Gdocs Comment

Google Docs bulk comment poster

Post N anchored Google Docs comments from a JSON plan. Each comment is attached to a unique substring of doc body text, optionally with @-mentions of collaborators. Uses the user's already-logged-in browser session via the chrome-cdp skill.

Break-even is around 5 comments — for fewer, type them directly in the doc.

Prerequisites

1. chrome-cdp skill installed; the wrapper auto-discovers cdp.mjs (or set $CDP_BIN).
2. Chrome / Brave / Edge running with remote debugging enabled.
3. Google Doc tab open in that browser, logged in, with comment permission on the doc.
4. Node.js 22+ (uses built-in WebSocket / Unix-socket APIs).

Usage

# 1. find the doc tab
${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/gdocs-comment/gdocs-comment --list

# 2. post a plan (target prefix from `cdp list`)
${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/gdocs-comment/gdocs-comment 312C822D plan.json

# or supply the document URL — the wrapper picks the matching tab
${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/gdocs-comment/gdocs-comment --url https://docs.google.com/document/d/<id>/edit plan.json

# validate the plan without posting
${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/gdocs-comment/gdocs-comment --dry-run plan.json

Plan format

A JSON array of {anchor, text, mentions?}:

[
  {
    "anchor": "training sessions",
    "text": "Detail optional training for participants — content, schedule, who runs it.",
    "mentions": ["jakub.krcho@gmail.com", "mirokohut13@gmail.com"]
  },
  {
    "anchor": "Accommodation can be easily arranged through common online platforms",
    "text": "Please add an explicit list of hotels at different price levels + a youth/hostel option."
  }
]

• anchor — substring of doc body to attach the comment to. The skill uses Find & Replace's Next button, so the first match in the doc is selected; pick a substring unique enough to land where you want.
• text — comment body. Multi-line is fine via \n in the JSON string.
• mentions — optional list of emails. They are prepended to the comment as +email@… chips; Google Docs auto-resolves them and sends notifications.

Output

Per-item results stream to stdout:

[1/3] anchor: training sessions
  ✓ posted
[2/3] anchor: nonexistent text in doc
  ERROR: anchor not found in doc (0 matches): "nonexistent text in doc"

Summary + identity preflight + any failure diagnostics go to stderr.

Exit codes:

• 0 = all OK
• 1 = at least one item FAILed (or the daemon connection failed, or there's an unsent comment draft open at startup that we refuse to clobber)
• 2 = usage / plan-validation error
• 75 = EX_TEMPFAIL — the tab is still hidden after Page.bringToFront. Manually foreground the browser window and re-run.

Residual plan: if any items failed, the wrapper writes <plan>.residual.json containing just those items. Retry with gdocs-comment <target> <plan>.residual.json after fixing whatever caused the failures (e.g. anchor text wasn't unique enough, or the doc shifted).

How the anchoring works

Google Docs renders text on a canvas; the DOM Selection API doesn't reflect the doc's internal cursor. To get a real text selection that a comment can attach to, the skill:

1. Opens Find & Replace (⌘⇧H / Ctrl⇧H) — keyboard chord, no UI text needed.
2. Types your anchor. Incremental search runs inside the dialog and selects the first match in the doc as you type.
3. Parses the dialog's "N of M" counter (works in of / z / von / sur …). If M == 0, the item fails immediately as "anchor not found in doc". If the counter is unreadable (unsupported locale), the item fails closed rather than risk a mis-anchored comment.
4. Asserts there is exactly one primary-action button in the dialog (Material's WizButtonFilled) — as a redesign tripwire only. The script deliberately does not click it: incremental search has already selected match #1, and clicking "Next" would advance the selection past it for any non-unique anchor.
5. Closes the dialog via the X icon and polls until visibility:hidden (Material dialogs persist in the DOM with visibility:hidden).
6. Opens the comment dialog with ⌘⌥M / Ctrl⌥M (sends raw 'm' + Cmd/Ctrl + Alt — Chrome composes the modified key so the chord works on every platform).
7. Types +email@… mentions then the comment body; Google Docs auto-converts the +email prefix into a real mention chip on submit.
8. Clicks the primary action button in the active draft container (.docos-docoview-active .jfk-button-action — language-agnostic) and polls until the draft textarea disappears.

Every step that has a UI postcondition (dialog closed, draft closed, anchor matched) verifies that postcondition before advancing, and re-issues the click between polls. Steps that don't — typing into an input, dispatching a keyboard chord — fall back to short fixed sleeps.

Limitations

• One-shot comments only — no replies, no resolving threads.
• First match wins — make anchors specific enough to land where you want, or use longer substrings.
• Tab must be in the foreground — Chrome only delivers Input.dispatchKeyEvent / Input.dispatchMouseEvent to foregrounded tabs, and throttles timers on hidden tabs. The script calls Page.bringToFront and then exits with code 75 if document.hidden is still true (re-run after foregrounding).
• Refuses to start on top of a human draft — if you have your own unsent comment draft open in the doc when you start, the script exits 1 without touching anything. (ensureClean between items uses the same Cancel button that would discard your draft.)
• Pegged to Google's current Docs UI — relies on stable structural class names (appsDocsUiWizFindandreplacedialogContainer, docos-docoview-active, jfk-button-action, Material WizButtonFilled). Resilient to UI-text changes (any locale) but a major redesign would need re-targeting.
• Posts under whichever account the tab is logged in as — the wrapper prints posting as Google account: <email> (best effort) before running so you can verify.
• Don't type or click in the doc while a run is in progress.