Extracting Form Fields

Extracting Form Fields

Prepare working directory and extract field data from PDF forms.

<purpose> This skill extracts PDF form information into useful JSON. - Detects fillable vs. non-fillable PDFs - Extracts PDF content as readable Markdown - Creates field metadata in common JSON format </​purpose>

Inputs

• PDF path: Path to PDF file (e.g., /​home/​user/​input.pdf)

Process Overview

@startuml SKILL
title Extracting Form Fields - High-Level Workflow
start
:Create working directory;
:Copy interview template;
:Extract PDF content as Markdown;
:Check Fillability;
if (PDF has fillable fields?) then (yes)
  :Fillable workflow
  (see Fillable-Forms.md);
else (no)
  :Non-fillable workflow
  (see Nonfillable-Forms.md);
endif
:**✓ EXTRACTION COMPLETE**;
:Ready for Form Data Model creation;
stop
@enduml

Process

1. Create Working Directory

mkdir <basename>.chatfield

2. Copy Interview Template

Copy a file from the included filling-pdf-forms skill's template. The example path below is relative to this skill directory.

cp ../​filling-pdf-forms/​scripts/​chatfield_interview_template.py <basename>.chatfield/​interview.py

3. Extract PDF Content

markitdown <pdf_path> > <basename>.chatfield/<basename>.form.md

4. Check Fillability

python scripts/​check_fillable_fields.py <pdf_path>

Output:

• "This PDF has fillable form fields" → use fillable workflow
• "This PDF does not have fillable form fields" → use non-fillable workflow

5. Branch Based on Fillability

If Fillable:

Follow ./​references/​Fillable-Forms.md

If Non-fillable:

Follow ./​references/​Nonfillable-Forms.md

Output Format

Fillable PDFs - .form.json

[
  {
    "field_id": "topmostSubform[0].Page1[0].f1_01[0]",
    "type": "text",
    "page": 1,
    "rect": [100, 200, 300, 220],
    "tooltip": "Enter your full legal name",
    "max_length": null
  },
  {
    "field_id": "checkbox_over_18",
    "type": "checkbox",
    "page": 1,
    "rect": [150, 250, 165, 265],
    "checked_value": "/​1",
    "unchecked_value": "/​Off"
  }
]

References

• ./​references/​Fillable-Forms.md - Fillable PDF extraction workflow
• ./​references/​Nonfillable-Forms.md - Non-fillable PDF extraction workflow