- name
- docx-read-fallback
- description
- Use run_shell with python-docx as reliable fallback when read_file fails on .docx files
# DOCX Read Fallback
When `read_file` or `execute_code_sandbox` fails to read `.docx` files, use `run_shell` with python-docx as a reliable workaround.
## When to Use
- `read_file` fails, times out, or returns errors on `.docx` files
- `execute_code_sandbox` attempts to read the docx fail
- You need to extract text content from a Word document
- Multiple standard approaches have been exhausted
## How to Use
### Basic Text Extraction
```bash
python -c "import docx; doc = docx.Document('path/to/file.docx'); print('\n'.join([p.text for p in doc.paragraphs]))"
```
### Using run_shell Tool
```
run_shell command="python -c \"import docx; doc = docx.Document('path/to/file.docx'); print('\n'.join([p.text for p in doc.paragraphs]))\"" timeout=60
```
### Extract Paragraphs with Indices
```bash
python -c "import docx; doc = docx.Document('file.docx'); [print(f'P{i}: {p.text}') for i, p in enumerate(doc.paragraphs) if p.text.strip()]"
```
### Extract Tables
```bash
python -c "import docx; doc = docx.Document('file.docx'); [[print([[cell.text for cell in row.cells] for row in table.rows]) for table in doc.tables]]"
```
### Extract Headings (by style)
```bash
python -c "import docx; doc = docx.Document('file.docx'); [print(p.text) for p in doc.paragraphs if p.style.name.startswith('Heading')]"
```
## Prerequisites
Ensure python-docx is available:
```bash
python -c "import docx; print('docx available')"
```
If not installed:
```bash
pip install python-docx
```
## Tips
- Use absolute paths to avoid working directory issues
- Set appropriate `timeout` (30-60 seconds for large documents)
- Escape quotes properly when embedding in shell commands
- For large documents, extract content in chunks or filter by paragraph index
- This approach bypasses file type detection issues in read_file
## Example Workflow
1. Try `read_file` on the .docx file
2. If it fails, verify python-docx availability
3. Use `run_shell` with the python-docx extraction command
4. Parse the stdout to get document content
5. Proceed with your analysis using the extracted text
Ver no GitHub