Definition
Docling is an open-source document parsing and conversion engine designed to transform complex, unstructured documents like PDFs into structured, LLM-ready formats such as Markdown or JSON while preserving layout and semantic hierarchy. It excels at high-fidelity table extraction and document layout analysis, making it a critical component for the ingestion phase of RAG pipelines where structural context is vital for accuracy.
A high-fidelity document pre-processor for data ingestion, distinct from simple text extractors or vector databases.
"An Architectural X-Ray: It reveals the structural 'bones' of a document (headers, tables, lists) rather than just capturing the 'skin' (the raw text)."
- Chunking(Prerequisite)
- ETL Pipeline(Component)
- Document Layout Analysis(Underlying Technology)
- Markdown(Output Format)
Conceptual Overview
Docling is an open-source document parsing and conversion engine designed to transform complex, unstructured documents like PDFs into structured, LLM-ready formats such as Markdown or JSON while preserving layout and semantic hierarchy. It excels at high-fidelity table extraction and document layout analysis, making it a critical component for the ingestion phase of RAG pipelines where structural context is vital for accuracy.
Disambiguation
A high-fidelity document pre-processor for data ingestion, distinct from simple text extractors or vector databases.
Visual Analog
An Architectural X-Ray: It reveals the structural 'bones' of a document (headers, tables, lists) rather than just capturing the 'skin' (the raw text).