Installation & prerequisites — procedure

How to install ODL for your integration and satisfy its prerequisites. The exact runtime version floors are not baked here — they change between releases; read them from the installed package's manifest and its --help (SKILL.md "Source-of-truth rule"). This file is the durable procedure; the numbers are the package's to state.

ToC

• Choose the install by what you integrate from
• Prerequisites — a Java runtime (all paths)
• Prerequisites — language-binding runtime floors
• Install commands (pip · venv · npm · Maven/Gradle)
• Post-install verification

Choose the install by what you integrate from

Decide by what you are calling ODL from (and whether you need the backend/OCR server), not by which runtime happens to already be present — a Java project with Python installed should still use the Java path.

What are you calling ODL from?
├── Java (Maven/Gradle)     → add the Maven/Gradle dependency (below)
├── Node.js                 → install the npm package
├── LangChain / LlamaIndex  → install the framework's ODL loader package
│                             (add the backend extras too if you need OCR/hybrid)
├── Python (direct)         → install the pip package
│                             (use the backend extras if you need OCR/hybrid)
└── Just the CLI            → install the pip package (simplest)

The pip and npm packages include the opendataloader-pdf CLI automatically; the Maven/Gradle artifact is a library only.

Prerequisites — a Java runtime (all paths)

Every path needs a Java runtime: the pip/npm wrappers and the CLI spawn a JVM internally, and a Java consumer runs the library inside its own JVM. Do not assume a specific Java version — the required floor is declared by the package (for the Java artifact, its build's compiler target; the wrappers need whatever JVM the bundled bytecode was compiled for). Read the requirement from the package/manifest rather than hard-coding a number.

Verify a Java runtime is present and note its version:

java -version

If Java is missing or too old, the failure differs by cause:

• Not on PATH → the tool reports that the java command was not found.
• Present but too old → the run fails with a message that the compiled class-file version is newer than the running JVM (a JVM started, but the bytecode is newer than it supports). The fix is a newer JDK, not a tool option — no mode or OCR flag bypasses it.

Install a JDK meeting the package's declared floor for your OS before proceeding.

Prerequisites — language-binding runtime floors

Each wrapper declares its own minimum runtime in its manifest, and enforcement differs by package manager (a declared floor is not the same as a hard install refusal). Read the floor from the manifest; expect:

• pip — declares a minimum Python (requires-python in the Python package manifest) and refuses to install on an older Python.
• npm — declares a minimum Node (engines.node in the Node package manifest); advisory by default (a warning), only blocking under strict engine enforcement.
• Maven/Gradle — the artifact is compiled to a target Java version; dependency resolution does not gate on your runtime JVM, so a too-old JVM surfaces at build/run time, not as an install refusal.

Because Java is a runtime (not install-time) requirement on the wrapper/CLI paths, it fails at use time — which is why the upfront java -version check matters.

Install commands

pip (Python)

pip install opendataloader-pdf                    # minimal (includes the CLI)
pip install "opendataloader-pdf[hybrid]"          # adds the OCR/hybrid backend server

Install the framework loader package separately if you integrate via LangChain/LlamaIndex.

Virtual environments (Python) — recommended

Install into the environment you will run from: the CLI shim lands in that env's bin/ (Scripts\ on Windows) and is on PATH only while the env is active. Run the install and every later ODL command in the same activated env, and make sure the JVM is visible there too. scripts/detect-env.sh reports the active env and flags an externally-managed base interpreter.

venv:

python3 -m venv .venv
. .venv/bin/activate          # Windows: .venv\Scripts\activate
pip install opendataloader-pdf

conda:

# 3.XX = a Python version opendataloader-pdf supports (see Prerequisites)
conda create -n odl "python=3.XX" && conda activate odl
pip install opendataloader-pdf

Externally-managed environment (PEP 668): an OS-managed system Python refuses a bare pip install. Use a venv/conda env as above, or — for a CLI-only need — install it with pipx (it manages an isolated env and puts the CLI on PATH). Prefer these over overriding the system-package protection.

npm (Node.js)

npm install @opendataloader/pdf

Includes the opendataloader-pdf CLI automatically.

Maven / Gradle (Java)

Add the dependency and pin it to a released version (check the project's releases page); the artifact is a library (no CLI).

<dependency>
    <groupId>org.opendataloader</groupId>
    <artifactId>opendataloader-pdf-core</artifactId>
    <version>LATEST</version>
</dependency>

dependencies {
    implementation 'org.opendataloader:opendataloader-pdf-core:LATEST'
}

Replace LATEST with the specific version you want to pin (Kotlin DSL: implementation("org.opendataloader:opendataloader-pdf-core:LATEST")).

Post-install verification

Confirm the CLI resolves on PATH (this also prints the option surface you will read):

opendataloader-pdf --help

If it is not found, ensure your package manager's bin directory is on PATH. To check the installed version, ask the package manager (pip show opendataloader-pdf, or npm ls @opendataloader/pdf) — there is no version flag on the CLI itself. For Maven, verify the dependency resolves with a build and check for classpath errors.

Cross-references: SKILL.md "Source-of-truth rule", "Where the human decides" (prerequisites are the user's to install); hybrid-guide.md (the backend extras); integration-examples.md (per-language code); scripts/detect-env.sh.