Use this skill any time a .docx file is involved -- as input, output, or both. This includes: creating Word documents, reports, letters, memos, or proposals; reading, parsing, or extracting text from any .docx file; editing, modifying, or updating existing documents; working with templates, tracked changes, comments, headers/footers, or tables of contents. Trigger whenever the user mentions 'Word doc', 'document', 'report', 'letter', 'memo', or references a .docx filename.
If officecli is not installed:
macOS / Linux
if ! command -v officecli >/dev/null 2>&1; then
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/iOfficeAI/OfficeCLI/main/install.sh | bash
fi
Windows (PowerShell)
if (-not (Get-Command officecli -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue)) {
irm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/iOfficeAI/OfficeCLI/main/install.ps1 | iex
}
Verify: officecli --version
If officecli is still not found after first install, open a new terminal and run the verify command again.
| Task | Action |
|---|---|
| Read / analyze content | Use view and get commands below |
| Edit existing document | Read editing.md |
| Create from scratch | Read creating.md |
Run commands one at a time. Do not write all commands into a shell script and execute it as a single block.
OfficeCLI is incremental: every add, set, and remove immediately modifies the file and returns output. Use this to catch errors early:
get or validate before building on top of it.Running a 50-command script all at once means the first error cascades silently through every subsequent command. Running incrementally means the failure context is immediate and local — fix it and move on.
officecli view doc.docx text
officecli view doc.docx text --max-lines 200
officecli view doc.docx text --start 1 --end 50
text mode shows [/body/p[N]] text content, tables as [Table: N rows], equations as readable math. Use --max-lines or --start/--end for large documents to avoid dumping entire content.
officecli view doc.docx outline
Output shows file stats (paragraph count, tables, images, equations), watermark presence, headers/footers, and heading hierarchy tree.
officecli view doc.docx annotated
Shows style, font, size, bold/italic per run; equations as LaTeX; images with alt text. Empty paragraphs shown as [] <-- empty paragraph.
officecli view doc.docx stats
Paragraph count, style distribution, font usage, font size usage, empty paragraph count.
# Document root (metadata, page setup)
officecli get doc.docx /
# List body children at depth 1
officecli get doc.docx /body --depth 1
# Specific paragraph
officecli get doc.docx "/body/p[1]"
# Specific run
officecli get doc.docx "/body/p[1]/r[1]"
# Table structure
officecli get doc.docx "/body/tbl[1]" --depth 3
# Style definitions
officecli get doc.docx /styles
# Specific style
officecli get doc.docx "/styles/Heading1"
# Header/footer
officecli get doc.docx "/header[1]"
officecli get doc.docx "/footer[1]"
# Numbering definitions
officecli get doc.docx /numbering
# JSON output for scripting
officecli get doc.docx "/body/p[1]" --json
# Find paragraphs by style
officecli query doc.docx 'paragraph[style=Heading1]'
# Find paragraphs containing text
officecli query doc.docx 'p:contains("quarterly")'
# Find empty paragraphs
officecli query doc.docx 'p:empty'
# Find images without alt text
officecli query doc.docx 'image:no-alt'
# Find bold runs in centered paragraphs
officecli query doc.docx 'p[alignment=center] > r[bold=true]'
# Find large text
officecli query doc.docx 'paragraph[size>=24pt]'
# Find fields by type
officecli query doc.docx 'field[fieldType!=page]'
Professional documents need clear structure and consistent formatting.
Every document needs clear hierarchy -- title, headings, subheadings, body text. Don't create a wall of unstyled Normal paragraphs.
Choose a readable body font (Calibri, Cambria, Georgia, Times New Roman). Keep body at 11-12pt. Headings should step up: H1=18pt minimum (20pt preferred for long documents), H2=14pt bold, H3=12pt bold.
Use paragraph spacing (spaceBefore/spaceAfter) instead of empty paragraphs. Line spacing of 1.15x-1.5x for body text.
Always set margins explicitly. US Letter default: pageWidth=12240, pageHeight=15840, margins=1440 (1 inch).
Professional documents include page numbers at minimum. Consider company name in header, page X of Y in footer.
