Officecli

When unsure about property names, value formats, or command syntax, ALWAYS run help instead of guessing. One help query is faster than guess-fail-retry loops.

Three-layer navigation — start from the deepest level you know:

officecli pptx set              # All settable elements and their properties
officecli pptx set shape        # Shape properties in detail
officecli pptx set shape.fill   # Specific property format and examples

Replace pptx with docx or xlsx. Commands: view, get, query, set, add, raw.

Performance: Resident Mode

For multi-step workflows (3+ commands on the same file), use open/close:

officecli open report.docx       # keep in memory — fast subsequent commands
officecli set report.docx ...    # no file I/O overhead
officecli close report.docx      # save and release

Quick Start

PPT:

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
officecli set slides.pptx '/slide[1]' --prop transition=fade --prop advanceTime=3000

Word:

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:

officecli create data.xlsx
officecli set data.xlsx /Sheet1/A1 --prop value="Name" --prop bold=true
officecli set data.xlsx /Sheet1/B1 --prop value="Score" --prop bold=true
officecli set data.xlsx /Sheet1/A2 --prop value="Alice"
officecli set data.xlsx /Sheet1/B2 --prop value=95

L1: Create, Read & Inspect

officecli create <file>               # Create blank .docx/.xlsx/.pptx (type from extension)
officecli view <file> <mode>          # outline | stats | issues | text | annotated
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

get

Any XML path via element localName. Use --depth N to expand children. Add --json for structured output.

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

Run officecli docx get / officecli xlsx get / officecli pptx get for all available paths.

Stable ID Addressing

Elements with stable IDs return @attr=value paths instead of positional indices. These paths survive insert/delete operations — use them for multi-step workflows.

Returned path format (output):

/slide[1]/shape[@id=550950021]                    # PPT shape (cNvPr.Id)
/slide[1]/shape[@id=550950021]/paragraph[1]       # child inherits parent's @id=
/slide[1]/table[@id=1388430425]/tr[1]/tc[2]       # PPT table
/body/p[@paraId=1A2B3C4D]                         # Word paragraph
/comments/comment[@commentId=1]                    # Word comment
/footnote[@footnoteId=2]                           # Word footnote
/endnote[@endnoteId=1]                             # Word endnote
/body/sdt[@sdtId=123456]                           # Word content control

All formats accepted as input — use returned paths directly for subsequent set/remove:

officecli set slides.pptx '/slide[1]/shape[@id=550950021]' --prop bold=true
officecli set slides.pptx '/slide[1]/shape[@name=Title 1]' --prop text="New"   # @name= also works (PPT)
officecli set slides.pptx '/slide[1]/shape[2]' --prop color=red                # positional still works

Elements without stable IDs (slide, paragraph, run, tr/tc, row) use positional indices as fallback.

When to use stable IDs: Prefer @id= / @paraId= paths in multi-step workflows where you add or remove elements between commands — positional indices shift, but stable IDs do not.

query

CSS-like selectors: [attr=value], [attr!=value], [attr~=text], [attr>=value], [attr<=value], :contains("text"), :empty, :has(formula), :no-alt.

officecli query report.docx 'paragraph[style=Normal] > run[font!=Arial]'
officecli query slides.pptx 'shape[fill=FF0000]'

validate

officecli validate report.docx    # Check for schema errors
officecli validate slides.pptx    # Must pass before delivery

For large documents, ALWAYS use --max-lines or --start/--end to limit output.

L2: DOM Operations

set — modify properties

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. To target specific text within a paragraph, use find= (see find section below).

Run officecli <format> set for all settable elements. Run officecli <format> set <element> for detail.

Value formats:

find — format or replace matched text

Use find= with set to target specific text within a paragraph (or broader scope) for formatting or replacement. The matched text is automatically split into its own run(s). Add regex=true for regex matching. Format props are separate --prop flags — do NOT nest them (e.g. --prop bold=true, not --prop format=bold:true).

# Format matched text (auto-splits runs)
officecli set doc.docx '/body/p[1]' --prop find=weather --prop highlight=yellow
officecli set doc.docx '/body/p[1]' --prop find=weather --prop bold=true --prop color=red

# Regex matching
officecli set doc.docx '/body/p[1]' --prop 'find=\d+%' --prop regex=true --prop color=red

# Replace text
officecli set doc.docx / --prop find=draft --prop replace=final

# Replace + format
officecli set doc.docx '/body/p[1]' --prop find=TODO --prop replace=DONE --prop bold=true

# Bulk: color all dates red across all paragraphs
officecli set doc.docx / --prop 'find=\d{4}-\d{2}-\d{2}' --prop regex=true --prop color=red

# Replace in header
officecli set doc.docx '/header[1]' --prop find=Draft --prop replace=Final

PPT find works the same way:

# Format matched text
officecli set slides.pptx '/slide[1]/shape[1]' --prop find=weather --prop bold=true --prop color=red

# Regex
officecli set slides.pptx '/slide[1]/shape[1]' --prop 'find=\d+%' --prop regex=true --prop color=red

# Replace across all slides
officecli set slides.pptx / --prop find=draft --prop replace=final

# Replace + format
officecli set slides.pptx '/slide[1]/shape[1]' --prop find=TODO --prop replace=DONE --prop bold=true

# Replace in table
officecli set slides.pptx '/slide[1]/table[1]' --prop find=old --prop replace=new

Path controls search scope: / = all slides, /slide[N] = single slide, /slide[N]/shape[M] = single shape, /slide[N]/table[M] = table, /slide[N]/notes = notes pane.

