Docx Writer

Tone

Friendly but professional. You are explaining something to a colleague over coffee, not presenting at a board meeting. Keep it approachable without being sloppy.

Sentence Structure

• Mix short and longer sentences. Three short sentences in a row feel choppy. Three long ones feel heavy.
• Start paragraphs differently. Do not begin three paragraphs the same way.
• Get to the point in the first sentence of each paragraph. No filler intros.
• Do not restate what was just said in different words.

Uniform Voice

Pick a voice at the start and keep it. If you start conversational, stay conversational. If you start slightly formal, stay slightly formal. Never shift mid-document.

Banned Phrases (Hard Block)

NEVER use any of these. If you catch yourself writing one, delete it and rephrase:

• "In conclusion"
• "It's important to note"
• "It's worth mentioning"
• "In today's world"
• "In today's rapidly evolving"
• "In the realm of"
• "Let's delve into"
• "Furthermore"
• "Moreover"
• "Harnessing the power of"
• "Navigate the complexities"
• "It should be noted that"
• "This is a testament to"
• "In the ever-evolving landscape"
• "A myriad of"
• "Paradigm shift"
• "Synergy"
• "Leverage" (as verb meaning "use")
• "Cutting-edge"
• "Game-changing"
• "Holistic approach"
• "Moving forward"
• "At the end of the day"
• "Best practices" (use "what works well" or "recommended approach")
• "Robust" (use "solid" or "reliable")
• "Seamless" (use "smooth" or "easy")
• "Streamline" (use "simplify" or "speed up")
• "Comprehensive" (use "complete" or "thorough")
• "TL;DR"
• "TLDR"

Paragraph Rules

• No paragraph should open with a dependent clause longer than 8 words
• No paragraph should be longer than 5 sentences
• Avoid back-to-back paragraphs that start with the same word
• Do not end a section by summarizing what you just said

Document Formatting Rules

The Core Rule

The document must look like someone typed it in Word with default settings and basic formatting. Nothing fancy. Nothing decorated.

Font

• Body text: Arial 11pt, black (RGBColor(0, 0, 0))
• Heading 1: Arial 16pt, bold, black
• Heading 2: Arial 13pt, bold, black
• Heading 3: Arial 11pt, bold italic, black
• Fallback: If Arial is unavailable, use Arial
• Max font families in one document: 1 (one). Do not mix fonts.

Spacing

• Line spacing: 1.15 for body paragraphs
• Space after paragraphs: 6pt (Pt(6))
• Space before headings: 12pt (Pt(12))
• Space after headings: 4pt (Pt(4))

Page Setup

• Margins: 1 inch on all sides (Inches(1))
• Orientation: Portrait (unless tables require landscape — ask user first)

Colors

• Text: Black only. No exceptions.
• Backgrounds: White only. No exceptions.
• Borders: Black only. No exceptions.
• Highlights: None. Do not use text highlighting.

Tables

Tables are the biggest source of "template-looking" output. Follow these rules exactly:

1. No cell shading — every cell background is white/none
2. No colored header rows — header text is simply bold, same white background as data rows
3. Border style: Single thin line, black, 0.5pt width on all cells
4. Cell padding: Dynamic based on content
   • Short content (1-3 words per cell): Pt(3) top/bottom, Pt(4) left/right
   • Medium content (4-10 words): Pt(4) top/bottom, Pt(6) left/right
   • Long content (11+ words or multi-line): Pt(6) top/bottom, Pt(8) left/right
5. Column widths: Calculate proportionally based on content length, not equal-width
6. Font in tables: Same as body (Arial 11pt) or 10pt if table is wide
7. Alignment: Left-align text columns, right-align number columns, center-align short label columns
8. No alternating row colors — every row is white

Lists

• Use actual Word bullet/number formatting via python-docx
• Do not fake bullets with dashes or asterisks
• Indent nested lists properly (0.5 inch per level)

Headers & Footers

• Default: None. Do not add headers or footers unless the user specifically asks.
• If requested: plain text only, Arial 9pt, black. No lines, no borders, no color bars.

Cover Pages

• Default: None. Start directly with the document title as Heading 1.
• If requested: title + subtitle + date only. Plain text, centered. No colored blocks, no images, no decorative elements.

Python Generation Rules

ALWAYS use the helper functions from references/python-template.md

Never call these python-docx methods directly:

• doc.add_heading() — use add_heading_styled(doc, text, level) instead
• doc.add_table() — use add_clean_table(doc, headers, rows) instead

ALWAYS call set_document_defaults(doc) before adding any content

Script Structure

Every generated Python script must follow this order:

# 1. Imports
from docx import Document
from docx.shared import Inches, Pt, RGBColor
# ... other imports from template

# 2. Paste helper functions from references/python-template.md

# 3. Create document and set defaults
doc = Document()
set_document_defaults(doc)

# 4. Add content using helper functions
add_heading_styled(doc, "Document Title", level=1)
# ... paragraphs, tables, lists

# 5. Save
doc.save("output.docx")
print("Document saved: output.docx")

Script Size Management

• For documents with many sections, define content as data structures (lists, dicts) and loop through them
• Do not write 500 lines of repetitive doc.add_paragraph() calls
• Group related content into functions if the script exceeds 100 lines

Self-Check Before Saving

Before executing the Python script, verify:

• No banned phrases in the content
• set_document_defaults() is called
• All headings use add_heading_styled(), not doc.add_heading()
• All tables use add_clean_table(), not doc.add_table()
• No RGBColor values other than RGBColor(0, 0, 0) appear in the script
• No WD_COLOR or shading XML elements appear in the script
• No Tblook or table style names like 'Table Grid', 'Light Shading', etc.
• Font is only Arial (or Arial as fallback)
• Content reads naturally — no AI-sounding transitions

References

• references/python-template.md — Python helper functions (MUST use these)
• references/style-guide.md — Good vs bad writing examples
• references/anti-patterns.md — Formatting mistakes to avoid