URL to HTML

Use attr with html when your consumer needs markup instead of Markdown or plain text. Microlink can fetch the source document, optionally render it in a browser, and expose the resulting HTML through a data field.

The following examples show how to use the Microlink API with CLI, cURL, JavaScript, Python, Ruby, PHP & Golang, targeting 'https://example.com' URL with 'data' & 'meta' API parameters:

CLI Microlink API example

microlink https://example.com&data.html.attr=html

cURL Microlink API example

curl -G "https://api.microlink.io" \
  -d "url=https://example.com" \
  -d "data.html.attr=html" \
  -d "meta=false"

JavaScript Microlink API example

import mql from '@microlink/mql'

const { data } = await mql('https://example.com', {
  data: {
    html: {
      attr: "html"
    }
  },
  meta: false
})

Python Microlink API example

import requests

url = "https://api.microlink.io/"

querystring = {
    "url": "https://example.com",
    "data.html.attr": "html",
    "meta": "false"
}

response = requests.get(url, params=querystring)

print(response.json())

Ruby Microlink API example

require 'uri'
require 'net/http'

base_url = "https://api.microlink.io/"

params = {
  url: "https://example.com",
  data.html.attr: "html",
  meta: "false"
}

uri = URI(base_url)
uri.query = URI.encode_www_form(params)

http = Net::HTTP.new(uri.host, uri.port)
http.use_ssl = true

request = Net::HTTP::Get.new(uri)
response = http.request(request)

puts response.body

PHP Microlink API example

<?php

$baseUrl = "https://api.microlink.io/";

$params = [
    "url" => "https://example.com",
    "data.html.attr" => "html",
    "meta" => "false"
];

$query = http_build_query($params);
$url = $baseUrl . '?' . $query;

$curl = curl_init();

curl_setopt_array($curl, [
    CURLOPT_URL => $url,
    CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER => true,
    CURLOPT_ENCODING => "",
    CURLOPT_MAXREDIRS => 10,
    CURLOPT_TIMEOUT => 30,
    CURLOPT_HTTP_VERSION => CURL_HTTP_VERSION_1_1,
    CURLOPT_CUSTOMREQUEST => "GET"
]);

$response = curl_exec($curl);
$err = curl_error($curl);

curl_close($curl);

if ($err) {
    echo "cURL Error #: " . $err;
} else {
    echo $response;
}

Golang Microlink API example

package main

import (
    "fmt"
    "net/http"
    "net/url"
    "io"
)

func main() {
    baseURL := "https://api.microlink.io"

    u, err := url.Parse(baseURL)
    if err != nil {
        panic(err)
    }
    q := u.Query()
    q.Set("url", "https://example.com")
    q.Set("data.html.attr", "html")
    q.Set("meta", "false")
    u.RawQuery = q.Encode()

    req, err := http.NewRequest("GET", u.String(), nil)
    if err != nil {
        panic(err)
    }

    client := &http.Client{}
    resp, err := client.Do(req)
    if err != nil {
        panic(err)
    }
    defer resp.Body.Close()

    body, err := io.ReadAll(resp.Body)
    if err != nil {
        panic(err)
    }

    fmt.Println(string(body))
}

import mql from '@microlink/mql'

const { data } = await mql('https://example.com', {
  data: {
    html: {
      attr: "html"
    }
  },
  meta: false
})

Read the HTML document from data.html.

Any source URL works the same way

Direct file URLs are converted to an HTML DOM for extraction. Request attr: 'html' to return the converted markup: an xlsx becomes an HTML table, a docx becomes headings and paragraphs.

