DOCX

DOCX creation, editing, and analysis

Overview

A .docx file is a ZIP archive containing XML files.

Execution Policy

Use local execution for .docx operations in this project.

• do not use sandbox jobs for .docx processing here
• do not read .docx as plain text
• use pandoc, soffice.py, unpack.py, pack.py, or related scripts through local exec
• report missing local dependencies clearly if the required commands are unavailable

Path Resolution Rules

All relative paths in this skill are relative to the docx skill directory, not the project root.

In a project workspace, resolve paths like this:

• scripts/office/unpack.py means skills/docx/scripts/office/unpack.py
• scripts/office/pack.py means skills/docx/scripts/office/pack.py
• scripts/office/validate.py means skills/docx/scripts/office/validate.py
• scripts/office/soffice.py means skills/docx/scripts/office/soffice.py
• scripts/accept_changes.py means skills/docx/scripts/accept_changes.py

Never resolve these paths as project_root/scripts/....

If you are running commands from the project workspace root, use explicit paths under skills/docx/scripts/....

File Access Rules

Never call read_file on a raw .docx file. A .docx file is a ZIP container, not UTF-8 text.

If an uploaded .docx is outside the current working directory, do not keep retrying blocked direct-access commands. Use a workspace-local copy workflow first, then operate on the copied file.

Continue the rewrite pipeline only from extracted text artifacts such as unpacked XML text or pandoc output, not from the original .docx binary.

Quick Reference

Converting .doc to .docx

Legacy .doc files must be converted before editing:

python skills/docx/scripts/office/soffice.py --headless --convert-to docx document.doc

Reading Content

# Text extraction with tracked changes
pandoc --track-changes=all document.docx -o output.md

# Raw XML access
python skills/docx/scripts/office/unpack.py document.docx unpacked/

Converting to Images

python skills/docx/scripts/office/soffice.py --headless --convert-to pdf document.docx
pdftoppm -jpeg -r 150 document.pdf page

Accepting Tracked Changes

To produce a clean document with all tracked changes accepted (requires LibreOffice):

python skills/docx/scripts/accept_changes.py input.docx output.docx

Creating New Documents

Generate .docx files with JavaScript, then validate. Install: npm install -g docx

Setup

const { Document, Packer, Paragraph, TextRun, Table, TableRow, TableCell, ImageRun,
        Header, Footer, AlignmentType, PageOrientation, LevelFormat, ExternalHyperlink,
        InternalHyperlink, Bookmark, FootnoteReferenceRun, PositionalTab,
        PositionalTabAlignment, PositionalTabRelativeTo, PositionalTabLeader,
        TabStopType, TabStopPosition, Column, SectionType,
        TableOfContents, HeadingLevel, BorderStyle, WidthType, ShadingType,
        VerticalAlign, PageNumber, PageBreak } = require('docx');

const doc = new Document({ sections: [{ children: [/* content */] }] });
Packer.toBuffer(doc).then(buffer => fs.writeFileSync("doc.docx", buffer));

Validation

After creating the file, validate it. If validation fails, unpack, fix the XML, and repack.

python skills/docx/scripts/office/validate.py doc.docx

Page Size

// CRITICAL: docx-js defaults to A4, not US Letter
// Always set page size explicitly for consistent results
sections: [{
  properties: {
    page: {
      size: {
        width: 12240,   // 8.5 inches in DXA
        height: 15840   // 11 inches in DXA
      },
      margin: { top: 1440, right: 1440, bottom: 1440, left: 1440 } // 1 inch margins
    }
  },
  children: [/* content */]
}]

Common page sizes (DXA units, 1440 DXA = 1 inch):

Landscape orientation: docx-js swaps width/height internally, so pass portrait dimensions and let it handle the swap:

size: {
  width: 12240,   // Pass SHORT edge as width
  height: 15840,  // Pass LONG edge as height
  orientation: PageOrientation.LANDSCAPE  // docx-js swaps them in the XML
},
// Content width = 15840 - left margin - right margin (uses the long edge)

Styles (Override Built-in Headings)

Use Arial as the default font (universally supported). Keep titles black for readability.

