PDF Document Analysis

VerifiedSafe

Analyze PDF documents to generate structured reports with summaries, key points, data extraction, and insights.

Sby Skills Guide Bot
ContentBeginner
7/25/2026
Claude Code
#pdf#document-analysis#summarization#report-generation#text-extraction

Recommended for

Automated summary

Analyzes a PDF file (report, whitepaper, ebook, manual) and produces a structured Markdown report with summary, key points, and insights, saved under reports/pdfs/ and logged in the daily activity file.

Strengths

  • Explicit workflow: verify the path, extract text with the Read tool, then generate the report following prompts/pdf.md
  • Deterministic report naming and storage (reports/pdfs/YYYY-MM-DD_title.md) with a standardized header block
  • Keeps an audit trail by appending entries under a "PDFs Reviewed" section in logs/YYYY-MM-DD.md
  • Handles failure modes: scanned PDFs, bad paths, non-PDF files, and a missing prompt file falling back to prompts/default.md

Limitations

  • Relies on the Read tool for extraction, so scanned or image-based PDFs are not processed (OCR is only suggested)
  • Assumes a specific project layout (prompts/pdf.md, reports/pdfs/, logs/) that must already exist or be created
  • No batch processing or multi-document analysis is described
When to use it

Use it when a user supplies a path to a .pdf file and asks for a summary, data extraction, or an analysis of a report or whitepaper.

When not to use it

Avoid it for scanned PDFs without a text layer, for non-PDF files, or when no archived Markdown report is wanted.

Security analysis

Safe
Quality score86/100

The skill only reads a user-provided PDF, reads an internal prompt file, writes a report under reports/pdfs/, and updates a local activity log. It does not use destructive commands, network exfiltration, credential access, obfuscation, or safety-disabling instructions.

No concerns found

How this analysis is made

Examples

Summarize a report
Analyze ~/Downloads/2024-annual-report.pdf and save a structured report with a summary, key points, and notable data.
Whitepaper insights
/pdf docs/whitepaper-llm-evals.pdf — extract the main arguments and any benchmarks mentioned.
Manual breakdown
Please read reports/incoming/product-manual.pdf and give me a section-by-section breakdown, then log it in today's activity file.

name: pdf-analysis description: Analyze PDF documents including reports, whitepapers, ebooks, and manuals. Use when the user mentions PDF, document, whitepaper, ebook, report file, or wants to analyze a .pdf file.

PDF Document Analysis

Analyze PDF documents to generate structured reports with summaries, key points, data extraction, and insights.

When to Use

Activate this skill when the user:

  • Mentions "PDF", "document", "whitepaper", "ebook", "report"
  • Provides a file path to a .pdf file
  • Asks to summarize or analyze a PDF document
  • Wants to extract insights from a document file
  • References a downloaded report or paper

Instructions

  1. Get the file path - Ask the user for the PDF file path if not provided
  2. Verify the file exists and is readable
  3. Read the PDF content using the Read tool
    • The Read tool can extract text from PDF files
  4. If reading fails:
    • If PDF appears to be scanned/image-based: Inform user OCR may be needed
    • Suggest alternative approaches if text extraction fails
  5. Read the analysis prompt from prompts/pdf.md
  6. Extract document metadata from content:
    • Title (from content or derive from filename)
    • Author if mentioned
    • Date if mentioned
  7. Generate analysis following the prompt structure exactly
  8. Create output directory reports/pdfs/ if needed
  9. Save the report to reports/pdfs/YYYY-MM-DD_sanitized-title.md where:
    • YYYY-MM-DD is today's date
    • sanitized-title is the title in lowercase, spaces replaced with hyphens, special chars removed, max 50 chars
  10. Update the activity log at logs/YYYY-MM-DD.md:
    • Create file if it doesn't exist with standard sections
    • Add entry under "## PDFs Reviewed" section (create if needed)
    • Format: - [Title](../reports/pdfs/filename.md) - HH:MM
  11. Confirm to user what was saved and where

Report Format

Include this header in the report:

