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baoyu-url-to-markdown

Fetch any URL and convert to markdown using Chrome CDP. Supports two modes - auto-capture on page load, or wait for user signal (for pages requiring login). Use when user wants to save a webpage as markdown.

Install with Tessl CLI

npx tessl i github:jimliu/baoyu-skills --skill baoyu-url-to-markdown
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85

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Agent success when using this skill

Validation for skill structure

SKILL.md
Review
Evals

URL to Markdown

Fetches any URL via Chrome CDP and converts HTML to clean markdown.

Script Directory

Important: All scripts are located in the scripts/ subdirectory of this skill.

Agent Execution Instructions:

  1. Determine this SKILL.md file's directory path as SKILL_DIR
  2. Script path = ${SKILL_DIR}/scripts/<script-name>.ts
  3. Replace all ${SKILL_DIR} in this document with the actual path

Script Reference:

ScriptPurpose
scripts/main.tsCLI entry point for URL fetching

Preferences (EXTEND.md)

Use Bash to check EXTEND.md existence (priority order):

# Check project-level first
test -f .baoyu-skills/baoyu-url-to-markdown/EXTEND.md && echo "project"

# Then user-level (cross-platform: $HOME works on macOS/Linux/WSL)
test -f "$HOME/.baoyu-skills/baoyu-url-to-markdown/EXTEND.md" && echo "user"

┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┬───────────────────┐ │ Path │ Location │ ├────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┼───────────────────┤ │ .baoyu-skills/baoyu-url-to-markdown/EXTEND.md │ Project directory │ ├────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┼───────────────────┤ │ $HOME/.baoyu-skills/baoyu-url-to-markdown/EXTEND.md │ User home │ └────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┴───────────────────┘

┌───────────┬───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ Result │ Action │ ├───────────┼───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤ │ Found │ Read, parse, apply settings │ ├───────────┼───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤ │ Not found │ MUST run first-time setup (see below) — do NOT silently create defaults │ └───────────┴───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

EXTEND.md Supports: Download media by default | Default output directory | Default capture mode | Timeout settings

First-Time Setup (BLOCKING)

CRITICAL: When EXTEND.md is not found, you MUST use AskUserQuestion to ask the user for their preferences before creating EXTEND.md. NEVER create EXTEND.md with defaults without asking. This is a BLOCKING operation — do NOT proceed with any conversion until setup is complete.

Use AskUserQuestion with ALL questions in ONE call:

Question 1 — header: "Media", question: "How to handle images and videos in pages?"

  • "Ask each time (Recommended)" — After saving markdown, ask whether to download media
  • "Always download" — Always download media to local imgs/ and videos/ directories
  • "Never download" — Keep original remote URLs in markdown

Question 2 — header: "Output", question: "Default output directory?"

  • "url-to-markdown (Recommended)" — Save to ./url-to-markdown/{domain}/{slug}.md
  • (User may choose "Other" to type a custom path)

Question 3 — header: "Save", question: "Where to save preferences?"

  • "User (Recommended)" — ~/.baoyu-skills/ (all projects)
  • "Project" — .baoyu-skills/ (this project only)

After user answers, create EXTEND.md at the chosen location, confirm "Preferences saved to [path]", then continue.

Full reference: references/config/first-time-setup.md

Supported Keys

KeyDefaultValuesDescription
download_mediaaskask / 1 / 0ask = prompt each time, 1 = always download, 0 = never
default_output_diremptypath or emptyDefault output directory (empty = ./url-to-markdown/)

Value priority:

  1. CLI arguments (--download-media, -o)
  2. EXTEND.md
  3. Skill defaults

Features

  • Chrome CDP for full JavaScript rendering
  • Two capture modes: auto or wait-for-user
  • Clean markdown output with metadata
  • Handles login-required pages via wait mode
  • Download images and videos to local directories

Usage

# Auto mode (default) - capture when page loads
npx -y bun ${SKILL_DIR}/scripts/main.ts <url>

# Wait mode - wait for user signal before capture
npx -y bun ${SKILL_DIR}/scripts/main.ts <url> --wait

# Save to specific file
npx -y bun ${SKILL_DIR}/scripts/main.ts <url> -o output.md

# Download images and videos to local directories
npx -y bun ${SKILL_DIR}/scripts/main.ts <url> --download-media

Options

OptionDescription
<url>URL to fetch
-o <path>Output file path (default: auto-generated)
--waitWait for user signal before capturing
--timeout <ms>Page load timeout (default: 30000)
--download-mediaDownload image/video assets to local imgs/ and videos/, and rewrite markdown links to local relative paths

Capture Modes

ModeBehaviorUse When
Auto (default)Capture on network idlePublic pages, static content
Wait (--wait)User signals when readyLogin-required, lazy loading, paywalls

Wait mode workflow:

  1. Run with --wait → script outputs "Press Enter when ready"
  2. Ask user to confirm page is ready
  3. Send newline to stdin to trigger capture

Output Format

YAML front matter with url, title, description, author, published, captured_at fields, followed by converted markdown content.

Output Directory

url-to-markdown/<domain>/<slug>.md
  • <slug>: From page title or URL path (kebab-case, 2-6 words)
  • Conflict resolution: Append timestamp <slug>-YYYYMMDD-HHMMSS.md

When --download-media is enabled:

  • Images are saved to imgs/ next to the markdown file
  • Videos are saved to videos/ next to the markdown file
  • Markdown media links are rewritten to local relative paths

Media Download Workflow

Based on download_media setting in EXTEND.md:

SettingBehavior
1 (always)Run script with --download-media flag
0 (never)Run script without --download-media flag
ask (default)Follow the ask-each-time flow below

Ask-Each-Time Flow

  1. Run script without --download-media → markdown saved
  2. Check saved markdown for remote media URLs (https:// in image/video links)
  3. If no remote media found → done, no prompt needed
  4. If remote media found → use AskUserQuestion:
    • header: "Media", question: "Download N images/videos to local files?"
    • "Yes" — Download to local directories
    • "No" — Keep remote URLs
  5. If user confirms → run script again with --download-media (overwrites markdown with localized links)

Environment Variables

VariableDescription
URL_CHROME_PATHCustom Chrome executable path
URL_DATA_DIRCustom data directory
URL_CHROME_PROFILE_DIRCustom Chrome profile directory

Troubleshooting: Chrome not found → set URL_CHROME_PATH. Timeout → increase --timeout. Complex pages → try --wait mode.

Extension Support

Custom configurations via EXTEND.md. See Preferences section for paths and supported options.

Repository
jimliu/baoyu-skills
Last updated
Created

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