https://docs.kreuzberg.dev

kreuzberg-cli

Command-line interface for the Kreuzberg document intelligence library.

Overview

This crate provides a production-ready CLI tool for document extraction, MIME type detection, batch processing, and cache management. It exposes the core extraction capabilities of the Kreuzberg Rust library through an easy-to-use command-line interface.

The CLI supports 56 file formats including PDF, DOCX, PPTX, XLSX, images, HTML, and more, with optional OCR support for scanned documents.

Architecture

Binary Structure

Kreuzberg Core Library (crates/kreuzberg)
    ↓
Kreuzberg CLI (crates/kreuzberg-cli) ← This crate
    ↓
Command-line interface with configuration and caching

Features

• Extract Command: Extract text, tables, and metadata from single documents
• Batch Command: Process multiple documents in parallel with optimized concurrency
• Detect Command: Identify MIME type of any file with magic byte analysis
• Cache Commands: Manage extraction result cache (stats, clear)
• Serve Command (requires api feature): Start REST API server for remote document processing
• MCP Command (requires mcp feature): Start Model Context Protocol server for AI integration
• Version Command: Display version information in text or JSON format
• Configuration: TOML, YAML, or JSON config files with auto-discovery

Platform Support

The CLI is tested and officially supported on:

• ✅ Linux x86_64
• ✅ Linux aarch64 (ARM64)
• ✅ macOS aarch64 (Apple Silicon)
• ✅ Windows x86_64

All platforms receive precompiled binaries through GitHub releases and are tested in continuous integration.

Installation

From Source

cargo install --path crates/kreuzberg-cli

Or via the workspace:

cargo build --release -p kreuzberg-cli

Platform-Specific Requirements

ONNX Runtime (for embeddings)

If using embeddings functionality, ONNX Runtime must be installed:

# macOS
brew install onnxruntime

# Ubuntu/Debian
sudo apt install libonnxruntime libonnxruntime-dev

# Windows (MSVC)
scoop install onnxruntime
# OR download from https://github.com/microsoft/onnxruntime/releases

Without ONNX Runtime, embeddings will raise MissingDependencyError with installation instructions.

OCR Support (Optional)

To enable optical character recognition for scanned documents:

• macOS: brew install tesseract
• Ubuntu/Debian: sudo apt-get install tesseract-ocr
• Windows: Download from tesseract-ocr/tesseract

Legacy Office Format Support (Optional)

For .doc and .ppt file extraction:

• macOS: brew install libreoffice
• Ubuntu/Debian: sudo apt-get install libreoffice

Quick Start

The CLI is available for Linux (x86_64/aarch64), macOS (Apple Silicon), and Windows with consistent behavior across all platforms.

Basic Text Extraction

# Extract text from a PDF
kreuzberg extract document.pdf

# Extract with JSON output
kreuzberg extract document.pdf --format json

Extract with OCR

# Enable OCR for scanned documents
kreuzberg extract scanned.pdf --ocr true

# Force OCR even if text extraction succeeds
kreuzberg extract mixed.pdf --force-ocr true

Batch Processing

# Process multiple documents in parallel
kreuzberg batch *.pdf --format json

# Process with custom configuration
kreuzberg batch documents/*.docx --config config.toml --format json

MIME Type Detection

# Detect file type
kreuzberg detect unknown-file

# JSON output
kreuzberg detect unknown-file --format json

Cache Management

# View cache statistics
kreuzberg cache stats

# Clear the cache
kreuzberg cache clear --cache-dir /path/to/cache

# Custom cache directory
kreuzberg cache stats --cache-dir ~/.kreuzberg-cache

API Server (with api feature)

# Start API server on localhost:8000
kreuzberg serve

# Custom host and port
kreuzberg serve --host 0.0.0.0 --port 3000

# With configuration file
kreuzberg serve --config kreuzberg.toml --host 127.0.0.1 --port 8080

MCP Server (with mcp feature)

# Start Model Context Protocol server
kreuzberg mcp

# With configuration file
kreuzberg mcp --config kreuzberg.toml

Configuration

The CLI supports configuration files in TOML, YAML, or JSON formats. Configuration can be:

1. Explicit: Passed via --config /path/to/config.{toml,yaml,json}
2. Auto-discovered: Searches for kreuzberg.{toml,yaml,json} in current and parent directories
3. Default: Uses built-in defaults if no config found

Example Configuration (TOML)

# Basic extraction settings
use_cache = true
enable_quality_processing = true
force_ocr = false

# OCR configuration
[ocr]
backend = "tesseract"
language = "eng"

[ocr.tesseract_config]
enable_table_detection = true
psm = 6
min_confidence = 50.0