# [Document Title]

**Source**: [file path]
**Date**: YYYY-MM-DD
**Type**: PDF Document

---

[Analysis content following prompts/pdf.md structure]

---

## My Notes

[Empty space for user notes]

Error Handling

  • If file path doesn't exist: Ask user for correct path
  • If file is not a PDF: Suggest using /analyze for other file types
  • If text extraction fails: Suggest OCR or manual copy
  • If prompts/pdf.md missing: Use prompts/default.md

Related

  • Slash command equivalent: /pdf <filepath>
  • Prompt file: prompts/pdf.md
  • Output location: reports/pdfs/

From the file to a first result

The download contains exactly the content displayed on this page. This copy may differ from the latest version in the source repository.

View the source and supporting files

This download contains SKILL.md only. Any scripts, references, templates and dependencies are not included. Get the required files from the source, preserving their directory structure, before continuing.

1. Download the file

Download SKILL.md

From the root of a test project, save the file as .skill-downloads/pdf-document-analysis-mrzxur1j/SKILL.md, or use the command below. This folder is for inspecting the skill before installation.

Command for macOS/Linux or WSL: requires a POSIX shell and curl. On Windows without WSL, use the download button and create the folder manually.

mkdir -p '.skill-downloads/pdf-document-analysis-mrzxur1j' && curl --fail --show-error --location 'https://skills-guides.com/api/skills/pdf-document-analysis-mrzxur1j/download' --output '.skill-downloads/pdf-document-analysis-mrzxur1j/SKILL.md.part' && mv '.skill-downloads/pdf-document-analysis-mrzxur1j/SKILL.md.part' '.skill-downloads/pdf-document-analysis-mrzxur1j/SKILL.md'

2. Check prerequisites

Read SKILL.md before using it. If it references scripts or external services, inspect them and prepare the required access in your test environment.

No recognized prerequisites section in this file. This does not mean it is self-contained: libraries, tools and access requirements may be mentioned elsewhere in the content or source repository.

The platforms on this page are catalog indications. The paths below follow tool documentation; they do not prove this skill has been run in those tools. No minimum tool version is confirmed for this listing.

3. Load the skill

After inspection, copy the complete folder into your project using one of the commands below, then open a new tool session. The command stops if a folder with the same name already exists: compare the files before replacing it.

Claude Code
test -f '.skill-downloads/pdf-document-analysis-mrzxur1j/SKILL.md' && test -s '.skill-downloads/pdf-document-analysis-mrzxur1j/SKILL.md' && mkdir -p '.claude/skills' && test ! -e '.claude/skills/pdf-analysis' && cp -R '.skill-downloads/pdf-document-analysis-mrzxur1j' '.claude/skills/pdf-analysis'

OpenSkills

OpenSkills must already be installed. The local install/read procedure is checked with OpenSkills 1.5.0, which requires Node.js ≥ 20.6.0. Catalog slugs are not resolved automatically.

Official OpenSkills installation
openskills install './.skill-downloads/pdf-document-analysis-mrzxur1j'

openskills read 'pdf-document-analysis-mrzxur1j'

Reading should display the installed file content and its base directory. It does not run the skill or install its dependencies.

For an agent that reads AGENTS.md, then sync the index. This command changes AGENTS.md: review the diff before using it.

openskills sync

Manual method or another tool: attach SKILL.md to a conversation, or open it in an agent that can read files. Include any required supporting resources. No universal folder is recognized by every tool.

4. Try a first task

Use a short, synthetic input: an API endpoint, a small document or an interface brief. In a new conversation, attach the file or give the agent its path, then adapt this request:

Read .skill-downloads/pdf-document-analysis-mrzxur1j/SKILL.md and apply its instructions to this example: [describe a test input]. Identify any missing files, dependencies or access. Produce the result requested by the skill without inventing data or running unreviewed scripts.

Expected result: output matching the skill instructions, or a precise list of missing prerequisites. A read confirmation alone does not validate a first use. If an external resource is unavailable, that path remains untested.

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