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Integrating docling with Laravel Artisan

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Key Concepts

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Steps for Integration

1. Locate the docling Executable: The absolute path to the docling executable in the virtual environment we created is:
   /Users/awidarto/docling-venv/bin/docling
   
2. Create a New Artisan Command: You can create a new Artisan command using the following command:
   php artisan make:command ConvertDocument
   
3. Implement the Command: Open the newly created app/Console/Commands/ConvertDocument.php file and modify it to use the Process component to execute the docling command. Here is a complete example:
   <?php
   
   namespace App\Console\Commands;
   
   use Illuminate\Console\Command;
   use Symfony\Component\Process\Process;
   use Symfony\Component\Process\Exception\ProcessFailedException;
   
   class ConvertDocument extends Command
   {
       protected $signature = 'docling:convert {inputFile} {outputFile}';
       protected $description = 'Converts a document using docling';
   
       public function handle()
       {
           $inputFile = $this->argument('inputFile');
           $outputFile = $this->argument('outputFile');
           $doclingPath = '/Users/awidarto/docling-venv/bin/docling';
   
           // IMPORTANT: Always use absolute paths for input and output files
           // when calling from a non-interactive environment.
           $absoluteInputPath = storage_path('app/' . $inputFile);
           $absoluteOutputPath = storage_path('app/' . $outputFile);
   
           if (!file_exists($absoluteInputPath)) {
               $this->error("Input file not found: {$absoluteInputPath}");
               return 1;
           }
   
           $this->info("Starting conversion of {$inputFile} to {$outputFile}...");
   
           $process = new Process([
               $doclingPath,
               'convert',
               $absoluteInputPath,
               $absoluteOutputPath
           ]);
   
           // Set a longer timeout if you are converting large files
           $process->setTimeout(300); 
   
           try {
               $process->mustRun();
               $this->info("Conversion successful!");
               $this->info("Output file: {$absoluteOutputPath}");
               $this->line($process->getOutput());
           } catch (ProcessFailedException $exception) {
               $this->error('The document conversion failed.');
               $this->error($exception->getMessage());
               return 1;
           }
   
           return 0;
       }
   }
   
4. File Permissions: The user that runs your web server (e.g., www-data, nginx, apache) needs to have execute permissions on the docling executable and read/write permissions on the directories where your input and output files are stored. You can ensure the executable has the correct permissions with:
   chmod +x /Users/awidarto/docling-venv/bin/docling
   
   You will also need to ensure that your storage/app directory (or wherever you are storing your files) is writable by the web server user.

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Usage

php artisan docling:convert my_document.pdf my_converted_document.docx