| 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.
