| 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
If officecli is not installed:
curl -fsSL https://d.officecli.ai/install.sh | bash
irm https://d.officecli.ai/install.ps1 | iex
Verify with officecli --version. If still not found after install, open a new terminal.
Strategy
L1 (read) → L2 (DOM edit) → L3 (raw XML). Always prefer higher layers. Add --json for structured output.
Before doc work, check Specialized Skills (bottom of this file). Fundraising decks, academic papers, financial models, dashboards, and Morph animations need their own skill loaded first — load_skill once, then proceed.
Help System (IMPORTANT)
When unsure about property names, value formats, or command syntax, ALWAYS run help instead of guessing. One help query beats guess-fail-retry loops.
officecli help ≡ officecli --help, and officecli --help ≡ officecli help — same content.
officecli help
officecli help docx
officecli help docx paragraph
officecli help docx set paragraph
officecli help docx paragraph --json
Format aliases: word→docx, excel→xlsx, ppt/powerpoint→pptx. Verbs: add, set, get, query, remove. MCP exposes the same schema via the single command string param: {"command":"help docx paragraph"} (not a structured {"format":...,"type":...} object — the MCP tool has exactly one param, command, and passes it through to the CLI verbatim).
Performance: Resident Mode
Every command auto-starts a resident on first access (60s idle timeout) — file-lock conflicts are automatically avoided. Explicit open/close is still recommended for longer sessions (12min idle):
officecli open report.docx
officecli set report.docx ...
officecli close report.docx
Opt out of auto-start: OFFICECLI_NO_AUTO_RESIDENT=1.
Flush only at the non-officecli boundary. officecli's own reads (get/query/view/dump) always see your latest edits, so you never need to save mid-workflow. Run save (keeps the resident) or close (flush + release) only before a non-officecli program reads the file — python-docx/openpyxl, Word, a renderer, delivery/upload. (Idle sessions auto-flush within seconds; OFFICECLI_RESIDENT_FLUSH=each makes every mutation flush before returning.)
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
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/A2 --prop value="Alice"
L1: Create, Read & Inspect
officecli create
officecli view
officecli get --depth N
officecli query
officecli validate
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 | |
html | Static HTML snapshot — same renderer as watch, no server needed | --browser, --page N (docx), --start N --end N (pptx) |
screenshot / svg / pdf / forms | PNG via headless browser / SVG (pptx slide) / PDF via exporter plugin / form-fields JSON via format-handler plugin | -o, --screenshot-width/-height, pptx --grid N |
Use view html for one-shot snapshots (CI artifacts, archival, diffing); use watch when you need live refresh or browser-side click-to-select.