The following examples show how to use the Microlink API with CLI, cURL, JavaScript, Python, Ruby, PHP & Golang, targeting 'https://cdn.microlink.io/file-examples/sample.xlsx' URL with 'data' & 'meta' API parameters:

CLI Microlink API example

microlink https://cdn.microlink.io/file-examples/sample.xlsx&data.html.attr=html

cURL Microlink API example

curl -G "https://api.microlink.io" \
  -d "url=https://cdn.microlink.io/file-examples/sample.xlsx" \
  -d "data.html.attr=html" \
  -d "meta=false"

JavaScript Microlink API example

import mql from '@microlink/mql'

const { data } = await mql('https://cdn.microlink.io/file-examples/sample.xlsx', {
  data: {
    html: {
      attr: "html"
    }
  },
  meta: false
})

Python Microlink API example

import requests

url = "https://api.microlink.io/"

querystring = {
    "url": "https://cdn.microlink.io/file-examples/sample.xlsx",
    "data.html.attr": "html",
    "meta": "false"
}

response = requests.get(url, params=querystring)

print(response.json())

Ruby Microlink API example

require 'uri'
require 'net/http'

base_url = "https://api.microlink.io/"

params = {
  url: "https://cdn.microlink.io/file-examples/sample.xlsx",
  data.html.attr: "html",
  meta: "false"
}

uri = URI(base_url)
uri.query = URI.encode_www_form(params)

http = Net::HTTP.new(uri.host, uri.port)
http.use_ssl = true

request = Net::HTTP::Get.new(uri)
response = http.request(request)

puts response.body

PHP Microlink API example

<?php

$baseUrl = "https://api.microlink.io/";

$params = [
    "url" => "https://cdn.microlink.io/file-examples/sample.xlsx",
    "data.html.attr" => "html",
    "meta" => "false"
];

$query = http_build_query($params);
$url = $baseUrl . '?' . $query;

$curl = curl_init();

curl_setopt_array($curl, [
    CURLOPT_URL => $url,
    CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER => true,
    CURLOPT_ENCODING => "",
    CURLOPT_MAXREDIRS => 10,
    CURLOPT_TIMEOUT => 30,
    CURLOPT_HTTP_VERSION => CURL_HTTP_VERSION_1_1,
    CURLOPT_CUSTOMREQUEST => "GET"
]);

$response = curl_exec($curl);
$err = curl_error($curl);

curl_close($curl);

if ($err) {
    echo "cURL Error #: " . $err;
} else {
    echo $response;
}

Golang Microlink API example

package main

import (
    "fmt"
    "net/http"
    "net/url"
    "io"
)

func main() {
    baseURL := "https://api.microlink.io"

    u, err := url.Parse(baseURL)
    if err != nil {
        panic(err)
    }
    q := u.Query()
    q.Set("url", "https://cdn.microlink.io/file-examples/sample.xlsx")
    q.Set("data.html.attr", "html")
    q.Set("meta", "false")
    u.RawQuery = q.Encode()

    req, err := http.NewRequest("GET", u.String(), nil)
    if err != nil {
        panic(err)
    }

    client := &http.Client{}
    resp, err := client.Do(req)
    if err != nil {
        panic(err)
    }
    defer resp.Body.Close()

    body, err := io.ReadAll(resp.Body)
    if err != nil {
        panic(err)
    }

    fmt.Println(string(body))
}

import mql from '@microlink/mql'

const { data } = await mql('https://cdn.microlink.io/file-examples/sample.xlsx', {
  data: {
    html: {
      attr: "html"
    }
  },
  meta: false
})

Swap the URL for a .pdf, .docx, or .pptx file and the request is identical.

Return HTML directly

Add embed with html when the API URL itself should return HTML:

The following examples show how to use the Microlink API with CLI, cURL, JavaScript, Python, Ruby, PHP & Golang, targeting 'https://example.com' URL with 'data', 'meta' & 'embed' API parameters:

CLI Microlink API example

microlink https://example.com&data.html.attr=html&embed=html

cURL Microlink API example

curl -G "https://api.microlink.io" \
  -d "url=https://example.com" \
  -d "data.html.attr=html" \
  -d "meta=false" \
  -d "embed=html"

JavaScript Microlink API example

import mql from '@microlink/mql'

const { data } = await mql('https://example.com', {
  data: {
    html: {
      attr: "html"
    }
  },
  meta: false,
  embed: "html"
})

