Document Converter

Field	Value
Name	`doc-converter`
Category	data-pipeline
Complexity	moderate
Tags	sidecar, pandoc, document-conversion, llm-synthesis, http-body
Author	randybias
Min Version	0.7.0

Description

Convert documents between formats using a pandoc sidecar, then summarize the output with Claude. This scaffold demonstrates the HTTP body sidecar data flow pattern — content travels as JSON in the request and response body, with no shared volume required.

Sidecar

This scaffold includes a sidecar container:

Field	Value
Name	`pandoc`
Image	`pandoc/core:3.6`
Port	`3030`
Health check	`GET /version`
Communication	HTTP body (JSON request/response to `localhost:3030`)

The pandoc sidecar runs pandoc-server --port 3030 using the official pandoc image. No custom Docker image is needed. The engine node sends document content via HTTP POST and receives the converted output in the response body.

DAG Structure

fetch-document → convert-document → summarize-output

Node	Purpose
`fetch-document`	Fetch a document from a URL, auto-detecting format
`convert-document`	POST content to the pandoc sidecar for format conversion
`summarize-output`	Send a preview to Claude for a brief summary

Triggers

manual only

Dependencies

Service	Type	Required
Anthropic API	External	Optional (mock fallback if absent)
Document source URL	External	Yes

Config

Key	Default	Description
`timeout`	`120s`	Per-node timeout
`retries`	`0`	Retry count per node
`document_url`	Tentacular README	URL of document to fetch
`input_format`	`markdown`	pandoc input format
`output_format`	`html`	pandoc output format
`max_summary_chars`	`2000`	Max chars sent to Claude for summarization

Pandoc supports 40+ input and output formats. Common pairs: markdown to HTML, HTML to markdown, RST to markdown, markdown to LaTeX.

Secrets

anthropic.api_key — Claude API key for summarization (optional; mock fallback used if absent)

Usage

tntc scaffold init doc-converter
tntc scaffold init doc-converter my-custom-name
tntc scaffold info doc-converter

Notes

The pandoc sidecar starts pandoc-server --port 3030 — no custom image needed
/version is used as the readiness probe (returns pandoc version JSON)
PDFs cannot be produced by pandoc-server (pandoc limitation in server mode)
Contrast with video-frame-analyzer which uses a shared emptyDir volume for large file handoff

Source

Scaffold source: quickstarts/doc-converter/