const doc = new Document({
  styles: {
    default: { document: { run: { font: "Arial", size: 24 } } }, // 12pt default
    paragraphStyles: [
      // IMPORTANT: Use exact IDs to override built-in styles
      { id: "Heading1", name: "Heading 1", basedOn: "Normal", next: "Normal", quickFormat: true,
        run: { size: 32, bold: true, font: "Arial" },
        paragraph: { spacing: { before: 240, after: 240 }, outlineLevel: 0 } }, // outlineLevel required for TOC
      { id: "Heading2", name: "Heading 2", basedOn: "Normal", next: "Normal", quickFormat: true,
        run: { size: 28, bold: true, font: "Arial" },
        paragraph: { spacing: { before: 180, after: 180 }, outlineLevel: 1 } },
    ]
  },
  sections: [{
    children: [
      new Paragraph({ heading: HeadingLevel.HEADING_1, children: [new TextRun("Title")] }),
    ]
  }]
});

Lists (NEVER use unicode bullets)

// ❌ WRONG - never manually insert bullet characters
new Paragraph({ children: [new TextRun("• Item")] })  // BAD
new Paragraph({ children: [new TextRun("\u2022 Item")] })  // BAD

// ✅ CORRECT - use numbering config with LevelFormat.BULLET
const doc = new Document({
  numbering: {
    config: [
      { reference: "bullets",
        levels: [{ level: 0, format: LevelFormat.BULLET, text: "•", alignment: AlignmentType.LEFT,
          style: { paragraph: { indent: { left: 720, hanging: 360 } } } }] },
      { reference: "numbers",
        levels: [{ level: 0, format: LevelFormat.DECIMAL, text: "%1.", alignment: AlignmentType.LEFT,
          style: { paragraph: { indent: { left: 720, hanging: 360 } } } }] },
    ]
  },
  sections: [{
    children: [
      new Paragraph({ numbering: { reference: "bullets", level: 0 },
        children: [new TextRun("Bullet item")] }),
      new Paragraph({ numbering: { reference: "numbers", level: 0 },
        children: [new TextRun("Numbered item")] }),
    ]
  }]
});

// ⚠️ Each reference creates INDEPENDENT numbering
// Same reference = continues (1,2,3 then 4,5,6)
// Different reference = restarts (1,2,3 then 1,2,3)

Tables

CRITICAL: Tables need dual widths - set both columnWidths on the table AND width on each cell. Without both, tables render incorrectly on some platforms.

// CRITICAL: Always set table width for consistent rendering
// CRITICAL: Use ShadingType.CLEAR (not SOLID) to prevent black backgrounds
const border = { style: BorderStyle.SINGLE, size: 1, color: "CCCCCC" };
const borders = { top: border, bottom: border, left: border, right: border };

new Table({
  width: { size: 9360, type: WidthType.DXA }, // Always use DXA (percentages break in Google Docs)
  columnWidths: [4680, 4680], // Must sum to table width (DXA: 1440 = 1 inch)
  rows: [
    new TableRow({
      children: [
        new TableCell({
          borders,
          width: { size: 4680, type: WidthType.DXA }, // Also set on each cell
          shading: { fill: "D5E8F0", type: ShadingType.CLEAR }, // CLEAR not SOLID
          margins: { top: 80, bottom: 80, left: 120, right: 120 }, // Cell padding (internal, not added to width)
          children: [new Paragraph({ children: [new TextRun("Cell")] })]
        })
      ]
    })
  ]
})

Table width calculation:

Always use WidthType.DXA — WidthType.PERCENTAGE breaks in Google Docs.

// Table width = sum of columnWidths = content width
// US Letter with 1" margins: 12240 - 2880 = 9360 DXA
width: { size: 9360, type: WidthType.DXA },
columnWidths: [7000, 2360]  // Must sum to table width

Width rules:

• Always use WidthType.DXA — never WidthType.PERCENTAGE (incompatible with Google Docs)
• Table width must equal the sum of columnWidths
• Cell width must match corresponding columnWidth
• Cell margins are internal padding - they reduce content area, not add to cell width
• For full-width tables: use content width (page width minus left and right margins)

Images

// CRITICAL: type parameter is REQUIRED
new Paragraph({
  children: [new ImageRun({
    type: "png", // Required: png, jpg, jpeg, gif, bmp, svg
    data: fs.readFileSync("image.png"),
    transformation: { width: 200, height: 150 },
    altText: { title: "Title", description: "Desc", name: "Name" } // All three required
  })]
})

Page Breaks

// CRITICAL: PageBreak must be inside a Paragraph
new Paragraph({ children: [new PageBreak()] })

// Or use pageBreakBefore
new Paragraph({ pageBreakBefore: true, children: [new TextRun("New page")] })