Python Microlink API example

import requests

url = "https://api.microlink.io/"

querystring = {
    "url": "https://example.com",
    "data.html.attr": "html",
    "meta": "false",
    "embed": "html"
}

response = requests.get(url, params=querystring)

print(response.json())

Ruby Microlink API example

require 'uri'
require 'net/http'

base_url = "https://api.microlink.io/"

params = {
  url: "https://example.com",
  data.html.attr: "html",
  meta: "false",
  embed: "html"
}

uri = URI(base_url)
uri.query = URI.encode_www_form(params)

http = Net::HTTP.new(uri.host, uri.port)
http.use_ssl = true

request = Net::HTTP::Get.new(uri)
response = http.request(request)

puts response.body

PHP Microlink API example

<?php

$baseUrl = "https://api.microlink.io/";

$params = [
    "url" => "https://example.com",
    "data.html.attr" => "html",
    "meta" => "false",
    "embed" => "html"
];

$query = http_build_query($params);
$url = $baseUrl . '?' . $query;

$curl = curl_init();

curl_setopt_array($curl, [
    CURLOPT_URL => $url,
    CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER => true,
    CURLOPT_ENCODING => "",
    CURLOPT_MAXREDIRS => 10,
    CURLOPT_TIMEOUT => 30,
    CURLOPT_HTTP_VERSION => CURL_HTTP_VERSION_1_1,
    CURLOPT_CUSTOMREQUEST => "GET"
]);

$response = curl_exec($curl);
$err = curl_error($curl);

curl_close($curl);

if ($err) {
    echo "cURL Error #: " . $err;
} else {
    echo $response;
}

Golang Microlink API example

package main

import (
    "fmt"
    "net/http"
    "net/url"
    "io"
)

func main() {
    baseURL := "https://api.microlink.io"

    u, err := url.Parse(baseURL)
    if err != nil {
        panic(err)
    }
    q := u.Query()
    q.Set("url", "https://example.com")
    q.Set("data.html.attr", "html")
    q.Set("meta", "false")
    q.Set("embed", "html")
    u.RawQuery = q.Encode()

    req, err := http.NewRequest("GET", u.String(), nil)
    if err != nil {
        panic(err)
    }

    client := &http.Client{}
    resp, err := client.Do(req)
    if err != nil {
        panic(err)
    }
    defer resp.Body.Close()

    body, err := io.ReadAll(resp.Body)
    if err != nil {
        panic(err)
    }

    fmt.Println(string(body))
}

import mql from '@microlink/mql'

const { data } = await mql('https://example.com', {
  data: {
    html: {
      attr: "html"
    }
  },
  meta: false,
  embed: "html"
})

The response body is HTML and the content type is text/html.

The same request as a raw URL:

https://api.microlink.io?url=https://example.com&data.html.attr=html&meta=false&embed=html

Extract a fragment instead of the full document

Use a selector when you only need one part of the page:

The following examples show how to use the Microlink API with CLI, cURL, JavaScript, Python, Ruby, PHP & Golang, targeting 'https://microlink.io/docs/api/getting-started/overview' URL with 'data', 'meta' & 'embed' API parameters:

CLI Microlink API example

microlink https://microlink.io/docs/api/getting-started/overview&data.html.selector=main&data.html.attr=html&embed=html

cURL Microlink API example

curl -G "https://api.microlink.io" \
  -d "url=https://microlink.io/docs/api/getting-started/overview" \
  -d "data.html.selector=main" \
  -d "data.html.attr=html" \
  -d "meta=false" \
  -d "embed=html"

JavaScript Microlink API example

import mql from '@microlink/mql'

const { data } = await mql('https://microlink.io/docs/api/getting-started/overview', {
  data: {
    html: {
      selector: "main",
      attr: "html"
    }
  },
  meta: false,
  embed: "html"
})