Standard footer setup (always use this pattern for documents with a cover page):
⚠️ Known CLI bug:
--prop field=pageis silently ignored inadd --type footercommands. The footer is created with static text only. You must useraw-setto inject the PAGE field after creating the footer. See the 3-step pattern below.
# Adding type=first footer automatically enables differentFirstPage — no separate set command needed
# Step 1. Empty footer for cover page (CLI auto-inserts <w:titlePg/> — suppresses cover page number)
officecli add doc.docx / --type footer --prop type=first --prop text=""
# Step 2. Default footer with static "Page " text (field=page is silently ignored — do NOT rely on it)
officecli add doc.docx / --type footer --prop text="Page " --prop type=default --prop alignment=center --prop size=9pt --prop font=Calibri
# Step 3. Inject PAGE field via raw-set (footer[2] = default when first-page footer also exists)
officecli raw-set doc.docx "/footer[2]" \
--xpath "//w:p" \
--action append \
--xml '<w:r xmlns:w="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/wordprocessingml/2006/main"><w:rPr><w:rFonts w:ascii="Calibri" w:hAnsi="Calibri"/><w:sz w:val="18"/></w:rPr><w:fldChar w:fldCharType="begin"/></w:r><w:r xmlns:w="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/wordprocessingml/2006/main"><w:rPr><w:rFonts w:ascii="Calibri" w:hAnsi="Calibri"/><w:sz w:val="18"/></w:rPr><w:instrText xml:space="preserve"> PAGE </w:instrText></w:r><w:r xmlns:w="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/wordprocessingml/2006/main"><w:rPr><w:rFonts w:ascii="Calibri" w:hAnsi="Calibri"/><w:sz w:val="18"/></w:rPr><w:fldChar w:fldCharType="end"/></w:r>'
Footer index rule: When both a first-page footer and a default footer are added, the default footer is
/footer[2]. If there is no first-page footer, the default footer is/footer[1]. Always verify withofficecli get doc.docx "/footer[2]"(or"/footer[1]") to confirm the<w:fldChar>element is present.
LibreOffice rendering note: Page number fields may display as static "Page" (not "Page 1") in LibreOffice PDF preview — this is a LibreOffice limitation. Open in Microsoft Word to see actual page numbers. Confirm the field is present with
officecli get doc.docx "/footer[2]"— the output must showfldCharchildren, not just a plain run.
Alternate row shading for readability. Header row with contrasting background. Consistent cell padding.
Use color sparingly in documents -- accent color for headings or table headers, not rainbow formatting.
| Content Type | Recommended Element(s) | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Sequential items | Bulleted list (listStyle=bullet) | Scanning is faster than inline commas |
| Step-by-step process | Numbered list (listStyle=numbered) | Numbers communicate order |
| Comparative data | Table with header row | Columns enable side-by-side comparison |
| Trend data | Embedded chart (chartType=line/column) | Visual pattern recognition |
| Key definition | Hanging indent paragraph | Offset term from definition |
| Legal/contract clause | Numbered list with bookmarks | Cross-referencing via bookmarks |
| Mathematical content | Equation element (formula=LaTeX) | Proper OMML rendering |
| Citation/reference | Footnote or endnote | Keeps body text clean |
| Pull quote / callout | Paragraph with border + shading | Visual distinction from body |
| Multi-section layout | Section breaks with columns | Column control per section |
Assume there are problems. Your job is to find them.