Hyperlinks

// External link
new Paragraph({
  children: [new ExternalHyperlink({
    children: [new TextRun({ text: "Click here", style: "Hyperlink" })],
    link: "https://example.com",
  })]
})

// Internal link (bookmark + reference)
// 1. Create bookmark at destination
new Paragraph({ heading: HeadingLevel.HEADING_1, children: [
  new Bookmark({ id: "chapter1", children: [new TextRun("Chapter 1")] }),
]})
// 2. Link to it
new Paragraph({ children: [new InternalHyperlink({
  children: [new TextRun({ text: "See Chapter 1", style: "Hyperlink" })],
  anchor: "chapter1",
})]})

Footnotes

const doc = new Document({
  footnotes: {
    1: { children: [new Paragraph("Source: Annual Report 2024")] },
    2: { children: [new Paragraph("See appendix for methodology")] },
  },
  sections: [{
    children: [new Paragraph({
      children: [
        new TextRun("Revenue grew 15%"),
        new FootnoteReferenceRun(1),
        new TextRun(" using adjusted metrics"),
        new FootnoteReferenceRun(2),
      ],
    })]
  }]
});

Tab Stops

// Right-align text on same line (e.g., date opposite a title)
new Paragraph({
  children: [
    new TextRun("Company Name"),
    new TextRun("\tJanuary 2025"),
  ],
  tabStops: [{ type: TabStopType.RIGHT, position: TabStopPosition.MAX }],
})

// Dot leader (e.g., TOC-style)
new Paragraph({
  children: [
    new TextRun("Introduction"),
    new TextRun({ children: [
      new PositionalTab({
        alignment: PositionalTabAlignment.RIGHT,
        relativeTo: PositionalTabRelativeTo.MARGIN,
        leader: PositionalTabLeader.DOT,
      }),
      "3",
    ]}),
  ],
})

Multi-Column Layouts

// Equal-width columns
sections: [{
  properties: {
    column: {
      count: 2,          // number of columns
      space: 720,        // gap between columns in DXA (720 = 0.5 inch)
      equalWidth: true,
      separate: true,    // vertical line between columns
    },
  },
  children: [/* content flows naturally across columns */]
}]

// Custom-width columns (equalWidth must be false)
sections: [{
  properties: {
    column: {
      equalWidth: false,
      children: [
        new Column({ width: 5400, space: 720 }),
        new Column({ width: 3240 }),
      ],
    },
  },
  children: [/* content */]
}]

Force a column break with a new section using type: SectionType.NEXT_COLUMN.

Table of Contents

// CRITICAL: Headings must use HeadingLevel ONLY - no custom styles
new TableOfContents("Table of Contents", { hyperlink: true, headingStyleRange: "1-3" })

Headers/Footers

sections: [{
  properties: {
    page: { margin: { top: 1440, right: 1440, bottom: 1440, left: 1440 } } // 1440 = 1 inch
  },
  headers: {
    default: new Header({ children: [new Paragraph({ children: [new TextRun("Header")] })] })
  },
  footers: {
    default: new Footer({ children: [new Paragraph({
      children: [new TextRun("Page "), new TextRun({ children: [PageNumber.CURRENT] })]
    })] })
  },
  children: [/* content */]
}]

Critical Rules for docx-js

• Set page size explicitly - docx-js defaults to A4; use US Letter (12240 x 15840 DXA) for US documents
• Landscape: pass portrait dimensions - docx-js swaps width/height internally; pass short edge as width, long edge as height, and set orientation: PageOrientation.LANDSCAPE
• Never use \n - use separate Paragraph elements
• Never use unicode bullets - use LevelFormat.BULLET with numbering config
• PageBreak must be in Paragraph - standalone creates invalid XML
• ImageRun requires type - always specify png/jpg/etc
• Always set table width with DXA - never use WidthType.PERCENTAGE (breaks in Google Docs)
• Tables need dual widths - columnWidths array AND cell width, both must match
• Table width = sum of columnWidths - for DXA, ensure they add up exactly
• Always add cell margins - use margins: { top: 80, bottom: 80, left: 120, right: 120 } for readable padding
• Use ShadingType.CLEAR - never SOLID for table shading
• Never use tables as dividers/rules - cells have minimum height and render as empty boxes (including in headers/footers); use border: { bottom: { style: BorderStyle.SINGLE, size: 6, color: "2E75B6", space: 1 } } on a Paragraph instead. For two-column footers, use tab stops (see Tab Stops section), not tables
• TOC requires HeadingLevel only - no custom styles on heading paragraphs
• Override built-in styles - use exact IDs: "Heading1", "Heading2", etc.
• Include outlineLevel - required for TOC (0 for H1, 1 for H2, etc.)

