docx

name	docx
summary	Create, edit, inspect, and quality-check Microsoft Word DOCX documents.
description	Use when creating, editing, inspecting, extracting, or quality-checking Microsoft Word .docx files, including reports, styled documents, tables, images, metadata, accessibility, and document automation.

DOCX Skill

Purpose

Create, edit, inspect, and quality-check Microsoft Word .docx files with reliable workflows, source-safe file handling, and accessibility-aware output.

When to Use

Use this skill when the user asks to:

• Create or update a .docx file.
• Convert structured content into a Word report, memo, proposal, agenda, SOP, or brief.
• Inspect a Word document for text, headings, tables, images, comments, links, styles, or metadata.
• Apply formatting, page structure, sections, headers/footers, tables, images, comments, or core properties.
• Make a Word document more accessible or easier to navigate.

Do not use this skill for spreadsheets, slide decks, PDFs, or image-only documents unless the DOCX is the requested source or output. For PDF-specific work, use the pdf skill.

Required Runtime Behavior

1. Preserve originals. Never overwrite an uploaded or repository source document. Create a new output file with a version suffix or a clearly distinct output path.
2. Inspect before editing. For existing documents, inspect structure first: headings, sections, tables, images, links, comments, and metadata.
3. Choose the safest implementation.
   • Use python-docx when available for normal creation/editing, paragraphs, tables, images, comments, and core properties.
   • Use direct OOXML package inspection only for read-only structure checks or features not exposed by python-docx.
   • Do not fake track changes, comments, alt text, accessibility tags, or metadata. State what was actually changed and what needs manual verification.
4. Validate after editing. Re-open the generated .docx when possible and confirm it is a valid ZIP/OpenXML package.
5. Report clearly. Summarize changed sections, generated file path, validation performed, and any limitations.

Quick Start

For a read-only profile of a DOCX package, run:

python Skills/docx/scripts/docx_inspect.py input.docx --out docx_profile.json

Use the JSON output to decide whether the task needs creation, light editing, metadata cleanup, accessibility remediation, or manual Word review.

Workflow Router

• Create a new DOCX: read references/docx_workflows.md#new-document-workflow.
• Edit an existing DOCX: read references/docx_workflows.md#existing-document-edit-workflow.
• Inspect or extract: run scripts/docx_inspect.py, then read references/docx_workflows.md#inspection-and-extraction.
• Accessibility or quality review: read references/accessibility_quality.md.
• Advanced OOXML edge cases: read references/docx_workflows.md#ooxml-fallbacks.

Keep references one level deep from this SKILL.md; do not add nested reference chains.

Tool and Library Guidance

Preferred Python libraries:

• python-docx for Word creation and standard editing.
• Python standard library zipfile and xml.etree.ElementTree for read-only package inspection.
• Pillow only when image sizing or metadata inspection is needed and available.

If a dependency is unavailable, explain the limitation and provide the best available fallback. Do not attempt network installation unless the runtime explicitly allows it.

Output Requirements

When producing a DOCX deliverable:

• Provide the output file path.
• State whether the file was created new or based on an existing document.
• State validation performed, such as “opened as DOCX package,” “reopened with python-docx,” or “inspected headings/tables/images.”
• Mention remaining manual checks, especially accessibility, alt text, complex tables, macros, or tracked changes.

Guardrails

• Do not include secrets, hidden credentials, private keys, or unrelated personal data in document properties.
• Avoid destructive edits to source files.
• Do not claim full accessibility compliance from automated checks alone.
• Do not modify macros or embedded OLE objects unless explicitly requested and technically supported.
• Use forward-slash paths in examples and references.