Quick Start

Relevant source files

• .github/workflows/checks.yml
• CHANGELOG.md
• README.md
• docling/cli/main.py
• docling/datamodel/base_models.py
• docling/datamodel/document.py
• docling/datamodel/pipeline_options.py
• docling/document_converter.py
• docling/utils/layout_postprocessor.py
• docs/examples/minimal_vlm_pipeline.py
• docs/index.md
• docs/usage/index.md
• mkdocs.yml
• pyproject.toml
• uv.lock

Get started with Docling in minutes. This page shows the simplest ways to convert documents using the CLI and Python API.

Basic Conversion Flow

Docling converts documents from various formats to a unified DoclingDocument representation, which can be exported to multiple output formats.

Sources: docling/document_converter.py189-326 docling/datamodel/document.py28-36

Using the CLI

The docling CLI provides the fastest way to convert documents from the command line.

Basic Examples

Output Formats

Format	Option	Description
Markdown	--to md	Human-readable text (default)
JSON	--to json	Full document structure
HTML	--to html	Styled HTML output
DocTags	--to doctags	XML-like annotations

Common Options

For all CLI options, see the CLI reference or run docling --help.

Sources: docling/cli/main.py373-474 README.md88-101

Using the Python API

The DocumentConverter class provides programmatic access for integrating Docling into your applications.

Basic Example

Sources: README.md73-82 docling/document_converter.py209-261

Input Sources

The convert() method accepts file paths (string or Path), URLs, or DocumentStream objects and returns a ConversionResult containing the converted DoclingDocument.

Sources: docling/document_converter.py283-326

Batch Processing

The convert_all() method processes documents concurrently and returns an iterator of ConversionResult objects.

Sources: docling/document_converter.py327-383

Exporting Documents

The DoclingDocument class (from docling-core) provides multiple export methods for different output formats.

Sources: docling/datamodel/document.py28-36

Supported Input Formats

Docling automatically detects and processes various document formats:

Format Support Matrix

Format	Extensions	Use Case
PDF	.pdf	Technical documents, reports, papers
Word	.docx, .dotx, .docm	Office documents
PowerPoint	.pptx, .ppsx, .pptm	Presentations
Excel	.xlsx, .xlsm	Spreadsheets
HTML	.html, .htm, .xhtml	Web pages
Markdown	.md	Documentation
Images	.png, .jpg, .tiff	Scanned documents, photos
Audio/Video	.mp3, .wav, .mp4	Transcription (ASR)
LaTeX	.tex	Scientific documents

See Supported Formats for the complete list.

Multi-Format Example

Format detection is automatic based on file extension and MIME type.

Sources: docling/datamodel/base_models.py55-103 README.md33

Key Classes and Methods

DocumentConverter

• convert(source) - Convert a single document
• convert_all(sources) - Batch convert multiple documents
• convert_string(content, name, format) - Convert string content

ConversionResult

• document - The converted DoclingDocument
• status - Conversion status (SUCCESS, FAILURE, PARTIAL_SUCCESS)
• errors - List of errors if conversion failed
• pages - Page-level metadata

DoclingDocument

• export_to_markdown() - Export as Markdown string
• save_as_markdown(filename) - Save as Markdown file
• save_as_json(filename) - Save as JSON
• save_as_html(filename) - Save as HTML

Sources: docling/document_converter.py189-432 docling/datamodel/document.py407-524

Common Patterns

Simple Conversion

Error Handling

Processing a Directory

Sources: docling/document_converter.py283-383

Next Steps

After getting started with basic conversion:

1. Explore Format Options: See Configuration and Pipeline Options for detailed configuration of OCR, table extraction, and other features
2. Learn About Pipelines: See Processing Pipelines to understand the different processing strategies
3. Work with Document Structure: See DoclingDocument Data Model to understand the output schema
4. Advanced Examples: See Usage Examples for comprehensive code examples
5. CLI Reference: See Document Conversion CLI for all command-line options

Sources: docling/cli/main.py368-609 docling/document_converter.py178-609