/csv-to-page

Convert CSV files into Page notes with properly formatted markdown tables.

Key Feature: No content truncation by default - full cell content is preserved regardless of length (PapaParse has no cell size limits; V8 engine supports strings up to 512MB).

Features:

• RFC 4180 compliant parsing via PapaParse
• No truncation - full cell content preserved (up to 512MB per cell)
• Auto-detects delimiter (comma, semicolon, tab)
• Handles quoted fields, multi-line content, embedded commas
• Escapes markdown special characters (pipes, backslashes)
• Auto-detects numeric columns for right-alignment
• Split mode - create individual notes for rows with long content

Usage

/csv-to-page <csv-path>
/csv-to-page Inbox/data.csv
/csv-to-page Inbox/rfi.csv --split --split-folder "RFI-Responses"
/csv-to-page Inbox/data.csv --truncate 150  # Optional truncation

Instructions

Phase 1: CSV Analysis

1. Verify the CSV file exists at the specified path
2. Run analysis to understand structure:

   node scripts/csv-to-markdown.js "<csv-path>" --output-json
   

3. Review the output to identify:
   • Total rows and columns
   • Empty rows (common in Excel exports)
   • Maximum cell length (determines if split mode recommended)
   • Whether there are metadata/instruction rows before actual data

Phase 2: Choose Conversion Mode

Based on the analysis, recommend a mode to the user:

Use AskUserQuestion:

Question: "How should the CSV be processed?"
Header: "CSV Mode"
Options:
  1. "Full table (Recommended for simple data)"
     Description: "Single markdown table with all content preserved"
  2. "Split mode (Recommended for long content)"
     Description: "Individual note per row - best for RFIs, surveys, responses"
  3. "Truncated summary"
     Description: "Compact table with truncated cells for overview"

Recommendations:

• Full table: For CSVs with cells under 500 characters
• Split mode: For RFI responses, surveys, or any CSV with cells over 1000 characters
• Truncated: Only when user specifically needs a compact summary view

Phase 3: Run Conversion

Full table mode (default, no truncation):

node scripts/csv-to-markdown.js "<csv-path>" --title "<title>"

Split mode (recommended for long content):

node scripts/csv-to-markdown.js "<csv-path>" --split --split-folder "<folder>" --title "<title>" --id-column 2

Truncated mode (optional):

node scripts/csv-to-markdown.js "<csv-path>" --truncate 150 --title "<title>"

Script Options

Option	Description
--title <title>	Custom title for the Page note
--split	Create individual notes for each row
--split-folder <path>	Folder for split notes (e.g., "RFI-Responses")
--id-column <n>	Column index for note IDs (0-indexed, default: 0)
--truncate <n>	Truncate cells to N characters (disabled by default)
--start-row <n>	Start from row N (0-indexed, for skipping metadata)
--end-row <n>	End at row N (for partial conversion)
--delimiter <char>	Force delimiter if auto-detect fails
--dry-run	Preview without creating files
--verbose	Show detailed processing info

Phase 4: Post-Processing

After conversion:

1. Add entity links - Link to existing Projects, People, Systems
2. Add appropriate tags - Based on content (activity/, project/, domain/)
3. For split mode - Review and enhance individual notes with relationships

Phase 5: Summary Report

Provide user with:

For full table mode:

## CSV Import Complete

**Created**: `Page - <title>.md`

**Statistics**:

- Rows: <count>
- Columns: <count>
- Max cell length: <chars>
- Truncation: None (full content preserved)

**Note**: Obsidian may have display issues with very wide tables.
Consider using Reading View for better rendering.

For split mode:

## CSV Import Complete (Split Mode)

**Summary**: `Page - <title>.md`
**Individual Notes**: <count> notes in `<folder>/`

Each row has been converted to a separate note with:

- Full content preserved (no truncation)
- Proper markdown formatting
- Metadata linking back to source

**Next Steps**:

1. Review individual notes
2. Add project/person links
3. Add relevant tags

Handling Common CSV Patterns

RFI/Scoring Spreadsheets (Recommended: Split Mode)

Pattern: Questions with very long vendor responses (1000-10000+ chars).

node scripts/csv-to-markdown.js "<file>.csv" --split --split-folder "RFI-Responses" --id-column 2 --start-row 5

Benefits:

• Each question/response becomes a searchable note
• Full content preserved with proper formatting
• Can add scores, comments, tags to individual responses
• Supports Dataview queries for aggregation

Data Exports (Recommended: Full Table)

Pattern: Clean data with short cells (<500 chars).

node scripts/csv-to-markdown.js "<file>.csv" --title "Data Export - Jan 2026"

Multi-Section CSVs

Pattern: Multiple tables in one file separated by empty rows.

Approach: Use --start-row and --end-row to extract each section:

# Section 1
node scripts/csv-to-markdown.js data.csv --start-row 0 --end-row 20 --title "Section 1"

# Section 2
node scripts/csv-to-markdown.js data.csv --start-row 25 --end-row 50 --title "Section 2"

Technical Notes

No Content Limits

• PapaParse: No documented cell size limit
• V8 Engine: Strings up to 512MB supported
• Practical: Tested with 10,000+ character cells without issues

Markdown Table Considerations

For very long content in tables:

• Newlines converted to <br> tags
• Pipe characters escaped as \|
• Backslashes escaped as \\
• May cause horizontal scrolling in Obsidian

Recommendation: Use --split mode for cells >1000 characters.

Supported Delimiters

• Comma (,) - Default
• Semicolon (;) - Common in European exports
• Tab (\t) - TSV files

Character Encoding

• UTF-8 (default)
• Handles Windows-1252 and Latin-1 from Excel exports
• Special characters preserved

Example Workflows

RFI Scoring Sheet

User: /csv-to-page Inbox/vendor-rfi-responses.csv