read-source

When to Use

Use witan read to convert source documents into LLM-ready text. This is for source material — PDFs, Word docs, presentations, HTML pages, and Markdown files that contain data you need to extract.

• PDF → plain text
• Word (.doc, .docx) → markdown
• PowerPoint (.ppt, .pptx) → markdown
• HTML → markdown
• Markdown (.md) → outline support via --outline

This is not for reading spreadsheet data (.xlsx, .xls) — use spreadsheet-specific tools for that.

Setup

Files are cached server-side by content hash so repeated operations skip re-upload. If WITAN_STATELESS=1 is set (or --stateless is passed), files are processed but not stored.

The CLI automatically applies per-attempt request timeouts and retries transient API failures (408, 429, 500, 502, 503, 504, plus timeout/network errors). Non-retryable 4xx responses fail immediately.

Quick Reference

# Get document structure first
witan read report.pdf --outline
witan read slides.pptx --outline

# Read specific sections
witan read report.pdf --pages 1-5
witan read slides.pptx --slides 1-3
witan read notes.docx --offset 50 --limit 100

# Read from URLs
witan read https://example.com/report.pdf --outline
witan read https://example.com/data.csv

# JSON output for automation
witan read report.pdf --json
witan read report.pdf --outline --json

Exit Codes

Code	Meaning
0	Success
1	Error (bad arguments, network failure, unsupported format)

Navigation Strategy

Go directly with --pages, --slides, or --offset/--limit when you know where to look. Use --outline when you don't — it gives document structure to target the right section.

PDF workflow:

1. witan read report.pdf --outline → see chapter/section structure with page ranges
2. witan read report.pdf --pages 12-15 → read the section you need

PPTX workflow:

1. witan read deck.pptx --outline → see slide titles
2. witan read deck.pptx --slides 5-8 → read specific slides

Text/DOCX workflow:

1. witan read notes.docx --outline → see heading structure with line offsets
2. witan read notes.docx --offset 120 --limit 50 → read a section

Command Reference

witan read <file-or-url> [flags]

Flag	Default	Description
--pages	—	PDF page range (e.g. 1-5, 1,3,5, 1-5,10-15)
--slides	—	Presentation slide range (e.g. 1-3)
--offset	1	Start line (1-indexed)
--limit	2000	Maximum lines to return
--outline	false	Show document structure instead of content
--json	false	Output full JSON response

Pagination Limits

Constraint	Value
Max PDF pages per read	10
Max PPTX slides per read	10
Default line limit	2000
Max file size	25 MB

Pipeline: Source → Spreadsheet

The typical flow for reading source material and populating a spreadsheet:

1. Explore — witan read source.pdf --outline to understand structure
2. Read — witan read source.pdf --pages 3-8 to get the data
3. Parse — extract values from the text (LLM or regex)
4. Write — witan xlsx exec model.xlsx --code 'return await xlsx.setCells(wb, [{ address: "Inputs!B3", value: 123 }])' to populate the spreadsheet

Output Format

Content mode (default): line-numbered text to stdout, metadata to stderr.

     1	Revenue Summary
     2
     3	Q1: $1,250,000
     4	Q2: $1,380,000
text/plain  [15 pages, 10 read, 847 lines total, showing 1–847]

Outline mode (--outline): indented structure to stdout.

Introduction  [pages 1-2]
  Background  [pages 1-1]
  Methodology  [pages 2-2]
Results  [pages 3-8]
  Financial Summary  [pages 3-5]
  Projections  [pages 6-8]
Appendix  [pages 9-15]
[15 pages]

Error Guide

Error	Fix
cannot access file	Check file path exists and is readable
downloading URL: HTTP 4xx/5xx	Check the URL is accessible
payload_too_large	File exceeds 25 MB limit
missing_content_type	Set Content-Type header (API only)
Empty outline	Document has no bookmarks/headings; use offset/limit to navigate
Truncated text	Use --pages, --slides, or increase --limit