Python Microlink API example

import requests

url = "https://api.microlink.io/"

querystring = {
    "url": "https://microlink.io/docs/api/getting-started/overview",
    "data.html.selector": "main",
    "data.html.attr": "html",
    "meta": "false",
    "embed": "html"
}

response = requests.get(url, params=querystring)

print(response.json())

Ruby Microlink API example

require 'uri'
require 'net/http'

base_url = "https://api.microlink.io/"

params = {
  url: "https://microlink.io/docs/api/getting-started/overview",
  data.html.selector: "main",
  data.html.attr: "html",
  meta: "false",
  embed: "html"
}

uri = URI(base_url)
uri.query = URI.encode_www_form(params)

http = Net::HTTP.new(uri.host, uri.port)
http.use_ssl = true

request = Net::HTTP::Get.new(uri)
response = http.request(request)

puts response.body

PHP Microlink API example

<?php

$baseUrl = "https://api.microlink.io/";

$params = [
    "url" => "https://microlink.io/docs/api/getting-started/overview",
    "data.html.selector" => "main",
    "data.html.attr" => "html",
    "meta" => "false",
    "embed" => "html"
];

$query = http_build_query($params);
$url = $baseUrl . '?' . $query;

$curl = curl_init();

curl_setopt_array($curl, [
    CURLOPT_URL => $url,
    CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER => true,
    CURLOPT_ENCODING => "",
    CURLOPT_MAXREDIRS => 10,
    CURLOPT_TIMEOUT => 30,
    CURLOPT_HTTP_VERSION => CURL_HTTP_VERSION_1_1,
    CURLOPT_CUSTOMREQUEST => "GET"
]);

$response = curl_exec($curl);
$err = curl_error($curl);

curl_close($curl);

if ($err) {
    echo "cURL Error #: " . $err;
} else {
    echo $response;
}

Golang Microlink API example

package main

import (
    "fmt"
    "net/http"
    "net/url"
    "io"
)

func main() {
    baseURL := "https://api.microlink.io"

    u, err := url.Parse(baseURL)
    if err != nil {
        panic(err)
    }
    q := u.Query()
    q.Set("url", "https://microlink.io/docs/api/getting-started/overview")
    q.Set("data.html.selector", "main")
    q.Set("data.html.attr", "html")
    q.Set("meta", "false")
    q.Set("embed", "html")
    u.RawQuery = q.Encode()

    req, err := http.NewRequest("GET", u.String(), nil)
    if err != nil {
        panic(err)
    }

    client := &http.Client{}
    resp, err := client.Do(req)
    if err != nil {
        panic(err)
    }
    defer resp.Body.Close()

    body, err := io.ReadAll(resp.Body)
    if err != nil {
        panic(err)
    }

    fmt.Println(string(body))
}

import mql from '@microlink/mql'

const { data } = await mql('https://microlink.io/docs/api/getting-started/overview', {
  data: {
    html: {
      selector: "main",
      attr: "html"
    }
  },
  meta: false,
  embed: "html"
})

With a selector, attr: 'html' returns the matched element HTML for the selected page region.

Render JavaScript pages

When the initial HTML is empty because the page is client-rendered, turn on browser rendering and wait for the content wrapper:

The following examples show how to use the Microlink API with CLI, cURL, JavaScript, Python, Ruby, PHP & Golang, targeting 'https://microlink.io' URL with 'data', 'prerender', 'waitForSelector', 'meta' & 'embed' API parameters:

CLI Microlink API example

microlink https://microlink.io&data.html.selector=main&data.html.attr=html&prerender&waitForSelector=main&embed=html

cURL Microlink API example

curl -G "https://api.microlink.io" \
  -d "url=https://microlink.io" \
  -d "data.html.selector=main" \
  -d "data.html.attr=html" \
  -d "prerender=true" \
  -d "waitForSelector=main" \
  -d "meta=false" \
  -d "embed=html"

JavaScript Microlink API example

import mql from '@microlink/mql'

const { data } = await mql('https://microlink.io', {
  data: {
    html: {
      selector: "main",
      attr: "html"
    }
  },
  prerender: true,
  waitForSelector: "main",
  meta: false,
  embed: "html"
})

