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API REFERENCEv2

Markdown table reformat API

Normalize a README or documentation table through the TableConvert API and regenerate a Markdown pipe table. Translate the parsed grid rather than the entire Markdown document; source alignment syntax is replaced by the destination’s table rules.

REST APIv2 · Direct outputMarkdown table → Markdown table1 credits per successful conversion

Try this conversion

Inspect a real sample, preview locally, or send a live request with your own key.

Verified sample
POSThttps://api.tableconvert.com/v2/convert/markdown-to-markdown

Markdown table response

| task       | owner | status  |
|------------|-------|---------|
| Write docs | Alice | Done    |
| Review API | Bob   | Pending |

Local previews use no credits and process the first imported table or worksheet.

Conversion options
A successful live request uses 1 credits.

Your key is sent only to the conversion API and is never saved by this page.

Things to check before integrating

Before you integrate

Send only the pipe table and check escaped pipes and inline formatting in values.

Before you integrate

Inline markup, pipe characters and multiline values need options matched to the destination renderer.

Before you integrate

Same-format conversion reparses and regenerates the table; it is not a byte-preserving or lossless round trip.

Code examples

These examples send the sample as multipart/form-data and save the returned bytes unchanged. Set TABLECONVERT_API_KEY in your environment.

Markdown table reformat API · cURL

curl --fail-with-body --max-time 40 \
  'https://api.tableconvert.com/v2/convert/markdown-to-markdown' \
  --header "Authorization: Bearer $TABLECONVERT_API_KEY" \
  --form-string 'data=| task       | owner | status  |
|------------|-------|---------|
| Write docs | Alice | Done    |
| Review API | Bob   | Pending |
' \
  --form-string 'output[escape]=false' \
  --form-string 'output[pretty]=true' \
  --form-string 'output[boldFirstRow]=false' \
  --form-string 'output[boldFirstColumn]=false' \
  --form-string 'output[firstHeader]=true' \
  --form-string 'output[align]=l' \
  --form-string 'output[simple]=false' \
  --form-string 'output[multilineHandling]=preserve' \
  --form-string 'output[includeLineNumbers]=false' \
  --output 'markdown-to-markdown.md'

Requires cURL. Download the sample input first when this example uploads a file.

Authentication

Send Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY. Let the HTTP client set the multipart boundary; do not set Content-Type manually.

Keep production API keys in server-side environment variables.

Request parameters

Pipe-delimited Markdown table rows become a rectangular dataset. The alignment separator row is removed rather than treated as data.

ParameterTypeDefaultDescription
datastring—Inline Markdown table content. Choose one of data, file or url.
filebinary—Upload a md file using multipart/form-data.
urlstring—A supported publicly accessible HTTP or HTTPS file URL.

Send one source: data, file, or url. The examples below use the source mode appropriate for this format.

Output options

Generate a pipe-delimited Markdown table for documentation. Alignment and formatting options apply to table text rather than rendering a full document.

ParameterTypeDefaultDescription
output[escape]booleanfalseEscape characters meaningful to the destination markup when cells should remain plain text.
output[pretty]booleantruePad Markdown columns for easier source reading; this does not add spreadsheet layout.
output[boldFirstRow]booleanfalseWrap the first row in the destination’s bold-text syntax.
output[boldFirstColumn]booleanfalseWrap the first column in the destination’s bold-text syntax.
output[firstHeader]booleantrueTreat the first table row as a document table header.
output[align]stringlChoose left, center or right alignment for generated table cells.
output[simple]booleanfalseOmit the outer Markdown pipes while retaining table rows.
output[multilineHandling]stringpreserveControl whether cell line breaks are retained, escaped or represented by HTML breaks.
output[includeLineNumbers]booleanfalsePrepend a numbered column to the generated Markdown table.

Conversion rules

CaseBehavior
Mapping rule 1The Markdown header and body rows remain data; the alignment-only separator is discarded.
Mapping rule 2The grid becomes pipe-delimited rows plus a generated header alignment separator.
Mapping rule 3Translate the parsed grid rather than the entire Markdown document; source alignment syntax is replaced by the destination’s table rules.

How the input is read

  • Supply the table itself; prose, fenced examples and unrelated document lines should be removed first.
  • The parser removes a recognized second-row alignment separator and trims cell edges.
  • Escaped pipes are distinguished from cell separators, but inline Markdown is not rendered to rich text.
  • Use one physical row per record; prepare multiline cell content deliberately.

How the output is written

  • The first row is treated as the table header unless an alternate header arrangement is chosen.
  • Escape literal pipes and choose multilineHandling to match your Markdown renderer.
  • GFM pipe tables are an extension and are not supported by every Markdown implementation.

When to use this API

This conversion in practice

Use a README or documentation table as the starting dataset for a README or version-controlled document. Send only the pipe table and check escaped pipes and inline formatting in values.

Markdown table

Keep generated data tables in README files, pull requests or documentation pages.

Responses and errors

HTTP statusDescription
200text/plain; charset=utf-8
400Invalid input or conversion parameters.
402Insufficient credits for this request.
403Missing or invalid API key.
413The input exceeds the configured request limit.
415Unsupported input media type.
429Rate limit exceeded.
500The conversion could not be completed.
503The renderer is unavailable or the request timed out.

Check the response before retrying. A new HTTP request is a new conversion and may use credits again.

Limits, billing and versions

Local previews accept up to 200 KB. The current API implementation allows one uploaded file up to 50 MiB, limits each multipart text field to 1 MiB, and gives v2 conversion tasks a 30-second deadline. Deployment limits may be stricter. Read the returned error before retrying; some parser or renderer failures return HTTP 500.

Live calls follow the API credit policy. Failed conversions are refunded; a completed conversion is not undone if the download connection later fails.

View API pricing and credits

Using API v1?

This page documents v2, which returns the output directly. API v1 wraps the result in a JSON envelope. Check the overview before changing an existing integration.

API overview

References and format specifications

Format references explain the underlying syntax. The conversion rules and samples above describe TableConvert’s implementation.