# DOCX > Read, create, or edit Microsoft Word .docx files — extract/summarize text and tables, generate reports/letters/memos with headings, tables, images, TOC and page numbers, do find-and-replace, or apply tracked changes (redlines) and comments. Use whenever the user has a .docx or wants a Word deliverable. Not for PDF, .xlsx, .pptx, or Google Docs. - Skill: `hkuds/docx` (Agent Skill) - Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add hkuds/docx` - Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/hkuds/docx/raw - Safety review: pending - Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex - Category: Data & Analytics - Author: HKUDS (https://skillmd.com/u/hkuds) - Updated: 2026-09-17 - Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/hkuds/docx --- # DOCX (Microsoft Word) A `.docx` is a ZIP of XML parts. Body text lives in `word/document.xml`. Two tiers: - **Default — `python-docx`** (preinstalled): create, read, and simple edits. Use for almost everything. - **Advanced — raw OOXML via `zipfile`**: only for what python-docx cannot express — tracked changes (redlines), comments, and exact-fidelity edits that must preserve every untouched byte. See [Raw OOXML](#raw-ooxml-advanced). ## Runtime Use `exec` with complete Python source (`language: python`). `python-docx` is preinstalled. Prefer creating, saving, reopening, and validating the deliverable in one call; later calls can revise the same relative filename. Follow the turn's **User workspace** instructions for locating inputs, output boundaries, and presenting the finished file. When editing, write a new output unless the user explicitly requested an authorized replacement. ## Read / extract ```python from docx import Document doc = Document("in.docx") text = "\n".join(p.text for p in doc.paragraphs) # body paragraphs for tbl in doc.tables: # tables for row in tbl.rows: print([c.text for c in row.cells]) ``` `doc.paragraphs` skips text inside tables, headers/footers, and text boxes — iterate `doc.tables` and `doc.sections[i].header/.footer` for those. Each paragraph's style: `p.style.name` (e.g. `"Heading 1"`). To read **tracked changes**, parse the XML directly — `python-docx` ignores ``/``: ```python import zipfile, re xml = zipfile.ZipFile("in.docx").read("word/document.xml").decode("utf-8") # inserted text = …… deleted = …… print(re.findall(r"]*>(.*?)", xml)) ``` ## Create ```python from docx import Document from docx.shared import Pt, Inches, RGBColor from docx.enum.text import WD_ALIGN_PARAGRAPH doc = Document() # default template page size doc.add_heading("Quarterly Report", level=0) # 0 = title; 1..9 = H1..H9 p = doc.add_paragraph("Intro paragraph. ") run = p.add_run("Bold tail.") run.bold = True doc.add_paragraph("First item", style="List Bullet") # real list style, never a "• " literal doc.add_paragraph("Step one", style="List Number") # Table — header row + data tbl = doc.add_table(rows=1, cols=2) tbl.style = "Light Grid Accent 1" tbl.rows[0].cells[0].text, tbl.rows[0].cells[1].text = "Metric", "Value" for k, v in [("Revenue", "1.2M"), ("Growth", "15%")]: c = tbl.add_row().cells c[0].text, c[1].text = k, v doc.add_picture("chart.png", width=Inches(5)) # image, scaled to width doc.add_page_break() doc.save("out.docx") # Validate immediately; later exec calls can also reopen this relative path. check = Document("out.docx") assert check.paragraphs, "generated DOCX has no paragraphs" import zipfile with zipfile.ZipFile("out.docx") as package: assert package.testzip() is None, "generated DOCX has a corrupt ZIP member" ``` Rules: - **Never type bullet/number characters** (`•`, `1.`) into text — use `style="List Bullet"`/`"List Number"`. Only list styles defined in the doc's template are available. - **No `\n` inside a run** — each visual line is its own `add_paragraph`. - **Built-in style names must match the template** (e.g. `"Heading 1"`, `"List Bullet"`); a wrong name raises `KeyError`. - Units: `Pt`, `Inches`, `Cm` from `docx.shared`. Colors: `RGBColor(0x1F,0x4E,0x79)`. ### Page setup, headers/footers, page numbers ```python from docx.shared import Inches sec = doc.sections[0] sec.page_width, sec.page_height = Inches(8.5), Inches(11) # Letter sec.top_margin = sec.bottom_margin = Inches(1) sec.header.paragraphs[0].text = "Confidential" ``` Page-number fields aren't in the python-docx API; inject the field XML into a footer run: ```python from docx.oxml.ns import qn from docx.oxml import OxmlElement def add_page_number(paragraph): for t in ("begin", "instr", "end"): r = OxmlElement("w:r") if t == "instr": fld = OxmlElement("w:instrText") fld.set(qn("xml:space"), "preserve") fld.text = "PAGE" else: fld = OxmlElement("w:fldChar") fld.set(qn("w:fldCharType"), t) r.append(fld) paragraph._p.append(r) add_page_number(doc.sections[0].footer.paragraphs[0]) ``` A