--- name: DOCX Editing slug: docx-editing category: Writing description: DOCX Editing creates, reads, edits, and manipulates Word documents (.docx) and templates (.dotx), including tracked changes, comments, images, and formatting. Use it when producing or revising polished Word deliverables like reports, memos, letters, or templates. github: "https://github.com/fcakyon/claude-codex-settings/tree/main/plugins/anthropic-office-skills/skills/docx" language: Python stars: 1086 forks: 102 install: "npx degit https://github.com/fcakyon/claude-codex-settings/tree/main/plugins/anthropic-office-skills/skills/docx ~/.claude/skills/docx" installs_to: ~/.claude/skills/docx source_path: plugins/anthropic-office-skills/skills/docx/SKILL.md collection_size: 25 category_size: 1012 collection_url: "https://dirskills.com/collections/fcakyon/claude-codex-settings" added: 2026-08-20T07:56:39.710Z last_synced: 2026-08-20T07:56:39.710Z canonical_url: "https://dirskills.com/skills/docx-editing" --- # DOCX Editing DOCX Editing creates, reads, edits, and manipulates Word documents (.docx) and templates (.dotx), including tracked changes, comments, images, and formatting. Use it when producing or revising polished Word deliverables like reports, memos, letters, or templates. **Install:** ```bash npx degit https://github.com/fcakyon/claude-codex-settings/tree/main/plugins/anthropic-office-skills/skills/docx ~/.claude/skills/docx ``` ## README # DOCX creation, editing, and analysis A `.docx` is a ZIP archive of XML files. Choose your approach by task: | 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` | > Script paths below are relative to this skill's directory. ## Creating with docx-js — gotchas `docx` is preinstalled — do not run `npm install` first; write the script and `require('docx')` directly. Only if that require fails: `npm install 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 Read the images ``` `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 "" to check every edit is tracked ``` Word splits text across many `` 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 ""` (needs `--original`) — it reports any text you changed without a ``/`` around it, which is easy to do by accident and invisible in the accepted view. Wrap runs in ``/`` with `w:id`, `w:author`, `w:date` attributes. Inside ``, the text element is ``, not ``. A deleted paragraph mark (``) means "merge this paragraph into the next" — so deleting a paragraph outright is that plus a `` around every run. The `` 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 ``/``/`` 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. ## Dependencies `docx` (npm, preinstalled — install only if `require('docx')` fails) · `pandoc` · LibreOffice (`soffice`) · `pdftoppm` (Poppler)