Commit the lockfile your package manager generates. Without it, an agent's install and your install are different builds, and 'works on my machine' becomes unfalsifiable.

✗Discoverable commands 0/6

No declared commands. An agent has to infer how to build and run this from the file tree.

Declare the handful of commands that matter in package.json scripts, a Makefile, or a justfile. Naming them turns guesswork into a lookup.

✗Environment config 0/4

Nothing documents the environment this needs. An agent will get a runtime error it can't diagnose.

Add a .env.example listing every variable with a safe placeholder value. It's the cheapest possible fix and it unblocks the whole first run.

✗Pinned runtime version 0/2

No pinned runtime version.

Add a .nvmrc, .python-version, or equivalent so the agent's toolchain matches yours.

✓Reproducible environment 2/2

.devcontainer/devcontainer.json gives a known-good environment.

Verification loop 14/25 B-

Whether an agent can check its own work. This is the category that most decides whether agent output is trustworthy.

✓Tests exist 8/8

85 test files against 72 source files.

e.g. packages/markitdown-mcp/tests/__init__.py, packages/markitdown-ocr/tests/__init__.py, packages/markitdown-ocr/tests/ocr_test_data/docx_complex_layout.docx

✗Test command is discoverable 0/7

There's no obvious way to run the tests. Even if tests exist, an agent won't reliably find the entry point.

✓Continuous integration 4/4

2 GitHub Actions workflows define what "passing" means.

✗Lint and format rules 0/3

No linter or formatter config. Style is tribal knowledge, so agent output will drift from yours.

A formatter config is the cheapest way to stop reviewing whitespace in agent diffs. It moves style from opinion to a command.

✗Static type checking 2/3

Type checking is configured, but not in strict mode.

A type checker gives an agent an error message instead of a runtime surprise. It's the second-fastest feedback loop after the compiler.

Context economy 20/20 A+

Whether the repo fits in a context window, or fights it.

✓No committed build output 6/6

No generated directories committed.

✓.gitignore hygiene 3/3

.gitignore covers 83 patterns.

✓File sizes fit in context 6/6

No source file is large enough to crowd out a context window.

✓Repository weight 5/5

About 4.3MB checked out, which is comfortable.

Here is your AGENTS.md

Drafted from what is actually in this repository: the install command from your lockfile, the commands you already declare, your real directory layout. Anything marked TODO needs a person. Save it at the root as AGENTS.md.

AGENTS.md — drafted for microsoft/markitdown

undefined

Open the raw markdown or curl -o AGENTS.md agentreadme.com/draft/microsoft/markitdown.md

Show the mark

The badge re-checks daily, so it keeps up as the repository changes. Use mark again to force it now.

[![agent ready](https://agentreadme.com/badge/microsoft/markitdown.svg)](https://agentreadme.com/microsoft/markitdown)

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Think this mark is wrong?

Every deduction above names the file it came from, so this can be settled by looking. If a check missed something, that is a rule worth fixing.

Open an issue, already filled in