officecli

name	officecli
description	Create, analyze, proofread, and modify Office documents (.docx, .xlsx, .pptx) using the officecli CLI tool. Use when the user wants to create, inspect, check formatting, find issues, add charts, or modify Office documents.

officecli

AI-friendly CLI for .docx, .xlsx, .pptx. Single binary, no dependencies, no Office installation needed.

Install & Update

Same command for both install and upgrade:

# macOS / Linux
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/iOfficeAI/OfficeCLI/main/install.sh | bash

# Windows (PowerShell)
irm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/iOfficeAI/OfficeCLI/main/install.ps1 | iex

After installation, run source ~/.zshrc (macOS) or source ~/.bashrc (Linux) to make the officecli command available.

Verify: officecli --version

officecli auto-updates daily in the background.

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Strategy

L1 (read) → L2 (DOM edit) → L3 (raw XML). Always prefer higher layers. Add --json for structured output.

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Help System (IMPORTANT)

When unsure about property names, value formats, or command syntax, ALWAYS run help instead of guessing. One help query is faster than guess-fail-retry loops.

Three-layer navigation — start from the deepest level you know:

officecli pptx set              # All settable elements and their properties
officecli pptx set shape        # Shape properties in detail
officecli pptx set shape.fill   # Specific property format and examples

Replace pptx with docx or xlsx. Commands: view, get, query, set, add, raw.

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Performance: Resident Mode

For multi-step workflows (3+ commands on the same file), use open/close:

officecli open report.docx       # keep in memory — fast subsequent commands
officecli set report.docx ...    # no file I/O overhead
officecli close report.docx      # save and release

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Quick Start

PPT:

officecli create slides.pptx
officecli add slides.pptx / --type slide --prop title="Q4 Report" --prop background=1A1A2E
officecli add slides.pptx '/slide[1]' --type shape --prop text="Revenue grew 25%" --prop x=2cm --prop y=5cm --prop font=Arial --prop size=24 --prop color=FFFFFF
officecli set slides.pptx '/slide[1]' --prop transition=fade --prop advanceTime=3000

Word:

officecli create report.docx
officecli add report.docx /body --type paragraph --prop text="Executive Summary" --prop style=Heading1
officecli add report.docx /body --type paragraph --prop text="Revenue increased by 25% year-over-year."

Excel:

officecli create data.xlsx
officecli set data.xlsx /Sheet1/A1 --prop value="Name" --prop bold=true
officecli set data.xlsx /Sheet1/B1 --prop value="Score" --prop bold=true
officecli set data.xlsx /Sheet1/A2 --prop value="Alice"
officecli set data.xlsx /Sheet1/B2 --prop value=95

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L1: Create, Read & Inspect

officecli create <file>               # Create blank .docx/.xlsx/.pptx (type from extension)
officecli view <file> <mode>          # outline | stats | issues | text | annotated
officecli get <file> <path> --depth N # Get a node and its children [--json]
officecli query <file> <selector>     # CSS-like query
officecli validate <file>             # Validate against OpenXML schema

view modes

Mode	Description	Useful flags
outline	Document structure
stats	Statistics (pages, words, shapes)
issues	Formatting/content/structure problems	--type format|content|structure, --limit N
text	Plain text extraction	--start N --end N, --max-lines N
annotated	Text with formatting annotations

get

Any XML path via element localName. Use --depth N to expand children. Add --json for structured output.

officecli get report.docx '/body/p[3]' --depth 2 --json
officecli get slides.pptx '/slide[1]' --depth 1          # list all shapes on slide 1
officecli get data.xlsx '/Sheet1/B2' --json

Run officecli docx get / officecli xlsx get / officecli pptx get for all available paths.

Stable ID Addressing

Elements with stable IDs return @attr=value paths instead of positional indices. These paths survive insert/delete operations — use them for multi-step workflows.