Editing Existing Documents

Follow all 3 steps in order.

Delivery Rule For Rewrite Tasks

If the task is to revise, humanize, de-flavor, polish, or otherwise edit an existing .docx, the final deliverable must be a new .docx file unless the user explicitly asks for plain text only.

Treat extracted .txt, .md, or XML snippets as intermediate artifacts only. Do not stop after text extraction or text rewriting. Do not report success after producing only a Markdown or plain-text file.

The required completion path is:

1. unpack the source .docx
2. extract or inspect the editable text
3. rewrite the text
4. write the rewritten text back into the unpacked XML structure
5. repack with pack.py
6. return the new .docx path

If step 4 or step 5 is not completed, the document-editing task is not complete.

Verification Rule For Rewrite Tasks

Do not claim the document was rewritten unless you can verify that the editable text changed.

Minimum verification steps:

1. save the extracted source text to a workspace artifact such as source_extracted.txt
2. save the rewritten text or paragraph mapping to a workspace artifact such as rewritten.txt or rewrites.json
3. confirm that the rewritten text is not identical to the source text
4. after packing, extract text from the output .docx and confirm it differs from the source text

If the extracted source text and output text are identical, treat the task as failed or incomplete. Do not report success in that case.

In the final report for document rewrites, include:

• the output .docx path
• how many paragraphs or text units changed
• one short note if the rewrite had to stay conservative

Step 1: Unpack

python scripts/office/unpack.py document.docx unpacked/

Extracts XML, pretty-prints, merges adjacent runs, and converts smart quotes to XML entities (“ etc.) so they survive editing. Use --merge-runs false to skip run merging.

Step 2: Edit XML

Edit files in unpacked/word/. See XML Reference below for patterns.

Use "Claude" as the author for tracked changes and comments, unless the user explicitly requests use of a different name.

Use the Edit tool directly for string replacement. Do not write Python scripts. Scripts introduce unnecessary complexity. The Edit tool shows exactly what is being replaced.

CRITICAL: Use smart quotes for new content. When adding text with apostrophes or quotes, use XML entities to produce smart quotes:

<!-- Use these entities for professional typography -->
<w:t>Here&#x2019;s a quote: &#x201C;Hello&#x201D;</w:t>

Adding comments: Use comment.py to handle boilerplate across multiple XML files (text must be pre-escaped XML):

python scripts/comment.py unpacked/ 0 "Comment text with & and ’"
python scripts/comment.py unpacked/ 1 "Reply text" --parent 0  # reply to comment 0
python scripts/comment.py unpacked/ 0 "Text" --author "Custom Author"  # custom author name

Then add markers to document.xml (see Comments in XML Reference).

Step 3: Pack

python scripts/office/pack.py unpacked/ output.docx --original document.docx

Validates with auto-repair, condenses XML, and creates DOCX. Use --validate false to skip.

For rewrite workflows, this step is mandatory. After rewriting content, you must update the unpacked XML and run pack.py to produce the final .docx. Do not substitute output.md, output.txt, or other extracted artifacts for the final document.

Auto-repair will fix:

• durableId >= 0x7FFFFFFF (regenerates valid ID)
• Missing xml:space="preserve" on <w:t> with whitespace

Auto-repair won't fix:

• Malformed XML, invalid element nesting, missing relationships, schema violations

Common Pitfalls

• Replace entire <w:r> elements: When adding tracked changes, replace the whole <w:r>...</w:r> block with <w:del>...<w:ins>... as siblings. Don't inject tracked change tags inside a run.
• Preserve <w:rPr> formatting: Copy the original run's <w:rPr> block into your tracked change runs to maintain bold, font size, etc.

XML Reference

Schema Compliance

• Element order in <w:pPr>: <w:pStyle>, <w:numPr>, <w:spacing>, <w:ind>, <w:jc>, <w:rPr> last
• Whitespace: Add xml:space="preserve" to <w:t> with leading/trailing spaces
• RSIDs: Must be 8-digit hex (e.g., 00AB1234)

Tracked Changes

Insertion:

<w:ins w:id="1" w:author="Claude" w:date="2025-01-01T00:00:00Z">
  <w:r><w:t>inserted text</w:t></w:r>
</w:ins>

Deletion:

<w:del w:id="2" w:author="Claude" w:date="2025-01-01T00:00:00Z">
  <w:r><w:delText>deleted text</w:delText></w:r>
</w:del>

Inside <w:del>: Use <w:delText> instead of <w:t>, and <w:delInstrText> instead of <w:instrText>.

