docx

name	docx
description	Create or edit Microsoft Word (.docx) documents — headings, paragraphs, tables, styles, images, find-and-replace, extract text. Use when the user wants to read, generate, or modify a .docx file.
license	original (see skills/ATTRIBUTIONS.md)
source	original clean-room; uses python-docx (MIT), user-installed

Word (.docx)

.docx is a zipped OOXML package — don't hand-edit it. Drive it with python-docx, writing a small tailored script for the task.

Requirements (preflight)

python3 -c "import docx" 2>/dev/null || python3 -m pip install python-docx

python-docx (MIT) is not bundled — install on demand, respecting an active venv. If install isn't possible, say so; don't pretend.

Reading / extracting

Write a short script that opens the doc and walks document.paragraphs, document.tables, headers/footers. For a quick text dump, iterate paragraphs and print .text. Report structure (headings, table count) so the user sees what's there before editing.

Creating / editing

• Prefer styles over manual formatting: apply named styles (Heading 1, Title, Normal, a table style) so the document stays consistent and themeable — don't hand-set fonts/sizes everywhere.
• Build structure explicitly: add_heading, add_paragraph, add_table(rows, cols) then fill cells, add_picture(path, width=…), add_page_break.
• Find-and-replace must operate at the run level (text is split across runs); replacing paragraph.text wholesale destroys formatting. Handle runs carefully or rebuild the paragraph deliberately.
• For an existing template, open it and fill placeholders rather than rebuilding from scratch.

Tracked changes / comments

python-docx has limited support for tracked changes/comments. If the task needs real redlining, say what's feasible and what isn't rather than silently producing a doc without tracked changes.

Discipline

• Write to a new file unless the user explicitly wants in-place; never clobber the source without confirming.
• After writing, reopen the output and verify the key content/structure exists; report what was produced. $ARGUMENTS is the file and/or instruction.