---
name: docx
description: "Create, read, edit Word .docx documents and templates."
version: 1.0.0
author: Anthropic (adapted by Nous Research)
license: Proprietary. LICENSE.txt has complete terms
platforms: [linux, macos, windows]
metadata:
  hermes:
    tags: [Word, DOCX, Documents, Office, Productivity]
    category: productivity
    related_skills: [pdf, xlsx, powerpoint, ocr-and-documents]
---

# DOCX Skill

Create, read, and edit Word documents — reports, memos, letters, letterheads, tables of contents, tracked changes (redlining), and comments. A `.docx` is a ZIP archive of XML files; this skill covers both the high-level creation path and surgical XML editing.

## When to Use

Use this skill whenever the user wants to create, read, edit, or manipulate Word documents (.docx) or Word templates (.dotx). Triggers include: any mention of "Word doc", ".docx", ".dotx", or requests for a "report", "memo", "letter", or similar deliverable as a Word file; extracting or reorganizing content from .docx files; find-and-replace in Word files; inserting images; tracked changes or comments. Do NOT use for PDFs (see the `pdf` skill), spreadsheets (`xlsx`), or presentations (`powerpoint`).

## Prerequisites

```bash
npm ls docx --depth=0 2>/dev/null | grep -q docx || npm install docx   # creation (docx-js)
pip show pandoc >/dev/null 2>&1 || true; which pandoc || sudo apt install -y pandoc   # reading
which soffice || sudo apt install -y libreoffice     # rendering/verification
which pdftoppm || sudo apt install -y poppler-utils  # PDF → images
pip install defusedxml lxml   # validation scripts
```

macOS: `brew install pandoc libreoffice poppler`.

## Quick Reference

| Task | Approach |
|---|---|
| **Create** a new document | Write a `docx` (npm) script — see gotchas below |
| **Edit** an existing document | `unzip` → edit `word/document.xml` → `zip` (docx-js cannot open existing files) |
| **Read** content | `pandoc -t markdown file.docx` (or `read_file`, which auto-extracts .docx text) |

> Script paths below are relative to this skill's directory.

## Creating with docx-js — gotchas

Write the script and `require('docx')`. The model knows the API; these are the footguns:

- **Page size defaults to A4.** For US Letter set `page: { size: { width: 12240, height: 15840 } }` (DXA; 1440 = 1″).
- **Landscape:** pass portrait dimensions and `orientation: PageOrientation.LANDSCAPE` — docx-js swaps width/height internally.
- **Tables need dual widths:** set `columnWidths` on the table AND `width` on every cell, both in `WidthType.DXA` (PERCENTAGE breaks in Google Docs). Column widths must sum to the table width.
- **Table shading:** use `ShadingType.CLEAR`, never `SOLID` (renders black).
- **Lists:** never insert `•` literally; use a `numbering` config with `LevelFormat.BULLET`.
- **`ImageRun` requires `type:`** (`"png"`, `"jpg"`, …).
- **`PageBreak` must be inside a `Paragraph`.**
- **Never use `\n`** — use separate `Paragraph` elements.
- **TOC:** headings must use built-in `HeadingLevel.*`; custom heading styles need `outlineLevel` set or they won't appear.
- **Don't use a table as a horizontal rule** — use a paragraph bottom border instead.
- **Dot-leader / right-aligned-on-same-line:** use `PositionalTab` (`alignment: PositionalTabAlignment.RIGHT`, `leader: PositionalTabLeader.DOT`) inside a `TextRun`, not literal `.` or space padding.

## Verify the output

After writing a `.docx`, render it and look at it:

```bash
python scripts/office/soffice.py --headless --convert-to pdf output.docx
pdftoppm -jpeg -r 100 output.pdf page
ls page-*.jpg   # then inspect each with vision_analyze
```

`pdftoppm` zero-pads page numbers to the width of the page count (`page-01.jpg`…`page-12.jpg`).

