Markdown to Google Docs Converter

A Python script that converts markdown meeting notes into well-formatted Google Docs with proper styling, nested bullets, checkboxes, and mention highlighting. Github Link - https://github.com/tanmaydhal/markdown-to-google-docs

Features

• ✅ Converts markdown headers to Google Docs heading styles (H1, H2, H3)
• ✅ Maintains nested bullet point hierarchy with proper indentation
• ✅ Converts markdown checkboxes - [ ] into actual Google Docs checkboxes
• ✅ Highlights @mentions with bold blue text
• ✅ Styles footer information (meeting metadata) in italics
• ✅ Handles both * and - bullet formats
• ✅ Preserves document structure and formatting

Setup Instructions

Prerequisites

• Google account with access to Google Drive
• Google Colab (recommended) or local Python environment

Required Dependencies

google-auth
google-auth-oauthlib
google-auth-httplib2
google-api-python-client

These are pre-installed in Google Colab. For local use:

pip install google-auth google-auth-oauthlib google-auth-httplib2 google-api-python-client

How to Run in Google Colab

Option 1: Direct Upload

1. Open Google Colab
2. Upload the markdown_to_gdocs.ipynb notebook
3. Run all cells in order
4. When prompted, authenticate with your Google account
5. The script will create a new Google Doc and output the link

Option 2: From GitHub

1. Go to Google Colab
2. Click File → Open notebook → GitHub tab
3. Enter this repository URL
4. Select the markdown_to_gdocs.ipynb notebook
5. Run all cells and authenticate when prompted

Usage

Basic Usage

The notebook includes sample meeting notes. Simply run all cells to convert them to a Google Doc.

Custom Markdown

To convert your own markdown:

1. Replace the MARKDOWN_NOTES variable with your content:

MARKDOWN_NOTES = """
# Your Title Here

## Section 1
- Bullet point 1
- Bullet point 2
  - Nested bullet

## Action Items
- [ ] @john: Complete task A
- [ ] @sarah: Review document B
"""

2. Run the script to generate your Google Doc

Markdown Format Support

Headers

# Main Title (H1)
## Section Header (H2)
### Subsection Header (H3)

Bullets

* Standard bullet
  * Nested bullet (2 spaces)
    * Deeper nested bullet (4 spaces)

Checkboxes

- [ ] Unchecked task
- [ ] @username: Task with mention

Mentions

@username will be highlighted in bold blue

Footer

---
Meeting recorded by: Name
Duration: X minutes

(Text after --- is styled in italics)

Project Structure

├── AnsibleHealthFullStackTask.ipynb.ipynb    # Main Colab notebook
├── README.md                   # This file

How It Works

1. Authentication: Uses Google Colab's built-in authentication
2. Document Creation: Creates a new Google Doc via the Docs API
3. Parsing: Processes markdown line-by-line
4. Formatting: Builds batch API requests for:
   • Text insertion
   • Heading styles
   • Bullet/checkbox creation
   • Text styling (bold, color, italic)
   • Indentation levels
5. Execution: Sends all formatting requests in a single batch update

Troubleshooting

Authentication Issues

• Make sure you're signed into Google in your browser
• Try clearing browser cache and re-authenticating
• Ensure your Google account has Drive access enabled

Document Not Created

• Check the console output for error messages
• Verify your Google account has permission to create docs
• Ensure you granted all requested permissions during auth

Formatting Issues

• Verify markdown syntax (proper spacing for nested bullets)
• Check that indentation uses 2 spaces per level
• Ensure checkboxes use the format - [ ] exactly

API Limits

The Google Docs API has the following limits:

• 300 requests per minute per project
• This script uses batch updates to minimize request count

Contributing

Feel free to open issues or submit pull requests for improvements!

License

MIT License - feel free to use and modify as needed.

Author

Created for converting markdown meeting notes to Google Docs format.

Acknowledgments

• Google Docs API documentation
• Google Colab for providing easy authentication