clickable **Table of Contents** is also a field; Word shows "right-click → Update Field" until refreshed. Same pattern with `instrText` = `TOC \o "1-3" \h \z \u`. ## Edit existing (simple) `python-docx` preserves the rest of the document; mutate then save under a new name. ```python doc = Document("in.docx") # Find-and-replace, keeping each run's formatting: for p in doc.paragraphs: if "{{CLIENT}}" in p.text: for r in p.runs: r.text = r.text.replace("{{CLIENT}}", "Acme Co") doc.save("out.docx") ``` Gotcha: Word splits text across runs, so a phrase may not live in one `run.text` even though `p.text` shows it whole. If the placeholder spans runs, set `p.runs[0].text = p.text.replace(...)` and clear the rest (`for r in p.runs[1:]: r.text = ""`) — this collapses formatting to the first run, acceptable for plain placeholders. For exact-fidelity edits, use the raw-OOXML tier. ## .doc → .docx and PDF export (LibreOffice, optional) Legacy binary `.doc` can't be read by python-docx, and there is no built-in PDF export. Both need LibreOffice, which is optional and often **absent**. Only use it from `exec`; locate it with `shutil.which("soffice")`, keep its profile/conversion directory relative to the stable working directory, and clean conversion intermediates when finished. Never search for a desktop installation by absolute path and never write conversion files to `/tmp`. If it is absent, degrade with a clear note. ```python import shutil soffice = shutil.which("soffice") if soffice is None: print("soffice unavailable — ask the user for .docx or omit PDF export") # If present, invoke it with subprocess.run([...], check=True) here, using only # relative paths below this run directory, then validate the result immediately. ``` Never fetch or install authoring dependencies during a document task. If a declared runtime dependency is absent, report an incomplete deployment and stop. ## Raw OOXML (advanced) Only when python-docx can't express it: **tracked changes, comments, exact-fidelity edits.** Workflow: read the XML part → edit it as text → re-zip every original member, rewriting only the changed part. ```python import zipfile src, dst = "in.docx", "out.docx" with zipfile.ZipFile(src) as z: xml = z.read("word/document.xml").decode("utf-8") xml = xml.replace("OLD", "NEW") # or splice tracked-change elements (below) with zipfile.ZipFile(src) as zin, zipfile.ZipFile(dst, "w", zipfile.ZIP_DEFLATED) as zout: for item in zin.infolist(): data = ( xml.encode("utf-8") if item.filename == "word/document.xml" else zin.read(item.filename) ) zout.writestr(item, data) ``` Critical traps (these silently corrupt the file or lose text): - **`xml:space="preserve"`** on any ``/`` with leading/trailing whitespace, or Word strips the space. - **Don't pretty-print** into text nodes — added newlines/indent inside `` become visible spaces. Edit the XML as a string; never reserialize the whole tree with indentation. - **Keep parts consistent**: new image/part → add its `` in `word/_rels/document.xml.rels` *and* a content type in `[Content_Types].xml`, or the doc opens "corrupt." - **Unique IDs**: every `w:id` on ``/``/comments must be unique in the file. `w14:paraId`/`w16cid:durableId` must be `< 0x7FFFFFFF` (8-digit hex). - **Element order in ``**: `pStyle`, `numPr`, `spacing`, `ind`, `jc`, then `rPr` last. ### Tracked changes (redlines) Use a consistent author (default `"Claude"` unless the user names one) and ISO date. Replace the **whole ``** with siblings — never nest change tags inside a run — and copy the original `` into the new runs to keep formatting. ```xml The term is 30 60 days. ``` - Inside `` use `` (not ``); inside `` never use ``. - **Deleting a whole paragraph**: also mark its paragraph mark — add `` inside `` — or accepting changes leaves an empty paragraph. - **Reject another author's insertion**: nest your `` *inside* their ``. **Restore their deletion**: add a new `` *after* their `` — never edit their tags. ### Comments Comments live in a separate `word/comments.xml` part (create it + its relationship in `word/_rels/document.xml.rels` + a content-type override if absent). In `document.xml`, the anchor markers `` and `` are **siblings of ``, never inside one**; follow the end marker with ``. This is fiddly — verify the output opens in Word. ## Verify before returning Always confirm the file reopens cleanly — a silent corruption is the most common failure: ```python from docx import Document d = Document("out.docx") print(len(d.paragraphs), "paragraphs OK") ``` For raw-OOXML edits, run `zipfile.ZipFile('out.docx').testzip()` and well-formedness-check each edited XML part with `lxml.etree.parse` in the same `exec` Python call that saves `out.docx`.