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Install in OpenClaw
/install pdf-utils
Description
PDF Utils enables OCR of image-based PDFs, extraction of arXiv IDs from text or OCR output, and scriptable PDF tasks like merging, splitting, and rendering.
Usage Guidance
This skill appears coherent and implements what it claims. Before installing/using: (1) review and run the scripts on unprivileged/sample PDFs to confirm behavior; (2) be aware OCR requires installing the tesseract binary and language packs (SKILL.md suggests brew); (3) the extract_refs download option uses curl to fetch PDFs from arxiv.org — only enable downloads when you want network activity and ensure you trust the source; (4) the scripts write output files (papers/, temporary PNGs, OCR text) in locations you specify — run them in directories you control; (5) if you need higher assurance, inspect or run the included tests and review the small subprocess calls (curl, tesseract) which are expected for this functionality.
Capability Analysis
Type: OpenClaw Skill
Name: pdf-utils
Version: 1.0.1
The pdf-utils skill is a legitimate utility for PDF processing, OCR, and arXiv reference extraction. It uses standard libraries like PyMuPDF (fitz) and Tesseract (pytesseract) for its core functionality. While it uses subprocess.run to invoke 'curl' for downloading papers and 'tesseract' for language checks, it does so safely by passing arguments as a list rather than a shell string, and the inputs (arXiv IDs) are validated via strict regex patterns. No evidence of data exfiltration, persistence, or malicious prompt injection was found.
Capability Assessment
Purpose & Capability
The name/description (OCR, arXiv extraction, merge/split/render) matches the provided scripts and docs. The code only requires PyMuPDF, pytesseract, Pillow and the tesseract binary (all relevant to OCR and PDF processing). No unrelated binaries, env vars, or config paths are requested.
Instruction Scope
SKILL.md and the scripts are focused on local PDF processing. The scripts read PDFs, optionally OCR pages, extract arXiv identifiers, and (optionally) download PDFs from arxiv.org. They do not read arbitrary system credentials or other unrelated filesystem locations. Note: some scripts invoke subprocesses (curl for downloads and tesseract --list-langs) and will perform network downloads when the --download flag is used, which is consistent with the documented behavior.
Install Mechanism
This is an instruction-only skill (no install spec). SKILL.md recommends installing tesseract via brew and Python packages via pip. That is expected for OCR functionality but requires the user to run external installers (brew/pip) and to install tesseract language packs; ensure you run these from trusted package sources. No archive downloads or arbitrary URLs are used by an install step.
Credentials
The skill declares no required environment variables or credentials. The code does not attempt to access secrets or unrelated environment variables. Network access is used only to fetch papers from arxiv.org when the download option is selected.
Persistence & Privilege
The skill does not request always:true and does not modify other skills or global agent configuration. It runs as user-invocable code and will only create files/directories where the CLI is instructed to (e.g., output dir for downloads or OCR text).
How to Use
- Make sure OpenClaw is installed (local or Docker)
- Run the install command in chat:
/install pdf-utils - After installation, invoke the skill by name or use
/pdf-utils - Provide required inputs per the skill's parameter spec and get structured output
Version History
v1.0.1
1.0.1: clean patch release for metadata and publishing hygiene; remove artifact leakage from release flow; keep stable 1.0 test baseline.
v1.0.0
Stable 1.0.0 release: leaner skill layout, references/usage.md, pdf_ops.py for merge/split/render, shared arXiv parsing, stronger OCR dependency checks, regression tests, and packaging cleanup.
Metadata
Frequently Asked Questions
What is PDF Utils?
PDF Utils enables OCR of image-based PDFs, extraction of arXiv IDs from text or OCR output, and scriptable PDF tasks like merging, splitting, and rendering. It is an AI Agent Skill for Claude Code / OpenClaw, with 219 downloads so far.
How do I install PDF Utils?
Run "/install pdf-utils" in the OpenClaw or Claude Code chat to install it in one step — no extra setup required.
Is PDF Utils free?
Yes, PDF Utils is completely free, licensed under MIT-0. You can download, install and use it at no cost.
Which platforms does PDF Utils support?
PDF Utils is cross-platform and runs anywhere OpenClaw / Claude Code is available (cross-platform).
Who created PDF Utils?
It is built and maintained by Lu Wang (@wangwllu); the current version is v1.0.1.
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