Returned path format (output):

/slide[1]/shape[@id=550950021]                    # PPT shape (cNvPr.Id)
/slide[1]/shape[@id=550950021]/paragraph[1]       # child inherits parent's @id=
/slide[1]/table[@id=1388430425]/tr[1]/tc[2]       # PPT table
/body/p[@paraId=1A2B3C4D]                         # Word paragraph
/comments/comment[@commentId=1]                    # Word comment
/footnote[@footnoteId=2]                           # Word footnote
/endnote[@endnoteId=1]                             # Word endnote
/body/sdt[@sdtId=123456]                           # Word content control

All formats accepted as input — use returned paths directly for subsequent set/remove:

officecli set slides.pptx '/slide[1]/shape[@id=550950021]' --prop bold=true
officecli set slides.pptx '/slide[1]/shape[@name=Title 1]' --prop text="New"   # @name= also works (PPT)
officecli set slides.pptx '/slide[1]/shape[2]' --prop color=red                # positional still works

Elements without stable IDs (slide, paragraph, run, tr/tc, row) use positional indices as fallback.

When to use stable IDs: Prefer @id= / @paraId= paths in multi-step workflows where you add or remove elements between commands — positional indices shift, but stable IDs do not.

query

CSS-like selectors: [attr=value], [attr!=value], [attr~=text], [attr>=value], [attr<=value], :contains("text"), :empty, :has(formula), :no-alt.

officecli query report.docx 'paragraph[style=Normal] > run[font!=Arial]'
officecli query slides.pptx 'shape[fill=FF0000]'

validate

officecli validate report.docx    # Check for schema errors
officecli validate slides.pptx    # Must pass before delivery

For large documents, ALWAYS use --max-lines or --start/--end to limit output.

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L2: DOM Operations

set — modify properties

officecli set <file> <path> --prop key=value [--prop ...]

Any XML attribute is settable via element path (found via get --depth N) — even attributes not currently present.

Without find=, set applies format to the entire element. To target specific text within a paragraph, use find= (see find section below).

Run officecli <format> set for all settable elements. Run officecli <format> set <element> for detail.

Value formats:

Type	Format	Examples
Colors	Hex, named, RGB, theme	FF0000, red, rgb(255,0,0), accent1..accent6
Spacing	Unit-qualified	12pt, 0.5cm, 1.5x, 150%
Dimensions	EMU or suffixed	914400, 2.54cm, 1in, 72pt, 96px

find — format or replace matched text

Use find= with set to target specific text within a paragraph (or broader scope) for formatting or replacement. The matched text is automatically split into its own run(s). Add regex=true for regex matching. Format props are separate --prop flags — do NOT nest them (e.g. --prop bold=true, not --prop format=bold:true).

# Format matched text (auto-splits runs)
officecli set doc.docx '/body/p[1]' --prop find=weather --prop highlight=yellow
officecli set doc.docx '/body/p[1]' --prop find=weather --prop bold=true --prop color=red

# Regex matching
officecli set doc.docx '/body/p[1]' --prop 'find=\d+%' --prop regex=true --prop color=red

# Replace text
officecli set doc.docx / --prop find=draft --prop replace=final

# Replace + format
officecli set doc.docx '/body/p[1]' --prop find=TODO --prop replace=DONE --prop bold=true

# Bulk: color all dates red across all paragraphs
officecli set doc.docx / --prop 'find=\d{4}-\d{2}-\d{2}' --prop regex=true --prop color=red

# Replace in header
officecli set doc.docx '/header[1]' --prop find=Draft --prop replace=Final

PPT find works the same way:

# Format matched text
officecli set slides.pptx '/slide[1]/shape[1]' --prop find=weather --prop bold=true --prop color=red

# Regex
officecli set slides.pptx '/slide[1]/shape[1]' --prop 'find=\d+%' --prop regex=true --prop color=red

# Replace across all slides
officecli set slides.pptx / --prop find=draft --prop replace=final

# Replace + format
officecli set slides.pptx '/slide[1]/shape[1]' --prop find=TODO --prop replace=DONE --prop bold=true

# Replace in table
officecli set slides.pptx '/slide[1]/table[1]' --prop find=old --prop replace=new

Path controls search scope: / = all slides, /slide[N] = single slide, /slide[N]/shape[M] = single shape, /slide[N]/table[M] = table, /slide[N]/notes = notes pane.