Python Microlink API example

import requests

url = "https://api.microlink.io/"

querystring = {
    "url": "https://microlink.io",
    "data.html.selector": "main",
    "data.html.attr": "html",
    "prerender": "true",
    "waitForSelector": "main",
    "meta": "false",
    "embed": "html"
}

response = requests.get(url, params=querystring)

print(response.json())

Ruby Microlink API example

require 'uri'
require 'net/http'

base_url = "https://api.microlink.io/"

params = {
  url: "https://microlink.io",
  data.html.selector: "main",
  data.html.attr: "html",
  prerender: "true",
  waitForSelector: "main",
  meta: "false",
  embed: "html"
}

uri = URI(base_url)
uri.query = URI.encode_www_form(params)

http = Net::HTTP.new(uri.host, uri.port)
http.use_ssl = true

request = Net::HTTP::Get.new(uri)
response = http.request(request)

puts response.body

PHP Microlink API example

<?php

$baseUrl = "https://api.microlink.io/";

$params = [
    "url" => "https://microlink.io",
    "data.html.selector" => "main",
    "data.html.attr" => "html",
    "prerender" => "true",
    "waitForSelector" => "main",
    "meta" => "false",
    "embed" => "html"
];

$query = http_build_query($params);
$url = $baseUrl . '?' . $query;

$curl = curl_init();

curl_setopt_array($curl, [
    CURLOPT_URL => $url,
    CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER => true,
    CURLOPT_ENCODING => "",
    CURLOPT_MAXREDIRS => 10,
    CURLOPT_TIMEOUT => 30,
    CURLOPT_HTTP_VERSION => CURL_HTTP_VERSION_1_1,
    CURLOPT_CUSTOMREQUEST => "GET"
]);

$response = curl_exec($curl);
$err = curl_error($curl);

curl_close($curl);

if ($err) {
    echo "cURL Error #: " . $err;
} else {
    echo $response;
}

Golang Microlink API example

package main

import (
    "fmt"
    "net/http"
    "net/url"
    "io"
)

func main() {
    baseURL := "https://api.microlink.io"

    u, err := url.Parse(baseURL)
    if err != nil {
        panic(err)
    }
    q := u.Query()
    q.Set("url", "https://microlink.io")
    q.Set("data.html.selector", "main")
    q.Set("data.html.attr", "html")
    q.Set("prerender", "true")
    q.Set("waitForSelector", "main")
    q.Set("meta", "false")
    q.Set("embed", "html")
    u.RawQuery = q.Encode()

    req, err := http.NewRequest("GET", u.String(), nil)
    if err != nil {
        panic(err)
    }

    client := &http.Client{}
    resp, err := client.Do(req)
    if err != nil {
        panic(err)
    }
    defer resp.Body.Close()

    body, err := io.ReadAll(resp.Body)
    if err != nil {
        panic(err)
    }

    fmt.Println(string(body))
}

import mql from '@microlink/mql'

const { data } = await mql('https://microlink.io', {
  data: {
    html: {
      selector: "main",
      attr: "html"
    }
  },
  prerender: true,
  waitForSelector: "main",
  meta: false,
  embed: "html"
})

Use prerender only when the page needs browser execution before HTML extraction.

Supported source formats

Any HTML page works. Direct file URLs are converted first: PDFs with a text layer, and the office formats docx, xlsx, pptx, odt, rtf, and epub. Image-only PDF scans, the legacy binary formats (doc, xls, ppt), and the OpenDocument spreadsheet and presentation formats (ods, odp) are not converted: the request still succeeds, but the field is left as the raw response instead of HTML markup.

Next step

Use Data extraction: Page preparation for waits, clicks, scrolling, browser settings, and CSS cleanup. Use URL to Text when the consumer only needs readable text, or URL to Markdown when the consumer is an LLM or Markdown-native system.