mcpbeat Sign in

Baoyu URL To Markdown Agent Skill

Fetch any URL and convert to markdown using baoyu-fetch CLI (Chrome CDP with site-specific adapters). Built-in adapters for X/Twitter, YouTube transcripts, Hacker News threads, and generic pages via Defuddle. Handles login/CAPTCHA via interaction wait modes. Use when user wants to save a webpage as markdown.

70k tokens
context cost
the whole folder, loaded on every use
48
files
ships runnable scripts
0
copies elsewhere
how many repositories repackaged it
24514
stars on the repo
on the repository, not the skill itself

Install

one command, takes just this skill from the repository
npx skills add https://github.com/JimLiu/baoyu-skills --skill baoyu-url-to-markdown

The instruction itself

13 sections, as written by the author

URL to Markdown

Fetches any URL via baoyu-fetch CLI (Chrome CDP + site-specific adapters) and converts it to clean markdown.

User Input Tools

When this skill prompts the user, follow this tool-selection rule (priority order):

  • Prefer built-in user-input tools exposed by the current agent runtime — e.g., AskUserQuestion, request_user_input, clarify, ask_user, or any equivalent.
  • Fallback: if no such tool exists, emit a numbered plain-text message and ask the user to reply with the chosen number/answer for each question.
  • Batching: if the tool supports multiple questions per call, combine all applicable questions into a single call; if only single-question, ask them one at a time in priority order.

Concrete AskUserQuestion references below are examples — substitute the local equivalent in other runtimes.

CLI Setup

Important: The CLI source is vendored in {baseDir}/scripts/lib. scripts/package.json installs only third-party runtime dependencies.

Agent Execution Instructions:

  • Determine this SKILL.md file's directory path as {baseDir}
  • Resolve ${BUN} runtime: if bun installed → bun; else suggest installing Bun
  • If {baseDir}/scripts/node_modules does not exist, run ${BUN} install --cwd {baseDir}/scripts
  • ${READER} = {baseDir}/scripts/baoyu-fetch
  • Replace all ${READER} in this document with the resolved value

Preferences (EXTEND.md)

Check EXTEND.md in priority order — the first one found wins:

| Priority | Path | Scope |

|----------|------|-------|

| 1 | .baoyu-skills/baoyu-url-to-markdown/EXTEND.md | Project |

| 2 | ${XDG_CONFIG_HOME:-$HOME/.config}/baoyu-skills/baoyu-url-to-markdown/EXTEND.md | XDG |

| 3 | $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.

First-Time Setup ⛔ BLOCKING

When EXTEND.md is not found, you MUST use AskUserQuestion to gather preferences before creating EXTEND.md. NEVER create EXTEND.md with silent defaults. Generation is BLOCKED until setup completes. Batch all three questions into a single call:

  • Q1 — Media (header "Media"): "How to handle images and videos in pages?"
  • "Ask each time (Recommended)" — Prompt after each save
  • "Always download" — Download to local imgs/ and videos/
  • "Never download" — Keep remote URLs
  • Q2 — Output (header "Output"): "Default output directory?"
  • "url-to-markdown (Recommended)" — Save to ./url-to-markdown/{domain}/{slug}.md
  • User may pick "Other" and type a custom path
  • Q3 — Save (header "Save"): "Where to save preferences?"
  • "User (Recommended)" — ~/.baoyu-skills/ (all projects)
  • "Project" — .baoyu-skills/ (this project only)

After answers, write EXTEND.md, confirm "Preferences saved to [path]", then continue.

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

Supported Keys

| Key | Default | Values | Description |

|-----|---------|--------|-------------|

| download_media | ask | ask / 1 / 0 | ask = prompt each time, 1 = always, 0 = never |

| default_output_dir | empty | path or empty | Default output directory (empty = ./url-to-markdown/) |

EXTEND.md → CLI mapping:

| EXTEND.md key | CLI argument | Notes |

|---------------|-------------|-------|

| download_media: 1 | --download-media | Requires --output to be set |

| default_output_dir: ./posts/ | Agent constructs --output ./posts/{domain}/{slug}.md | Agent generates path, not a direct flag |

Value priority: CLI arguments → EXTEND.md → skill defaults.

Usage

# Default: headless capture, markdown to stdout
${READER} <url>

# Save to file
${READER} <url> --output article.md

# Save with media download
${READER} <url> --output article.md --download-media

# Wait for interaction (login/CAPTCHA) — auto-detect and continue
${READER} <url> --wait-for interaction --output article.md