Known limitation: Notes pane find+format writes correctly, but get returns plain text only — run-level formatting cannot be verified via CLI.

Behavior matrix:

Props	Effect
find + format props	Split runs, apply format to matched text
find + replace	Replace matched text
find + replace + format props	Replace text and apply format to new text

• Add regex=true to enable regex matching: --prop 'find=\d+%' --prop regex=true
  • Batch JSON: {"props":{"find":"\\d+%","regex":"true","color":"FF0000"}}
• Path controls search scope: / = body only (excludes headers/footers), /header[1] = first header, /footer[1] = first footer, /body/p[1] = specific paragraph, etc.
• If find= matches nothing, the command succeeds with no changes (no error)
• --json output includes a "matched": N field indicating the number of matches found
• Matching is case-sensitive by default. For case-insensitive, use regex: --prop 'find=(?i)error' --prop regex=true
• find: / find= matches work across run boundaries — text split across multiple runs is still found

Excel limitations: Excel only supports find + replace (text replacement). find + format props (formatting matched text without replacing) is not supported in Excel — use Word or PowerPoint for that. In Excel, find without replace is treated as an unsupported property.

add — add elements or clone

officecli add <file> <parent> --type <type> [--prop ...]
officecli add <file> <parent> --type <type> --after <path> [--prop ...]   # insert after anchor
officecli add <file> <parent> --type <type> --before <path> [--prop ...]  # insert before anchor
officecli add <file> <parent> --type <type> --index N [--prop ...]        # insert at position (legacy)
officecli add <file> <parent> --from <path>                               # clone existing element

Insert position (--after, --before, --index are mutually exclusive):

• --after "p[@paraId=1A2B3C4D]" — insert after the anchor element (short or full path)
• --before "/body/p[@paraId=5E6F7A8B]" — insert before the anchor element
• --index N — insert at 0-based position (legacy, prefer --after/--before)
• No position flag — append to end (default)

Element types (with aliases):

Format	Types
pptx	slide, shape (textbox), picture (image/img), chart, table, row (tr), connector (connection/line), group, video (audio/media), equation (formula/math), notes, paragraph (para), run, zoom (slidezoom)
docx	paragraph (para), run, table, row (tr), cell (td), image (picture/img), header, footer, section, bookmark, comment, footnote, endnote, formfield, sdt (contentcontrol), chart, equation (formula/math), field, hyperlink, style, toc, watermark, break (pagebreak/columnbreak)
xlsx	sheet, row, cell, chart, image (picture), comment, table (listobject), namedrange (definedname), pivottable (pivot), sparkline, validation (datavalidation), autofilter, shape, textbox, databar/colorscale/iconset/formulacf (conditional formatting), csv (tsv)

Text-anchored insert (--after find:X / --before find:X):

The --after and --before flags accept a find: prefix to locate an insertion point by text match within a paragraph.

# Insert run after matched text (inline, within the same paragraph)
officecli add doc.docx '/body/p[1]' --type run --after find:weather --prop text=" (sunny)"

# Insert table after matched text (block — auto-splits the paragraph)
officecli add doc.docx '/body/p[1]' --type table --after "find:First sentence." --prop rows=2 --prop cols=2

# Insert before matched text
officecli add doc.docx '/body/p[1]' --type run --before find:weather --prop text="["

• Inline types (run, picture, hyperlink...) insert within the paragraph
• Block types (table, paragraph) auto-split the paragraph and insert between the two halves

PPT text-anchored insert (inline only):

officecli add slides.pptx '/slide[1]/shape[1]' --type run --after find:weather --prop text=" (sunny)"
officecli add slides.pptx '/slide[1]/shape[1]' --type run --before find:weather --prop text="["

PPT only supports inline types (run) with find: anchors — block-type insertion is not supported.

Clone: officecli add <file> / --from '/slide[1]' — copies with all cross-part relationships.