Known limitation: Notes pane find+format writes correctly, but get returns plain text only — run-level formatting cannot be verified via CLI.

Behavior matrix:

• Add regex=true to enable regex matching: --prop 'find=\d+%' --prop regex=true
  • Batch JSON: {"props":{"find":"\\d+%","regex":"true","color":"FF0000"}}
• Path controls search scope: / = body only (excludes headers/footers), /header[1] = first header, /footer[1] = first footer, /body/p[1] = specific paragraph, etc.
• If find= matches nothing, the command succeeds with no changes (no error)
• --json output includes a "matched": N field indicating the number of matches found
• Matching is case-sensitive by default. For case-insensitive, use regex: --prop 'find=(?i)error' --prop regex=true
• find: / find= matches work across run boundaries — text split across multiple runs is still found

Excel limitations: Excel only supports find + replace (text replacement). find + format props (formatting matched text without replacing) is not supported in Excel — use Word or PowerPoint for that. In Excel, find without replace is treated as an unsupported property.

add — add elements or clone

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
officecli add <file> <parent> --type <type> --index N [--prop ...]        # insert at position (legacy)
officecli add <file> <parent> --from <path>                               # clone existing element

Insert position (--after, --before, --index are mutually exclusive):

• --after "p[@paraId=1A2B3C4D]" — insert after the anchor element (short or full path)
• --before "/body/p[@paraId=5E6F7A8B]" — insert before the anchor element
• --index N — insert at 0-based position (legacy, prefer --after/--before)
• No position flag — append to end (default)

Element types (with aliases):

Text-anchored insert (--after find:X / --before find:X):

The --after and --before flags accept a find: prefix to locate an insertion point by text match within a paragraph.

# Insert run after matched text (inline, within the same paragraph)
officecli add doc.docx '/body/p[1]' --type run --after find:weather --prop text=" (sunny)"

# Insert table after matched text (block — auto-splits the paragraph)
officecli add doc.docx '/body/p[1]' --type table --after "find:First sentence." --prop rows=2 --prop cols=2

# Insert before matched text
officecli add doc.docx '/body/p[1]' --type run --before find:weather --prop text="["

• Inline types (run, picture, hyperlink...) insert within the paragraph
• Block types (table, paragraph) auto-split the paragraph and insert between the two halves

PPT text-anchored insert (inline only):

officecli add slides.pptx '/slide[1]/shape[1]' --type run --after find:weather --prop text=" (sunny)"
officecli add slides.pptx '/slide[1]/shape[1]' --type run --before find:weather --prop text="["

PPT only supports inline types (run) with find: anchors — block-type insertion is not supported.

Clone: officecli add <file> / --from '/slide[1]' — copies with all cross-part relationships.

Run officecli <format> add for all addable types and their properties.

move, swap, remove

officecli move <file> <path> [--to <parent>] [--index N] [--after <path>] [--before <path>]
officecli swap <file> <path1> <path2>
officecli remove <file> '/body/p[4]'

When using --after or --before, --to can be omitted — the target container is inferred from the anchor path.

batch — multiple operations in one save cycle

Stops on first error by default. Use --force to continue past errors.

# Via stdin
echo '[
  {"command":"set","path":"/Sheet1/A1","props":{"value":"Name","bold":"true"}},
  {"command":"set","path":"/Sheet1/B1","props":{"value":"Score","bold":"true"}}
]' | officecli batch data.xlsx --json

# Via --commands (inline, no stdin needed)
officecli batch data.xlsx --commands '[{"op":"set","path":"/Sheet1/A1","props":{"value":"Done"}}]' --json

# Via --input (file)
officecli batch data.xlsx --input updates.json --force --json

Batch supports: add, set, get, query, remove, move, swap, view, raw, raw-set, validate.

Batch fields: command (or op), path, parent, type, from, to, index, after, before, props (dict), selector, mode, depth, part, xpath, action, xml.

JSON output is wrapped in an envelope: {"results": [...], "summary": {"total", "executed", "succeeded", "failed", "skipped"}}. On error, each failed result includes the original batch item for debugging. Large outputs automatically spill to a temp file.

L3: Raw XML

Use when L2 cannot express what you need. No xmlns declarations needed — prefixes auto-registered.

officecli raw <file> <part>                          # view raw XML
officecli raw-set <file> <part> --xpath "..." --action replace --xml '<w:p>...</w:p>'
officecli add-part <file> <parent>                   # create new document part (returns rId)

raw-set actions: append, prepend, insertbefore, insertafter, replace, remove, setattr.

Run officecli <format> raw for available parts per format.

Common Pitfalls

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Notes

• Paths are 1-based (XPath convention): '/body/p[3]' = third paragraph
• --index is 0-based (array convention): --index 0 = first position
• After modifications, verify with validate and/or view issues
• When unsure, run officecli <format> <command> [element[.property]] instead of guessing