# Check for formatting, content, and structure issues automatically
officecli view doc.docx issues
# Filter by issue type
officecli view doc.docx issues --type format
officecli view doc.docx issues --type content
officecli view doc.docx issues --type structure
# Extract all text, check for missing content, typos, wrong order
officecli view doc.docx text
# Check structure
officecli view doc.docx outline
# Check for empty paragraphs (common clutter)
officecli query doc.docx 'p:empty'
# Check for images without alt text
officecli query doc.docx 'image:no-alt'
When editing templates, check for leftover placeholder text:
officecli query doc.docx 'p:contains("lorem")'
officecli query doc.docx 'p:contains("xxxx")'
officecli query doc.docx 'p:contains("placeholder")'
officecli validate doc.docx
officecli get doc.docx "/footer[2]" --depth 3 确认输出中有 fldChar 元素。
⚠️ view outline 显示 "Footer: Page" 时无法区分静态文字和动态字段 — 必须用 get --depth 3 命令验证 fldChar 存在。
如无 first-page footer，用 "/footer[1]" 替代 "/footer[2]"。Required: raw-set PAGE field injection — --prop field=page in add command is silently ignored.--type footer --prop type=first --prop text="") if document has a cover page — CLI automatically enables differentFirstPage (no separate set command needed)officecli add doc.docx /body --type toc --prop levels="1-3" --prop title="Table of Contents" --prop hyperlinks=true --prop pagenumbers=true --index 0; TOC displays as a field code in CLI output — press F9 in Word to refresh/render itofficecli validateview issues + view outline + view text + validateDo not declare success until you've completed at least one fix-and-verify cycle.
NOTE: Unlike pptx, there is no visual preview mode (view svg/view html) for docx. Content verification relies on view text, view annotated, view outline, view issues, and validate. For visual verification, the user must open the file in Word.
QA display notes:
view text shows "1." for ALL numbered list items regardless of their actual rendered number. This is a display limitation -- the actual document renders correct auto-incrementing numbers (1, 2, 3...) in Word and LibreOffice. Do not treat this as a defect.view issues flags "body paragraph missing first-line indent" on any paragraph that lacks a first-line indent — this includes cover page paragraphs, centered headings, list items, bibliography entries, callout boxes, and any block-style paragraph with explicit spaceAfter. These warnings are expected and can be ignored. First-line indent is only required in APA/academic body text — most professional documents use block style (no first-line indent) by default.| Pitfall | Correct Approach |
|---|---|
--name "foo" | Use --prop name="foo" -- all attributes go through --prop |
| Guessing property names | Run officecli docx set paragraph to see exact names |
\n in shell strings | Use \\n for newlines in --prop text="line1\\nline2" |
| Modifying an open file | Close the file in Word first |
Hex colors with # | Use FF0000 not #FF0000 -- no hash prefix |
| Paths are 1-based | /body/p[1], /body/tbl[1] -- XPath convention |
--index is 0-based | --index 0 = first position -- array convention |
Unquoted [N] in zsh/bash | Shell glob-expands /body/p[1] -- always quote paths: "/body/p[1]" |
| Spacing in raw numbers | Use unit-qualified values: '12pt', '0.5cm', '1.5x' not raw twips |
| Empty paragraphs for spacing | Use spaceBefore/spaceAfter properties on paragraphs |
$ in --prop text= (shell) | --prop text="$50M" strips the value. Use single quotes: --prop text='$50M' |
$ and ' in batch JSON | Use heredoc: cat <<'EOF' | officecli batch -- single-quoted delimiter prevents shell expansion |
| Wrong border format | Use style;size;color;space format: single;4;FF0000;1 |
| listStyle on run instead of paragraph | listStyle is a paragraph property, not a run property |
| Row-level bold/color/shd | Row set only supports height, header, and c1/c2/c3 text shortcuts. Use cell-level set for formatting (bold, shd, color, font) |
| Section vs root property names | Section uses pagewidth/pageheight (lowercase). Document root uses pageWidth/pageHeight (camelCase) |
--prop field=page in footer | SILENTLY IGNORED in add --type footer commands. The footer is created with static text only. Must use raw-set to inject <w:fldChar> after creating the footer. See Headers & Footers section for the 3-step pattern. |
| Page number on cover | Adding --type footer --prop type=first automatically enables differentFirstPage. Do NOT use set / --prop differentFirstPage=true — that prop is UNSUPPORTED and silently fails |
| TOC skipped for multi-heading docs | Any document with 3+ headings requires a TOC. It is not optional — add with --type toc --index 0 after the cover page break |
| Code block indentation via spaces | Use the ind.left paragraph property (e.g. --prop ind.left=720) for code block indentation — consecutive spaces as padding produce view issues warnings and visually inconsistent results |
Always use open/close — it is the smart default, not a special-case optimization. Every command benefits: no repeated file I/O.
officecli open doc.docx # Load once into memory
officecli add doc.docx ... # All commands run in memory — fast
officecli set doc.docx ...
officecli close doc.docx # Write once to disk
Use this pattern for every document build, regardless of command count.