Minimal edits - only mark what changes:

<!-- Change "30 days" to "60 days" -->
<w:r><w:t>The term is </w:t></w:r>
<w:del w:id="1" w:author="Claude" w:date="...">
  <w:r><w:delText>30</w:delText></w:r>
</w:del>
<w:ins w:id="2" w:author="Claude" w:date="...">
  <w:r><w:t>60</w:t></w:r>
</w:ins>
<w:r><w:t> days.</w:t></w:r>

Deleting entire paragraphs/list items - when removing ALL content from a paragraph, also mark the paragraph mark as deleted so it merges with the next paragraph. Add <w:del/> inside <w:pPr><w:rPr>:

<w:p>
  <w:pPr>
    <w:numPr>...</w:numPr>  <!-- list numbering if present -->
    <w:rPr>
      <w:del w:id="1" w:author="Claude" w:date="2025-01-01T00:00:00Z"/>
    </w:rPr>
  </w:pPr>
  <w:del w:id="2" w:author="Claude" w:date="2025-01-01T00:00:00Z">
    <w:r><w:delText>Entire paragraph content being deleted...</w:delText></w:r>
  </w:del>
</w:p>

Without the <w:del/> in <w:pPr><w:rPr>, accepting changes leaves an empty paragraph/list item.

Rejecting another author's insertion - nest deletion inside their insertion:

<w:ins w:author="Jane" w:id="5">
  <w:del w:author="Claude" w:id="10">
    <w:r><w:delText>their inserted text</w:delText></w:r>
  </w:del>
</w:ins>

Restoring another author's deletion - add insertion after (don't modify their deletion):

<w:del w:author="Jane" w:id="5">
  <w:r><w:delText>deleted text</w:delText></w:r>
</w:del>
<w:ins w:author="Claude" w:id="10">
  <w:r><w:t>deleted text</w:t></w:r>
</w:ins>

Comments

After running comment.py (see Step 2), add markers to document.xml. For replies, use --parent flag and nest markers inside the parent's.

CRITICAL: <w:commentRangeStart> and <w:commentRangeEnd> are siblings of <w:r>, never inside <w:r>.

<!-- Comment markers are direct children of w:p, never inside w:r -->
<w:commentRangeStart w:id="0"/>
<w:del w:id="1" w:author="Claude" w:date="2025-01-01T00:00:00Z">
  <w:r><w:delText>deleted</w:delText></w:r>
</w:del>
<w:r><w:t> more text</w:t></w:r>
<w:commentRangeEnd w:id="0"/>
<w:r><w:rPr><w:rStyle w:val="CommentReference"/></w:rPr><w:commentReference w:id="0"/></w:r>

<!-- Comment 0 with reply 1 nested inside -->
<w:commentRangeStart w:id="0"/>
  <w:commentRangeStart w:id="1"/>
  <w:r><w:t>text</w:t></w:r>
  <w:commentRangeEnd w:id="1"/>
<w:commentRangeEnd w:id="0"/>
<w:r><w:rPr><w:rStyle w:val="CommentReference"/></w:rPr><w:commentReference w:id="0"/></w:r>
<w:r><w:rPr><w:rStyle w:val="CommentReference"/></w:rPr><w:commentReference w:id="1"/></w:r>

Images

1. Add image file to word/media/
2. Add relationship to word/_rels/document.xml.rels:

<Relationship Id="rId5" Type=".../image" Target="media/image1.png"/>

3. Add content type to [Content_Types].xml:

<Default Extension="png" ContentType="image/png"/>

4. Reference in document.xml:

<w:drawing>
  <wp:inline>
    <wp:extent cx="914400" cy="914400"/>  <!-- EMUs: 914400 = 1 inch -->
    <a:graphic>
      <a:graphicData uri=".../picture">
        <pic:pic>
          <pic:blipFill><a:blip r:embed="rId5"/></pic:blipFill>
        </pic:pic>
      </a:graphicData>
    </a:graphic>
  </wp:inline>
</w:drawing>

Dependencies

• pandoc: Text extraction
• docx: npm install -g docx (new documents)
• LibreOffice: PDF conversion (auto-configured for sandboxed environments via scripts/office/soffice.py)
• Poppler: pdftoppm for images