# Text chunking (useful for LLM processing)
[chunking]
max_chars = 1000
max_overlap = 200

# PDF-specific options
[pdf_options]
extract_images = true
extract_metadata = true
passwords = []

# Language detection
[language_detection]
enabled = true
min_confidence = 0.8
detect_multiple = false

# Image extraction
[images]
extract_images = true
target_dpi = 300
max_image_dimension = 4096
auto_adjust_dpi = true

Configuration Overrides

Command-line flags override configuration file settings:

# Override OCR setting from config
kreuzberg extract document.pdf --config config.toml --ocr false

# Override chunking settings
kreuzberg extract long.pdf --chunk true --chunk-size 2000 --chunk-overlap 400

# Disable cache despite config file
kreuzberg extract document.pdf --no-cache true

# Enable language detection
kreuzberg extract multilingual.pdf --detect-language true

Command Reference

extract

Extract text, tables, and metadata from a document.

kreuzberg extract <PATH> [OPTIONS]

Options:

• --config <PATH>: Configuration file (TOML, YAML, or JSON)
• --mime-type <TYPE>: MIME type hint (auto-detected if not provided)
• --format <FORMAT>: Output format (text or json), default: text
• --ocr <true|false>: Enable/disable OCR
• --force-ocr <true|false>: Force OCR even if text extraction succeeds
• --no-cache <true|false>: Disable result caching
• --chunk <true|false>: Enable text chunking
• --chunk-size <SIZE>: Chunk size in characters (default: 1000)
• --chunk-overlap <SIZE>: Overlap between chunks (default: 200)
• --quality <true|false>: Enable quality processing
• --detect-language <true|false>: Enable language detection

Examples:

# Simple extraction
kreuzberg extract invoice.pdf

# With configuration and JSON output
kreuzberg extract document.pdf --config config.toml --format json

# With chunking for LLM processing
kreuzberg extract report.pdf --chunk true --chunk-size 2000

# With OCR for scanned document
kreuzberg extract scanned.pdf --ocr true --format json

batch

Process multiple documents in parallel.

kreuzberg batch <PATHS>... [OPTIONS]

Options:

• --config <PATH>: Configuration file (TOML, YAML, or JSON)
• --format <FORMAT>: Output format (text or json), default: json
• --ocr <true|false>: Enable/disable OCR
• --force-ocr <true|false>: Force OCR even if text extraction succeeds
• --no-cache <true|false>: Disable result caching
• --quality <true|false>: Enable quality processing

Examples:

# Batch process multiple files
kreuzberg batch doc1.pdf doc2.docx doc3.xlsx

# With glob patterns
kreuzberg batch *.pdf *.docx

# With custom configuration
kreuzberg batch documents/* --config batch-config.toml --format json

# With OCR
kreuzberg batch scanned/*.pdf --ocr true --format json

detect

Identify the MIME type of a file.

kreuzberg detect <PATH> [OPTIONS]

Options:

• --format <FORMAT>: Output format (text or json), default: text

Examples:

# Simple detection
kreuzberg detect unknown-file

# JSON output
kreuzberg detect mystery.bin --format json

cache

Manage extraction result cache.

kreuzberg cache <COMMAND> [OPTIONS]

Subcommands:

stats

Show cache statistics.

kreuzberg cache stats [--cache-dir <DIR>] [--format <FORMAT>]

Options:

• --cache-dir <DIR>: Cache directory (default: .kreuzberg in current directory)
• --format <FORMAT>: Output format (text or json), default: text

clear

Clear the cache.

kreuzberg cache clear [--cache-dir <DIR>] [--format <FORMAT>]

Options:

• --cache-dir <DIR>: Cache directory (default: .kreuzberg in current directory)
• --format <FORMAT>: Output format (text or json), default: text

Examples:

# View cache statistics
kreuzberg cache stats

# Clear cache with custom directory
kreuzberg cache clear --cache-dir ~/.kreuzberg-cache

# JSON output
kreuzberg cache stats --format json

serve (requires api feature)

Start the REST API server.

kreuzberg serve [OPTIONS]

Options:

• --host <HOST>: Host to bind to (default: 127.0.0.1)
• --port <PORT>: Port to bind to (default: 8000)
• --config <PATH>: Configuration file (TOML, YAML, or JSON)

Examples:

# Default: localhost:8000
kreuzberg serve

# Public access on port 3000
kreuzberg serve --host 0.0.0.0 --port 3000

# With custom configuration
kreuzberg serve --config server-config.toml --port 8080

mcp (requires mcp feature)

Start the Model Context Protocol server.

kreuzberg mcp [OPTIONS]

Options:

• --config <PATH>: Configuration file (TOML, YAML, or JSON)

Examples:

# Start MCP server
kreuzberg mcp

# With custom configuration
kreuzberg mcp --config mcp-config.toml

version

Show version information.

kreuzberg version [--format <FORMAT>]

Options:

• --format <FORMAT>: Output format (text or json), default: text

Examples:

# Display version
kreuzberg version

# JSON output
kreuzberg version --format json

Output Formats

Text Format

The default human-readable format:

kreuzberg extract document.pdf
# Output:
# Document content here...