## Editing existing documents

Legacy `.doc` files must be converted first: `python scripts/office/soffice.py --headless --convert-to docx file.doc`.

```bash
unzip -q doc.docx -d unpacked/
find unpacked -type l -delete   # strip symlink entries — docx from external parties is untrusted
python scripts/merge_runs.py unpacked/   # coalesce fragmented runs so text is findable
# edit unpacked/word/document.xml in place — do NOT reformat or pretty-print
(cd unpacked && rm -f ../out.docx && zip -Xr ../out.docx .)
python scripts/office/validate.py out.docx --original doc.docx   # XSD checks; --auto-repair fixes common issues
# redlining? add --author "<the name you redlined under>" to check every edit is tracked
```

Word splits text across many `<w:r>` runs (revision ids, spell-check markers), so a phrase you can see in the document often doesn't exist as a contiguous string in the XML. `merge_runs.py` merges adjacent identically-formatted runs in `word/document.xml` without changing content or rendering; it also accepts a `.docx` directly (`python scripts/merge_runs.py doc.docx -o merged.docx`).

**Tracked changes:** when redlining, validate with `--author "<the name you redlined under>"` (needs `--original`) — it reports any text you changed without a `<w:ins>`/`<w:del>` around it, which is easy to do by accident and invisible in the accepted view. Wrap runs in `<w:ins>`/`<w:del>` with `w:id`, `w:author`, `w:date` attributes. Inside `<w:del>`, the text element is `<w:delText>`, not `<w:t>`. A deleted paragraph mark (`<w:pPr><w:rPr><w:del w:id=".." w:author=".." w:date=".."/></w:rPr></w:pPr>`) means "merge this paragraph into the next" — so deleting a paragraph outright is that plus a `<w:del>` around every run. The `<w:del/>` must come before the rPr's other children; their order is schema-enforced.

To produce a clean copy with all tracked changes accepted: `python scripts/accept_changes.py in.docx out.docx`.

Accepting a deleted paragraph mark should join that paragraph to the one below it, so a paragraph whose runs are *all* deleted vanishes. Word does this; `accept_changes.py` and `pandoc --track-changes=accept` don't always. Both fail the same way — they strip the deleted text but leave the emptied paragraph behind, which reads as a stray empty bullet when it was auto-numbered:

- `pandoc --track-changes=accept` never joins the paragraphs.
- `accept_changes.py` (LibreOffice) joins them correctly, except when the deleted paragraph is followed by an empty spacer paragraph.

An empty bullet in either view is an artifact of that view, not a defect in the document. Check paragraph deletions in the XML.

## Comments

Comments require six cross-linked files. Use the helper — directory mode when you'll also be editing `document.xml` (saves an unzip/rezip cycle), `.docx`-direct mode otherwise:

```bash
# Against an already-unpacked directory (preferred when also placing markers)
python scripts/comment.py unpacked/ "Fees & expenses cap is too low"
python scripts/comment.py unpacked/ "Agreed" --parent 0

# Against a .docx directly
python scripts/comment.py contract.docx "This cap is too low" -o annotated.docx
```

The script writes `comments.xml`, `commentsExtended.xml`, `commentsIds.xml`, `commentsExtensible.xml`, the relationships, and the content-type overrides. Comment IDs are auto-assigned. It then prints the `<w:commentRangeStart>`/`<w:commentRangeEnd>`/`<w:commentReference>` snippet to add to `word/document.xml` so the comment anchors to specific text — until you place those markers, the comment exists but is not visible.

## Pitfalls

- Don't round-trip OOXML through `xml.etree.ElementTree` — it rewrites namespace prefixes and corrupts the file. Use `defusedxml.minidom` for scripted transforms.
- Zip from INSIDE the unpacked directory (`cd unpacked && zip -Xr ../out.docx .`) and `rm` the target first, or deleted parts survive in the archive.

## Verification

1. `python scripts/office/validate.py out.docx --original in.docx` — schema, relationship, and content-type checks; every failure names its fix.
2. Render to PDF → images (see "Verify the output") and inspect each page with `vision_analyze` — look for broken tables, missing images, spacing artifacts, leftover placeholder text.

## Related skills

`pdf` (PDF work), `xlsx` (spreadsheets), `powerpoint` (decks), `ocr-and-documents` (scanned input extraction).
