strip-markdown

Common errors

• AttributeError: 'module' object has no attribute 'strip'

  cause Attempting to call `strip_markdown.strip()` instead of the full function name `strip_markdown.strip_markdown()`.
  fix The main function to strip markdown from a string is `strip_markdown.strip_markdown()`. Use `plain_text = strip_markdown.strip_markdown(your_markdown_string)`.

• ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'strip_markdown'

  cause The `strip-markdown` package has not been installed, or the environment where the script is run does not have access to the installed package.
  fix Install the package using pip: `pip install strip-markdown`. Ensure your Python environment is correctly activated if using virtual environments.

• TypeError: expected string or bytes-like object, got _io.TextIOWrapper

  cause You are passing an open file object directly to `strip_markdown.strip_markdown()` instead of reading its content into a string.
  fix Read the content of the file into a string first using `.read()` or use the `strip_markdown.strip_markdown_file()` function for file-based operations. Example: `with open('your_file.md', 'r') as f: markdown_content = f.read(); plain_text = strip_markdown.strip_markdown(markdown_content)`.

Warnings

• gotcha Be aware of name collisions with other markdown stripping libraries or JavaScript packages. This `strip-markdown` is a Python library, distinct from `remarkjs/strip-markdown` (a Node.js plugin) or Python alternatives like `qstrip` or `markdownify`. Ensure you've installed and are importing the correct package.
  Fix: Verify installation with `pip show strip-markdown` and check the import path (`import strip_markdown`).
• gotcha The `strip-markdown` library is designed to convert Markdown directly to plain text, removing all formatting. It does not convert Markdown to HTML first and then strip the HTML, which is a common pattern in other markdown processing workflows (e.g., using `Python-Markdown` + `BeautifulSoup`). If you need HTML as an intermediate step or require more granular control over HTML elements, consider those alternative libraries.
  Fix: Understand the library's direct-to-plain-text approach. If an HTML intermediate is needed, explore `Python-Markdown` for conversion and `BeautifulSoup` for HTML stripping.
• gotcha When using `strip_markdown.strip_markdown_file(MD_fn)`, version 1.2 introduced automatic calculation of the output file name if not explicitly provided. This might lead to unexpected file creations or overwrites if you were relying on older behavior or expecting to always define the output path.
  Fix: Always explicitly specify the `TXT_fn` argument in `strip_markdown_file(MD_fn, TXT_fn)` if you require a specific output filename, or review the library's behavior for auto-generated names.

Install

• pip install strip-markdown Install latest version

Imports

• strip_markdown
  wrong:

  from strip_markdown import strip_markdown

  correct:

  import strip_markdown

  The primary function is accessed directly via the imported module, i.e., strip_markdown.strip_markdown(). Importing the function directly is also possible, but accessing it through the module is the idiomatic pattern for this library.

Quickstart

This example demonstrates how to import the `strip_markdown` module and use its `strip_markdown()` function to convert a Markdown string into plain text. It also includes commented-out code showing how to use `strip_markdown_file()`.

import strip_markdown

markdown_text = "# Hello World\n\nThis is **bold** text and an [example link](https://example.com/).\n- Item 1\n- Item 2"

plain_text = strip_markdown.strip_markdown(markdown_text)
print(plain_text)

# Example of stripping from a file
# with open('input.md', 'w') as f:
#     f.write(markdown_text)
# stripped_file_content = strip_markdown.strip_markdown_file('input.md')
# print(stripped_file_content)