/docx-cli

name: docx-cli
description: "Read, edit, redline, comment on, and create Microsoft Word .docx files. Use to fill out or edit a Word doc, redline a contract with tracked changes, add/resolve comments, replace text keeping its formatting, restyle headings/fonts, edit tables, or read/extract a .docx as Markdown or text. Also BUILD a new .docx — from Markdown or programmatically (code that outputs a Word report with headings, tables, images). Not for PDF, Google Docs, Excel, PowerPoint, or .doc."

docx-cli

`docx` is a command-line tool for reading, editing, redlining, and commenting on Microsoft Word `.docx` files. It edits the underlying OOXML **in place** (it never rebuilds the document from a lossy view), addresses everything with **stable locators**, and signals success through an **exit code** plus a one-line confirmation — so even small, cheap models can drive it reliably.

0. Make sure the binary is on PATH

Run `docx --version`. If you get "command not found", install it. Prefer the npm registry — no shell piping, and the package runs no install scripts:

bun add -g bun-docx      # or: npm install -g bun-docx   (needs Bun >= 1.3)

No Bun? From this skill folder run `bash scripts/bootstrap.sh`: it resolves the latest release, downloads the prebuilt binary **pinned to that release tag**, and **verifies its SHA-256** against the release's published `SHA256SUMS` before installing — it never pipes a remote script into a shell. (By hand: download `docx-<platform>` + `SHA256SUMS` from https://github.com/kklimuk/docx-cli/releases/latest, verify, `chmod +x`, put it on PATH.) Every verb works against the `.docx` zip directly; only `docx render` needs Word (macOS/Windows) or LibreOffice installed.

1. The contract is `--help` / `docx info` — start there

The help text is authoritative and versioned with the binary. This skill is thin on purpose and defers to it. Before doing anything, run (none of these need a FILE):

docx --help              # every command + a one-line capability hint each
docx info locators       # the addressing grammar — READ THIS, it is the backbone
docx info schema         # the JSON-AST shape that "docx read --ast" emits

Then `docx <command> --help` for any verb before you use it.

2. Locators — how you address things

• `pN` paragraph, `tN` table, `sN` section; `p3:5-20` = characters 5..19 of `p3`;

`pN-pM` a block range; `tN:rRcC` a table cell.

• Entities: `cN` comment, `imgN` image, `linkN` hyperlink, `fnN`/`enN`

foot/endnote, `tcN` tracked change, `eqN` equation.

• Get them from `docx read FILE` (locators ride the Markdown as `<!-- pN -->`

comments) or `docx read FILE --ast` (lossless JSON).

• **Ids are positional and SHIFT after structural edits.** Re-read between

mutations — OR apply many changes from ONE read with `--batch` (below).

• Pass a locator with `--at` (edit / delete / comments / footnotes / images /

hyperlinks / tables / track-changes), `--after`/`--before` (insert), or `--from`/`--to` (read a slice).

• Don't hand-count character offsets: `docx find FILE "phrase"` returns the exact

span locator (e.g. `p3:5-20`) to paste into `--at`.

3. Golden workflows

Fill out a form or contract (keeps formatting)

`docx replace` swaps only the text and preserves the run's bold/font and any tab stops — so it fills bold, tabbed template lines without rebuilding runs.

docx read contract.docx                                  # see content + locators
docx replace contract.docx "[Client Name]" "Acme, Inc."  # one field
docx replace contract.docx --batch fills.jsonl           # many fields, one read/write

Redline with tracked changes

docx track-changes contract.docx on       # turn tracking on (doc-level)
docx replace contract.docx "Net 90" "Net 30"   # now auto-emits <w:ins>/<w:del>
docx edit --at p12:0-40 contract.docx --text "…" --track   # or redline one edit
docx track-changes list contract.docx     # the tcN handles
docx read contract.docx --current         # view redlines as CriticMarkup
docx track-changes accept contract.docx --at tc3   # or --all / reject

Comment on clauses

docx comments add contract.docx --anchor "limitation of liability" --text "Cap is too low."
docx comments list contract.docx
docx comments reply contract.docx --at c0 --text "Agreed, raising to \$5M."
docx comments resolve contract.docx --at c0

Read / extract

docx read FILE            # Markdown (default; tracked changes shown accepted-clean)
docx read FILE --ast      # lossless JSON AST
docx wc FILE              # word count (whole doc or a slice)
docx outline FILE         # headings as a locator tree
docx diff FILE --against OLD.docx   # what changed vs another version (snapshot OLD first)

Build from scratch / verify layout

docx create out.docx --from draft.md      # GFM + math + CriticMarkup + inline HTML
docx render FILE --out pages/             # PNG per page — only when LAYOUT is the question

4. Apply many changes from one read — `--batch`

`edit`, `insert`, `replace`, `delete`, and the `comments` verbs take `--batch FILE.jsonl` (one JSON change per line; `-` reads stdin). Every locator in the batch addresses the document **as read**, so ids stay valid across the whole batch — one read, one write, no re-reading between changes. Keys mirror the command's flags. This is the right tool for filling a form or applying a review.

5. Output & safety contract

• **Exit code is the success signal:** `0` ok, `1` error, `2` usage, `3`

not-found. Every command also prints a one-line text confirmation — you never have to re-read just to learn whether a mutation landed.

• Mutators overwrite `FILE` **in place** (git is your history). `-o/--output PATH`

writes a copy instead; `--dry-run` previews without writing.

• A command that mints a new handle (`comments add`→`cN`, `insert`→`pN`,

`footnotes add`→`fnN`, …) prints the bare locator(s), one per line.

• Re-read