Document Splitter always returns 1 document for split_type="passage" in pdfs

TL;DR

Fix: Contributor davidsbatista's fix: use PyPDFToDocument(extraction_mode=PyPDFExtractionMode.LAYOUT) - 'works perfectly!' - since layout mode preserves paragraph spacing.

The error

Issue deepset-ai/haystack#8491 (closed, 22 comments): **Describe the bug** When using Document Splitter with pdf and `split_type="passage"`, the result is always one document. This is using pypdf. **Expected behavior** The understanding I have is that it splits based on at least two line breaks `\n\n` **Additional context** When I tested using plain text it seems to be splitting correctly **To Reproduce** dir = '...' files = [ {"filename": "rules.pdf", "meta": {"split_by" : "passage", "split_length":1, "split_overlap":0, "split_threshold":0}}, {"filename": "rules.txt", "meta": {"split_by" : "passage", "split_length":1, "split_overlap":0, "split_t

Fix

1. Contributor davidsbatista's fix: use PyPDFToDocument(extraction_mode=PyPDFExtractionMode.LAYOUT) - 'works perfectly!' - since layout mode preserves paragraph spacing.

Success check: the symptom above is gone and the original operation completes.

When to use

• You hit this exact symptom in haystack.
• You want the verified fix without digging through the thread.

When not to use

• A different error in haystack, even a similar-looking one.
• General haystack setup or credential questions.

Compatibility

• Haystack (deepset-ai/haystack)

Variant phrasings

• How to fix "document Splitter always returns 1 document for split_type="passage" in pdfs" in haystack
• haystack: document Splitter always returns 1 document for split_type="passage" in pdfs

Root cause

Root cause identified by contributor lbux: PDF converters store paragraph breaks as single newlines, but split_by='passage' splits on double newlines (\n\n), so passage splitting yields one document.

Source

• https://github.com/deepset-ai/haystack/issues/8491

In gh:deepset-ai/haystack#8491 (https://github.com/deepset-ai/haystack/issues/8491), someone reported: Issue deepset-ai/haystack#8491 (closed, 22 comments): Describe the bug When using Document Splitter with pdf and split_type="passage", the result is always one document. This is using pypdf. Expected behavior The understanding I have is that it splits based on at least two line breaks \n\n Additional context When I tested using plain text it seems to be splitting correctly To Reproduce dir = '...' files = [ {"filename": "rules.pdf", "meta": {"splitby" : "passage", "splitlength":1, "splitoverlap":0, "splitthreshold":0}}, {"filename": "rules.txt", "meta": {"splitby" : "passage", "splitlength":1, "splitoverlap":0, "splitt The verified resolution from the thread: Root cause identified by contributor lbux: PDF converters store paragraph breaks as single newlines, but splitby='passage' splits on double newlines (\n\n), so passage splitting yields one document. Contributor davidsbatista's fix: use PyPDFToDocument(extractionmode=PyPDFExtractionMode.LAYOUT) - 'works perfectly!' - since layout mode preserves paragraph spacing. Also noted: running DocumentCleaner with removeemptylines=True before the splitter strips the newlines passage splitting needs.