Antiword API

A lightweight Flask-based API that accepts .doc (Word 97-2003) files, extracts the text using antiword, and returns it in a clean JSON format.

Includes Swagger UI documentation for ease of testing and integration.

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Features

• Upload .doc file via POST request
• Extracts and beautifies plain text from the document
• Returns structured JSON
• Swagger UI (/apidocs) for testing and documentation
• Fully containerized with Docker
• Easy to extend for HTML/Markdown output or other formats

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Technologies & Libraries Used

Tech	Purpose
Python 3.11	Backend language
Flask	Web framework
Flasgger	Swagger/OpenAPI documentation for Flask
antiword	CLI tool to extract text from .doc files
Docker	Containerization

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Installation

Prerequisites

• Docker

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Run with Docker

Clone the repository and build the image:

git clone https://github.com/your-org/doc-text-api.git
cd doc-text-api

docker build -t doc-text-api .
docker run -p 5000:5000 doc-text-api

Now the API is available at: http://localhost:5000

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API Usage

Endpoint: POST /extract-text

Form Field: file — must be a .doc file (old Word format)

cURL Example

curl -X POST http://localhost:5000/extract-text \
  -F "file=@/path/to/your/file.doc"

Sample Response

{
  "text": "This is the extracted text from the document."
}

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Swagger UI (API Docs)

Once running, go to:

http://localhost:5000/apidocs/

You’ll see an interactive Swagger interface to test and explore the API.

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For Developers

Project Structure

doc-text-api/
│
├── app.py               # Main Flask application
├── requirements.txt     # Python dependencies
├── Dockerfile           # Container setup
└── README.md            # You're here!

Local Development (without Docker)

1. Install antiword:

   sudo apt install antiword  # Debian/Ubuntu

2. Set up a Python virtual environment:

   python3 -m venv venv
   source venv/bin/activate
   pip install -r requirements.txt

3. Run the app:

   python app.py

Modify Swagger Configuration

Swagger uses in-code Python docstrings via flasgger. If you want to customize the Swagger UI or add global info:

In app.py:

swagger = Swagger(app, template={
    "info": {
        "title": "DOC Text Extractor API",
        "description": "API to extract text from .doc (Word 97-2003) files using antiword.",
        "version": "1.0.0"
    }
})

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Security Notes

• Only accepts .doc files — does not process .docx.
• No authentication is enabled by default.
• Consider wrapping this API behind a gateway or firewall in production environments.

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License

MIT License — free for personal and commercial use.

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Contributing

Pull requests are welcome! For major changes, open an issue first to discuss what you’d like to change or add.

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FAQ

Why only .doc files?

This tool uses antiword, which only supports old Word binary formats (.doc). For .docx, consider python-docx or pandoc.

Can it return HTML or Markdown?

Right now, it returns clean plain text. Let us know if you want to support formatting or downloadable outputs!