LibreAI / AI Agents / docling
// agents · docling-project/docling

docling

Convert PDFs, DOCX, and HTML into clean, AI-ready documents.

★ 68.5k stars⑂ 5.0k forksMITupdated 2026-10
▦ visual — this project's README ships no embeddable screenshot,
so here's a placeholder. The guide below is complete regardless.
// project facts

Project facts

docling is an open-source ai agents project by docling-project (docling-project/docling on GitHub). It has 68,521 GitHub stars and 5,023 forks, is released under the MIT license, and was last updated on GitHub on 8 October 2026.

GitHub stars
68,521
Forks
5,023
License
MIT
Last updated on GitHub
8 October 2026
Category
AI Agents
Listing
Full install guide
Official site
Official site
// how it works

How it works

  1. Pick a first task

    Choose one real workload to test the project against.

  2. Download the project

    Clone it locally and read through the getting-started guide.

  3. Wire up dependencies

    Install the stack it needs and set any environment variables.

  4. Run and verify

    Execute the starter example and check results before going further.

// features

Why people love it

Multi-format parsing

Handles PDF, DOCX, HTML, and more.

Markdown output

Produces clean structured Markdown for downstream AI use.

RAG-ready pipeline

Built to feed retrieval and agent workflows.

Python library

Integrates directly into Python data pipelines.

Open source (MIT)

Permissive licensing.

Active development

Pushed in October 2026.

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// run it

Run it yourself

  1. Step 1 — Install the package

    Install docling from PyPI into your Python environment.

    pip install docling
  2. Step 2 — Point it at a file

    Convert a document to structured output.

    # see README for the exact CLI/API usage
    docling myfile.pdf
  3. Step 3 — Feed your pipeline

    Take the Markdown output into your RAG or agent ingestion flow.

    # integrate the parsed output with your embeddings step
// use cases

What you can build

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// faq

Questions, answered

Who maintains docling?

It is maintained by the docling-project team at docling-project/docling, with 5,023 forks. Check recent releases for format-support updates.

Is docling free to use?

Yes. It is released under the MIT license, which permits commercial use, modification, and redistribution. Read the LICENSE file for the exact terms.

Do I need a paid API to use it?

No — it is a local parsing library. You only pay for whatever LLM you pair it with downstream.

How does it compare to other parsers?

Compare on table and layout fidelity plus format coverage for your specific document types.

How do I get started?

Run pip install docling and follow the README examples to convert your first file.

// keep exploring

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// alternatives

Alternatives in AI Agents

The most-starred other AI Agents projects in the LibreAI catalogue — the realistic shortlist if docling is not the right fit.

Get docling

Free and open — grab the source, star the repo, and start creating.