# Wait for interaction — manual control (Enter to continue)
${READER} <url> --wait-for force --output article.md

# JSON output
${READER} <url> --format json --output article.json

# Force specific adapter
${READER} <url> --adapter youtube --output transcript.md

Options

| Option | Description |

|--------|-------------|

| <url> | URL to fetch |

| --output <path> | Output file path (default: stdout) |

| --format <type> | Output format: markdown (default) or json |

| --json | Shorthand for --format json |

| --adapter <name> | Force adapter: x, youtube, hn, or generic (default: auto-detect) |

| --headless | Force headless Chrome (no visible window) |

| --wait-for <mode> | Interaction wait mode: none (default), interaction, or force |

| --wait-for-interaction | Alias for --wait-for interaction |

| --wait-for-login | Alias for --wait-for interaction |

| --timeout <ms> | Page load timeout (default: 30000) |

| --interaction-timeout <ms> | Login/CAPTCHA wait timeout (default: 600000 = 10 min) |

| --interaction-poll-interval <ms> | Poll interval for interaction checks (default: 1500) |

| --download-media | Download images/videos to local imgs/ and videos/, rewrite markdown links. Requires --output |

| --media-dir <dir> | Base directory for downloaded media (default: same as --output directory) |

| --cdp-url <url> | Reuse existing Chrome DevTools Protocol endpoint |

| --browser-path <path> | Custom Chrome/Chromium binary path |

| --chrome-profile-dir <path> | Chrome user data directory (default: BAOYU_CHROME_PROFILE_DIR env or ./baoyu-skills/chrome-profile) |

| --debug-dir <dir> | Write debug artifacts (document.json, markdown.md, page.html, network.json) |

Agent Quality Gate

CRITICAL: treat default headless capture as provisional. Some sites render differently in headless mode and can silently return low-quality content without failing the CLI.

After every headless run, inspect the saved markdown. See references/quality-gate.md for the full checklist, recovery workflow, and capture-mode table. Read it whenever a run looks suspicious or the user asks about login/CAPTCHA handling.

Output Path Generation

The agent must construct the output file path — baoyu-fetch does not auto-generate paths.

Algorithm:

  • Determine base directory from EXTEND.md default_output_dir or default ./url-to-markdown/
  • Extract domain from URL (e.g., example.com)
  • Generate slug from URL path or page title (kebab-case, 2-6 words)
  • Construct: {base_dir}/{domain}/{slug}/{slug}.md — each URL gets its own directory so media files stay isolated
  • Conflict resolution: append timestamp {slug}-YYYYMMDD-HHMMSS/{slug}-YYYYMMDD-HHMMSS.md

Pass the constructed path to --output. Media files (--download-media) are saved into subdirectories next to the markdown file, keeping each URL's assets self-contained.

Adapters & Media

See references/adapters.md for the adapter catalog (X, YouTube, Hacker News, generic), per-adapter notes, the media download flow (ask / always / never), and the JSON output schema. Read it before answering adapter-specific questions or handling media prompts.

Environment Variables

| Variable | Description |

|----------|-------------|

| BAOYU_CHROME_PROFILE_DIR | Chrome user data directory (can also use --chrome-profile-dir) |

Troubleshooting: Chrome not found → use --browser-path. Timeout → increase --timeout. Login/CAPTCHA → --wait-for interaction. Debug → --debug-dir to inspect captured HTML and network logs.

Extension Support

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

Other skills for the same job

different authors, same section of the catalogue
Protocolsio Integration
by christophacham
×4

Integration with protocols.io API for managing scientific protocols. This skill should be used when working with protocols.io to search, create, update, or publish protocols; manage protocol steps and materials; handle discussions and comments; organize workspaces; upload and manage files; or integrate protocols.io functionality into workflows. Applicable for protocol discovery, collaborative protocol development, experiment tracking, lab protocol management, and scientific documentation.

16k tokens
Tailored Resume Generator
by frostant
×4

Analyzes job descriptions and generates tailored resumes that highlight relevant experience, skills, and achievements to maximize interview chances

3k tokens
Excalidraw Diagram Generator
by github
vendor ×3

Generate Excalidraw diagrams from natural language descriptions. Use when asked to "create a diagram", "make a flowchart", "visualize a process", "draw a system architecture", "create a mind map", or "generate an Excalidraw file". Supports flowcharts, relationship diagrams, mind maps, and system architecture diagrams. Outputs .excalidraw JSON files that can be opened directly in Excalidraw.

36k tokens scripts
Expo Dev Client
by openai
vendor ×3

Build and distribute Expo development clients locally or via TestFlight

961 tokens
Executing Plans
by ZhanlinCui
×3

Use when you have a written implementation plan to execute in a separate session with review checkpoints

542 tokens
Anndata
by christophacham
×3

Data structure for annotated matrices in single-cell analysis. Use when working with .h5ad files or integrating with the scverse ecosystem. This is the data format skill—for analysis workflows use scanpy; for probabilistic models use scvi-tools; for population-scale queries use cellxgene-census.

16k tokens
Benchling Integration
by christophacham
×3

Benchling R&D platform integration. Access registry (DNA, proteins), inventory, ELN entries, workflows via API, build Benchling Apps, query Data Warehouse, for lab data management automation.

14k tokens
Biopython
by christophacham
×3

Comprehensive molecular biology toolkit. Use for sequence manipulation, file parsing (FASTA/GenBank/PDB), phylogenetics, and programmatic NCBI/PubMed access (Bio.Entrez). Best for batch processing, custom bioinformatics pipelines, BLAST automation. For quick lookups use gget; for multi-service integration use bioservices.

24k tokens

How to use it

Copy the folder

Take jimliu/baoyu-url-to-markdown from the repository into ~/.claude/skills for personal use, or into .claude/skills inside a project.

Check the name does not clash

The agent identifies a skill by the name field in its header. Two skills with the same name cannot sit side by side — one of them will be ignored.