officecli

# officecli AI-friendly CLI for .docx, .xlsx, .pptx. Single binary, no dependencies, no Office installation needed. ## Install Already installed at `/usr/local/bin/officecli` — run it directly, and do not run the upstream install script. The version here is pinned and checksum-verified; re-installing would silently swap it for whatever is current, which is exactly the kind of change nobody notices until a customer's document comes out wrong. --- ## 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 <cmd> --help` ≡ `officecli help <cmd>` — same content. ```bash officecli help # All commands + global options + schema entry points officecli help docx # List all docx elements officecli help docx paragraph # Full schema: properties, aliases, examples, readbacks officecli help docx set paragraph # Verb-filtered: only props usable with `set` officecli help docx paragraph --json # Structured schema (machine-readable) ``` 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): ```bash officecli open report.docx # explicitly keep in memory officecli set report.docx ... # no file I/O overhead officecli close report.docx # save and release ``` 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:** ```bash 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:** ```bash 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:** ```bash 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 ```bash officecli create <file> # Create blank .docx/.xlsx/.pptx (type from extension) officecli view <file> <mode> # outline | stats | issues | text | annotated | html 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 | | | `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. ### get Any XML path via element localName. Use `--depth N` to expand children. Add `--json` for structured output. Default text output is grep-friendly: `path (type) "text" key=val key=val ...` ```bash 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 ``` ### Stable ID Addressing Elements with stable IDs return `@attr=value` paths instead of positional indices. Prefer these in multi-step workflows — positional indices shift on insert/delete, stable IDs do not. ``` /slide[1]/shape[@id=550950021] # PPT shape /slide[1]/table[@id=1388430425]/tr[1]/tc[2] # PPT table /body/p[@paraId=1A2B3C4D] # Word paragraph /comments/comment[@commentId=1] # Word comment ``` PPT also accepts `@name=` (e.g. `shape[@name=Title 1]`), with morph `!!` prefix awareness. Elements without stable IDs (slide, run, tr/tc, row) fall back to positional indices. ### query CSS-like selectors: `[attr=value]`, `[attr!=value]`, `[attr~=text]`, `[attr>=value]`, `[attr<=value]`, `:contains("text")`, `:empty`, `:has(formula)`, `:no-alt`. Boolean `and`/`or` supported across `query`/`set`/`remove`: `cell[value>5000 or value<100]`, `cell[(type=Number or type=Date) and value>0]`. Excel row-by-column-name: `Sheet1!row[Salary>5000]`. `set` accepts selectors and Excel-native paths (parity with `get`/`query`). Bare unscoped selectors rejected on `set`/`remove`. ```bash officecli query report.docx 'paragraph[style=Normal] > run[font!=Arial]' officecli query slides.pptx 'shape[fill=FF0000]' ``` --- ## Watch & Interactive Selection Live HTML preview that auto-refreshes on every file change. Browsers can click / shift-click / box-drag to select shapes; the CLI can read the current browser selection and act on it. ```bash officecli watch <file> [--port N] # Start preview server (default port 26315) officecli unwatch <file> # Stop officecli goto <file> <path> # Scroll watching browser(s) to element (docx: p / table / tr / tc) ``` Open the printed `http://localhost:N` URL. Click to select; shift/cmd/ctrl+click to multi-select; drag from empty space to box-select. PPT/Word use blue outline; Excel uses native-style green selection (double-click cell to edit inline; drag a chart to reposition). ### `get <file> selected` — read what the user clicked ```bash officecli get <file> selected [--json] ``` Returns DocumentNodes for whatever is currently selected. Empty result if nothing selected. Exit code != 0 if no watch is running. ```bash # User clicks shapes in the browser, then asks "make these red" PATHS=$(officecli get deck.pptx selected --json | jq -r '.data.Results[].path') for p in $PATHS; do officecli set deck.pptx "$p" --prop fill=FF0000; done ``` ### Key properties - **Selection survives file edits.** Paths use stable `@id=` form. - **All connected browsers share one selection.** Last-write-wins. - **Same-file single-watch.** A given file can have only one watch process at a time. - **Group shapes select as a whole.** Drilling into individual children of a group is not supported in v1. - **Coverage:** `.pptx` shapes/pictures/tables/charts/connectors/groups; `.docx` top-level paragraphs and tables. Inherited layout/master decorations and Word nested elements (table cells, run-level) are not addressable. **`.xlsx` does not emit `data-path`** — `mark`/`selection` on xlsx always resolve `stale=true` (v2 candidate). ### Marks — edit proposals waiting for review Use `mark` when changes need human review BEFORE they hit the file. Marks live in the watch process only; a separate `set` pipeline applies accepted ones. For one-shot changes use `set` directly; for permanent file annotations use `add --type comment` (Word native). ```bash officecli mark <file> <path> [--prop find=... color=... note=... tofix=... regex=true] [--json] officecli unmark <file> [--path <p> | --all] [--json] officecli get-marks <file> [--json] ``` Props: `find` (literal or regex when `regex=true`; raw form `find='r"[abc]"'`), `color` (hex / `rgb(...)` / 22 named whitelist), `note`, `tofix` (drives apply pipeline). **Path** must be `data-path` format from watch HTML — see subskills for full pipeline. --- ## L2: DOM Operations ### set — modify properties ```bash 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. **Value formats:** | Type | Format | Examples | |------|--------|---------| | Colors | Hex (with/without `#`), named, RGB, theme | `FF0000`, `#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` | **Dotted-attr aliases** — `font.<attr>` forms accepted on shape/run/paragraph/table/row/cell/section/styles, e.g. `--prop font.color=red --prop font.bold=true --prop font.size=14pt`. Run `officecli help <fmt> <element>` for the full list. ### find — format or replace matched text Use top-level `--find` / `--replace` on `set` (and `--find` on `query`). Legacy `--prop find=X` still works but emits a hint. ```bash # Format matched text (auto-splits runs) officecli set doc.docx '/body/p[1]' --find weather --prop bold=true --prop color=red # Regex matching (regex= still a prop flag) officecli set doc.docx '/body/p[1]' --find '\d+%' --prop regex=true --prop color=red # Replace text (use `/` for whole-document scope) officecli set doc.docx / --find draft --replace final # docx: tracked Find&Replace officecli set doc.docx / --find draft --replace final --prop revision.author=Alice # PPT — same syntax, different paths officecli set slides.pptx / --find draft --replace final ``` **Path controls search scope:** `/` = whole document, `/body/p[1]` or `/slide[N]/shape[M]` = specific element, `/header[1]` / `/footer[1]` = headers/footers. **Notes:** - Case-sensitive by default. Case-insensitive: `--prop 'find=(?i)error' --prop regex=true` - Matches work across run boundaries - No match = silent success. `--json` includes `"matched": N` - **Excel:** only `find` + `replace` supported (no find + format props) ### add — add elements or clone ```bash 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