JSON Format

For programmatic integration:

kreuzberg extract document.pdf --format json
# Output:
# {
#   "content": "Document content...",
#   "mime_type": "application/pdf",
#   "metadata": { "title": "...", "author": "..." },
#   "tables": [{ "markdown": "...", "cells": [...], "page_number": 0 }]
# }

Supported File Formats

Category	Formats
Documents	PDF, DOCX, DOC, PPTX, PPT, XLSX, XLS, ODT, ODP, ODS, RTF
Images	PNG, JPEG, JPG, WEBP, BMP, TIFF, GIF
Web	HTML, XHTML, XML
Text	TXT, MD, CSV, TSV, JSON, YAML, TOML
Email	EML, MSG
Archives	ZIP, TAR, 7Z
Other	30+ additional formats

Exit Codes

• 0: Successful execution
• Non-zero: Error occurred (check stderr for details)

Logging

Control logging verbosity with the RUST_LOG environment variable:

# Show info-level logs (default)
RUST_LOG=info kreuzberg extract document.pdf

# Show detailed debug logs
RUST_LOG=debug kreuzberg extract document.pdf

# Show only warnings and errors
RUST_LOG=warn kreuzberg extract document.pdf

# Suppress all logs
RUST_LOG=error kreuzberg extract document.pdf

# Show logs from specific modules
RUST_LOG=kreuzberg=debug kreuzberg extract document.pdf

Performance Tips

1. Use batch processing for multiple files instead of sequential extraction:

   kreuzberg batch *.pdf  # Parallel processing
   

2. Enable caching to avoid reprocessing the same documents:

   # Cache is enabled by default
   kreuzberg extract document.pdf
   

3. Use appropriate chunk sizes for LLM processing:

   kreuzberg extract long.pdf --chunk true --chunk-size 2000
   

4. Tune OCR settings for better performance:

   kreuzberg extract scanned.pdf --ocr true
   # Adjust tesseract_config in configuration file for optimization
   

5. Monitor cache size and clear when needed:

   kreuzberg cache stats
   kreuzberg cache clear
   

Features

Default Features

None by default. The binary includes core extraction.

Optional Features

• api: Enable the REST API server (kreuzberg serve command)
• mcp: Enable Model Context Protocol server (kreuzberg mcp command)
• all: Enable all features (api + mcp)

Building with Features

# Build with all features
cargo build --release -p kreuzberg-cli --features all

# Build with specific features
cargo build --release -p kreuzberg-cli --features api,mcp

Troubleshooting

File Not Found Error

Ensure the file path is correct and the file is readable:

# Check if file exists
ls -l /path/to/document.pdf

# Try with absolute path
kreuzberg extract /absolute/path/to/document.pdf

OCR Not Working

Verify Tesseract is installed:

tesseract --version

# If not found:
# macOS: brew install tesseract
# Ubuntu: sudo apt-get install tesseract-ocr
# Windows: Download from https://github.com/tesseract-ocr/tesseract

Configuration File Not Found

Check that the configuration file has the correct format and location:

# Use explicit path
kreuzberg extract document.pdf --config /absolute/path/to/config.toml

# Or place kreuzberg.toml in current directory
ls -l kreuzberg.toml

Out of Memory with Large Files

Use chunking to reduce memory usage:

kreuzberg extract large-document.pdf --chunk true --chunk-size 1000

Cache Directory Permissions

Ensure write access to the cache directory:

# Check permissions
ls -ld .kreuzberg

# Or use a custom directory with appropriate permissions
kreuzberg extract document.pdf --config config.toml
# In config.toml: cache_dir = "/tmp/kreuzberg-cache"

Key Files

• src/main.rs: CLI implementation with command definitions and argument parsing
• Cargo.toml: Package metadata and dependencies

Building

Development Build

cargo build -p kreuzberg-cli

Release Build

cargo build --release -p kreuzberg-cli

With All Features

cargo build --release -p kreuzberg-cli --features all

Testing

# Run CLI tests
cargo test -p kreuzberg-cli

# With logging
RUST_LOG=debug cargo test -p kreuzberg-cli -- --nocapture

Performance Characteristics

• Single file extraction: Typically 10-100ms depending on file size and format
• Batch processing: Near-linear scaling with 8 concurrent extractions by default
• OCR processing: 100-500ms per page depending on image quality and language
• Caching: Sub-millisecond retrieval for cached results

References

• Kreuzberg Core: ../kreuzberg/
• Main Documentation: https://docs.kreuzberg.dev
• GitHub Repository: https://github.com/kreuzberg-dev/kreuzberg
• Configuration Guide: See example configuration sections above

Contributing

We welcome contributions! Please see the main Kreuzberg repository for contribution guidelines.

License

MIT