Execute multiple operations in a single open/save cycle:
cat <<'EOF' | officecli batch doc.docx
[
{"command":"add","parent":"/body","type":"paragraph","props":{"text":"Introduction","style":"Heading1"}},
{"command":"add","parent":"/body","type":"paragraph","props":{"text":"This report covers Q4 results.","font":"Calibri","size":"11pt"}}
]
EOF
Batch supports: add, set, get, query, remove, move, swap, view, raw, raw-set, validate.
Batch fields: command, path, parent, type, from, to, index, after, before, props (dict), selector, mode, depth, part, xpath, action, xml.
parent = container to add into (for add). path = element to modify (for set, get, remove, move, swap).
| Issue | Workaround |
|---|---|
| No visual preview | Unlike pptx (SVG/HTML), docx has no built-in rendering. Use view text/view outline/view annotated/view issues for verification. Users must open in Word for visual check. |
| Track changes creation requires raw XML | OfficeCLI can accept/reject tracked changes (set / --prop accept-changes=all) but cannot create tracked changes (insertions/deletions with author markup) via high-level commands. Use raw-set with XML for tracked change creation. |
| Tab stops may require raw XML | Tab stop creation is not exposed in officecli docx high-level commands. Use raw-set to add tab stop definitions in paragraph properties. |
| Chart series cannot be added after creation | Same as pptx: set --prop data= can only update existing series, not add new ones. Delete and recreate the chart with all series in the add command. |
| Complex numbering definitions | listStyle=bullet/numbered covers simple cases. For multi-level lists with custom formatting, use numId/numLevel properties. Creating new numbering definitions may require understanding the numbering part. |
| Shell quoting in batch with echo | echo '...' | officecli batch fails when JSON values contain apostrophes or $. Use heredoc: cat <<'EOF' | officecli batch doc.docx. |
| Batch intermittent failure | Approximately 1-in-15 batch operations may fail with "Failed to send to resident" when using batch+resident mode. Retry the command, or close/reopen the file. Split large batch arrays into 10-15 operation chunks. |
Table-level padding produces invalid XML | Do not use set tbl[N] --prop padding=N. It creates invalid tblCellMar. Use cell-level padding.top/padding.bottom instead. If already applied, remove with raw-set --xpath "//w:tbl[N]/w:tblPr/w:tblCellMar" --action remove. |
| Internal hyperlinks not supported | The hyperlink command only accepts absolute URIs (https://...). Fragment URLs (#bookmark) are rejected. For internal cross-references, use descriptive text or raw-set with <w:hyperlink w:anchor="bookmarkName">. |
Table --index positioning unreliable | --index N on add /body --type table may be ignored (table appends to end). move also may not work for tables. Workaround: add content in the desired order, or remove/re-add surrounding elements. |
\mathcal in equations causes validation errors | The \mathcal LaTeX command generates invalid m:scr XML. Use \mathit or plain letters instead. |
view text shows "1." for all numbered items | Display-only limitation. Rendered output in Word/LibreOffice shows correct auto-incrementing numbers. |
chartType=pie/doughnut in LibreOffice PDF | Do NOT use chartType=pie or chartType=doughnut when LibreOffice PDF delivery is required. These chart types render without visible slices in LibreOffice PDF export — only labels and legend appear, slices are invisible. Use chartType=column or chartType=bar instead. Charts render correctly in Microsoft Word only. |
When unsure about property names, value formats, or command syntax, run help instead of guessing. One help query is faster than guess-fail-retry loops.
officecli docx set # All settable elements and their properties
officecli docx set paragraph # Paragraph properties in detail
officecli docx set table # Table properties
officecli docx add # All addable element types
officecli docx view # All view modes
officecli docx get # All navigable paths
officecli docx query # Query selector syntax