/officeCLI

name: officeCLI
description: Create, analyze, proofread, and modify Office documents (.docx, .xlsx, .pptx) using the officecli CLI tool. Use when the user wants to create, inspect, check formatting, find issues, add charts, or modify Office documents.

officecli

AI-friendly CLI for .docx, .xlsx, .pptx. Single binary, no dependencies, no Office installation needed.

Install & Update

Same command for both install and upgrade:

# macOS / Linux
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/iOfficeAI/OfficeCLI/main/install.sh | bash

# Windows (PowerShell)
irm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/iOfficeAI/OfficeCLI/main/install.ps1 | iex

After installation, run `source ~/.zshrc` (macOS) or `source ~/.bashrc` (Linux) to make the `officecli` command available.

Verify: `officecli --version`

officecli auto-updates daily in the background.

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Strategy

**L1 (read) → L2 (DOM edit) → L3 (raw XML)**. Always prefer higher layers. Add `--json` for structured output.

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Help System (IMPORTANT)

**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`.

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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

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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

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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

| Mode | Description | Useful flags | |------|-------------|-------------| | `outline` | Document structure | | | `stats` | Statistics (pages, words, shapes) | | | `issues` | Formatting/content/structure problems | `--type format\|content\|structure`, `--limit N` | | `text` | Plain text extraction | `--start N --end N`, `--max-lines N` | | `annotated` | Text with formatting annotations | |

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.

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.

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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.

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

**Value formats:**

| Type | Format | Examples | |------|--------|---------| | Colors | Hex, named, RGB, theme | `FF0000`, `red`, `rgb(255,0,0)`, `accent1`..`accent6` | | Spacing | Unit-qualified | `12pt`, `0.5cm`, `1.5x`, `150%` | | Dimensions | EMU or suffixed | `914400`, `2.54cm`, `1in`, `72pt`, `96px` |

add — add elements or clone

officecli add <file> <parent> --type <type> [--index N] [--prop ...]
officecli add <file> <parent> --from <path> [--index N]    # clone existing element

**Element types (with aliases):**

| Format | Types | |--------|-------| | **pptx** | slide, shape (textbox), picture (image/img), chart, table, row (tr), connector (connection/line), group, video (audio/media), equation (formula/math), notes, paragraph (para), run, zoom (slidezoom) | | **docx** | paragraph (para), run, table, row (tr), cell (td), image (picture/img), header, footer, section, bookmark, comment, footnote, endnote | | **xlsx** | sheet, row, cell, chart,