Run officecli <format> add for all addable types and their properties.

move, swap, remove

officecli move <file> <path> [--to <parent>] [--index N] [--after <path>] [--before <path>]
officecli swap <file> <path1> <path2>
officecli remove <file> '/body/p[4]'

When using --after or --before, --to can be omitted — the target container is inferred from the anchor path.

batch — multiple operations in one save cycle

Stops on first error by default. Use --force to continue past errors.

# Via stdin
echo '[
  {"command":"set","path":"/Sheet1/A1","props":{"value":"Name","bold":"true"}},
  {"command":"set","path":"/Sheet1/B1","props":{"value":"Score","bold":"true"}}
]' | officecli batch data.xlsx --json

# Via --commands (inline, no stdin needed)
officecli batch data.xlsx --commands '[{"op":"set","path":"/Sheet1/A1","props":{"value":"Done"}}]' --json

# Via --input (file)
officecli batch data.xlsx --input updates.json --force --json

Batch supports: add, set, get, query, remove, move, swap, view, raw, raw-set, validate.

Batch fields: command (or op), path, parent, type, from, to, index, after, before, props (dict), selector, mode, depth, part, xpath, action, xml.

JSON output is wrapped in an envelope: {"results": [...], "summary": {"total", "executed", "succeeded", "failed", "skipped"}}. On error, each failed result includes the original batch item for debugging. Large outputs automatically spill to a temp file.

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L3: Raw XML

Use when L2 cannot express what you need. No xmlns declarations needed — prefixes auto-registered.

officecli raw <file> <part>                          # view raw XML
officecli raw-set <file> <part> --xpath "..." --action replace --xml '<w:p>...</w:p>'
officecli add-part <file> <parent>                   # create new document part (returns rId)

raw-set actions: append, prepend, insertbefore, insertafter, replace, remove, setattr.

Run officecli <format> raw for available parts per format.

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Common Pitfalls

Pitfall	Correct Approach
--name "foo"	❌ Use --prop name="foo" — all attributes go through --prop
x=-3cm	❌ Negative coordinates not supported. Use x=0cm or x=36cm
PPT shape[1] for content	❌ shape[1] is typically the title placeholder. Use shape[2] or higher for content shapes
/shape[myname]	❌ Name indexing not supported. Use numeric index: /shape[3]
Guessing property names	❌ Run officecli <format> set <element> to see exact names
Modifying an open file	❌ Close the file in PowerPoint/WPS first
\n in shell strings	❌ Use \\n for newlines in --prop text="..."
officecli set f.pptx /slide[1]	❌ Shell glob expands brackets. Always single-quote paths: '/slide[1]'

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Specialized Skills

This skill covers the officecli CLI basics. For complex scenarios, load the dedicated skill for better results:

Scenario	Skill	Min Version	When to Use
Word documents	officecli-docx	v1.0.23	Create, read, edit .docx — reports, letters, memos, proposals
Academic papers	officecli-academic-paper	v1.0.24	Research papers, white papers with TOC, equations, footnotes, bibliography
Presentations	officecli-pptx	v1.0.23	Create, read, edit .pptx — general slide decks
Pitch decks	officecli-pitch-deck	v1.0.24	Investor decks, product launches, sales decks with charts and stat callouts
Morph PPT	morph-ppt	v1.0.24	Morph-animated cinematic presentations
Excel	officecli-xlsx	v1.0.23	Create, read, edit .xlsx — financial models, trackers, formulas
Data dashboards	officecli-data-dashboard	v1.0.24	CSV/tabular data → Excel dashboards with KPI cards, charts, sparklines

How to load: Ask your AI tool to enable the skill by name, or load the skill file from skills/<skill-name>/SKILL.md.

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Notes

• Paths are 1-based (XPath convention): '/body/p[3]' = third paragraph
• --index is 0-based (array convention): --index 0 = first position
• After modifications, verify with validate and/or view issues
• When unsure, run officecli <format> <command> [element[.property]] instead of guessing