DOCX creation, editing, and analysis Overview A user may ask you to create, edit, or analyze the contents of a .docx file. A .docx file is essentially a ZIP archive containing XML files and other resources that you can read or edit. You have different tools and workflows available for different tasks. Workflow Decision Tree Reading/Analyzing Content Use "Text extraction" or "Raw XML access" sections below Creating New Document Use "Creating a new Word document" workflow Editing Existing Document Your own document + simple changes Use "Basic OOXML editing" workflow Someone else's document Use "Redlining workflow" (recommended default) Legal, academic, business, or government docs Use "Redlining workflow" (required) Reading and analyzing content Text extraction If you just need to read the text contents of a document, you should convert the document to markdown using pandoc. Pandoc provides excellent support for preserving document structure and can show tracked changes:

Convert document to markdown with tracked changes

pandoc --track-changes

all path-to-file.docx -o output.md

Options: --track-changes=accept/reject/all

Raw XML access

You need raw XML access for: comments, complex formatting, document structure, embedded media, and metadata. For any of these features, you'll need to unpack a document and read its raw XML contents.

Unpacking a file

python ooxml/scripts/unpack.py

Key file structures

word/document.xml

- Main document contents

word/comments.xml

- Comments referenced in document.xml

word/media/

- Embedded images and media files

Tracked changes use

(insertions) and

(deletions) tags

Creating a new Word document

When creating a new Word document from scratch, use

docx-js

, which allows you to create Word documents using JavaScript/TypeScript.

Workflow

MANDATORY - READ ENTIRE FILE

Read

docx-js.md

(~500 lines) completely from start to finish.

NEVER set any range limits when reading this file.

Read the full file content for detailed syntax, critical formatting rules, and best practices before proceeding with document creation.

Create a JavaScript/TypeScript file using Document, Paragraph, TextRun components (You can assume all dependencies are installed, but if not, refer to the dependencies section below)

Export as .docx using Packer.toBuffer()

Editing an existing Word document

When editing an existing Word document, use the

Document library

(a Python library for OOXML manipulation). The library automatically handles infrastructure setup and provides methods for document manipulation. For complex scenarios, you can access the underlying DOM directly through the library.

Workflow

MANDATORY - READ ENTIRE FILE

Read

ooxml.md

(~600 lines) completely from start to finish.

NEVER set any range limits when reading this file.

Read the full file content for the Document library API and XML patterns for directly editing document files.

Unpack the document:

python ooxml/scripts/unpack.py

Create and run a Python script using the Document library (see "Document Library" section in ooxml.md)

Pack the final document:

python ooxml/scripts/pack.py

The Document library provides both high-level methods for common operations and direct DOM access for complex scenarios.

Redlining workflow for document review

This workflow allows you to plan comprehensive tracked changes using markdown before implementing them in OOXML.

CRITICAL

For complete tracked changes, you must implement ALL changes systematically.

Batching Strategy

Group related changes into batches of 3-10 changes. This makes debugging manageable while maintaining efficiency. Test each batch before moving to the next. Principle: Minimal, Precise Edits When implementing tracked changes, only mark text that actually changes. Repeating unchanged text makes edits harder to review and appears unprofessional. Break replacements into: [unchanged text] + [deletion] + [insertion] + [unchanged text]. Preserve the original run's RSID for unchanged text by extracting the element from the original and reusing it. Example - Changing "30 days" to "60 days" in a sentence:

BAD - Replaces entire sentence

'The term is 30 days.The term is 60 days.'

GOOD - Only marks what changed, preserves original for unchanged text

'The term is 3060 days.'

Tracked changes workflow

Get markdown representation

Convert document to markdown with tracked changes preserved:

pandoc --track-changes

=

all path-to-file.docx

-o

current.md

Identify and group changes

Review the document and identify ALL changes needed, organizing them into logical batches:

Location methods

(for finding changes in XML):

Section/heading numbers (e.g., "Section 3.2", "Article IV")

Paragraph identifiers if numbered

Grep patterns with unique surrounding text

Document structure (e.g., "first paragraph", "signature block")

DO NOT use markdown line numbers

- they don't map to XML structure

Batch organization

(group 3-10 related changes per batch):

By section: "Batch 1: Section 2 amendments", "Batch 2: Section 5 updates"

By type: "Batch 1: Date corrections", "Batch 2: Party name changes"

By complexity: Start with simple text replacements, then tackle complex structural changes

Sequential: "Batch 1: Pages 1-3", "Batch 2: Pages 4-6"

Read documentation and unpack

:

MANDATORY - READ ENTIRE FILE

Read

ooxml.md

(~600 lines) completely from start to finish.

NEVER set any range limits when reading this file.

Pay special attention to the "Document Library" and "Tracked Change Patterns" sections.

Unpack the document

:

python ooxml/scripts/unpack.py

Note the suggested RSID

The unpack script will suggest an RSID to use for your tracked changes. Copy this RSID for use in step 4b.

Implement changes in batches

Group changes logically (by section, by type, or by proximity) and implement them together in a single script. This approach:

Makes debugging easier (smaller batch = easier to isolate errors)

Allows incremental progress

Maintains efficiency (batch size of 3-10 changes works well)

Suggested batch groupings:

By document section (e.g., "Section 3 changes", "Definitions", "Termination clause")

By change type (e.g., "Date changes", "Party name updates", "Legal term replacements")

By proximity (e.g., "Changes on pages 1-3", "Changes in first half of document")

For each batch of related changes:

a. Map text to XML

Grep for text in

word/document.xml

to verify how text is split across

elements.

b. Create and run script

Use

get_node

to find nodes, implement changes, then

doc.save()

. See

"Document Library"

section in ooxml.md for patterns.

Note

Always grep

word/document.xml

immediately before writing a script to get current line numbers and verify text content. Line numbers change after each script run.

Pack the document

After all batches are complete, convert the unpacked directory back to .docx:

python ooxml/scripts/pack.py unpacked reviewed-document.docx

Final verification

Do a comprehensive check of the complete document: Convert final document to markdown: pandoc --track-changes = all reviewed-document.docx -o verification.md Verify ALL changes were applied correctly: grep "original phrase" verification.md

Should NOT find it

grep "replacement phrase" verification.md

Should find it

Check that no unintended changes were introduced

Converting Documents to Images

To visually analyze Word documents, convert them to images using a two-step process:

Convert DOCX to PDF

:

soffice

--headless

--convert-to pdf document.docx

Convert PDF pages to JPEG images

:

pdftoppm

-jpeg

-r

150

document.pdf page

This creates files like

page-1.jpg

,

page-2.jpg

, etc.

Options:

-r 150

Sets resolution to 150 DPI (adjust for quality/size balance)

-jpeg

Output JPEG format (use

-png

for PNG if preferred)

-f N

First page to convert (e.g.,

-f 2

starts from page 2)

-l N

Last page to convert (e.g.,

-l 5

stops at page 5)

page

Prefix for output files Example for specific range: pdftoppm -jpeg -r 150 -f 2 -l 5 document.pdf page

Converts only pages 2-5

Code Style Guidelines

IMPORTANT

When generating code for DOCX operations: Write concise code Avoid verbose variable names and redundant operations Avoid unnecessary print statements Dependencies Required dependencies (install if not available): pandoc : sudo apt-get install pandoc (for text extraction) docx : npm install -g docx (for creating new documents) LibreOffice : sudo apt-get install libreoffice (for PDF conversion) Poppler : sudo apt-get install poppler-utils (for pdftoppm to convert PDF to images) defusedxml : pip install defusedxml (for secure XML parsing) When to Use This skill is applicable to execute the workflow or actions described in the overview.