OfficeCLI DOCX Skill#

Setup#

If officecli is missing:

• macOS / Linux: curl -fsSL https://d.officecli.ai/install.sh | bash
• Windows (PowerShell): irm https://d.officecli.ai/install.ps1 | iex

Verify with officecli --version (open a new terminal if PATH hasn't picked up). If install fails, download a binary from https://github.com/iOfficeAI/OfficeCLI/releases.

⚠️ Help-First Rule#

This skill teaches what good docx looks like, not every command flag. When a property name, enum value, or alias is uncertain, consult help BEFORE guessing.

bash

officecli help docx                         # List all docx elements
officecli help docx <element>               # Full element schema (e.g. paragraph, field, numbering, watermark, toc)
officecli help docx <verb> <element>        # Verb-scoped (e.g. add field, set section)
officecli help docx <element> --json        # Machine-readable schema

Help is pinned to the installed CLI version. When this skill and help disagree, help is authoritative.

Mental Model#

A .docx is a ZIP of XML parts ( document.xml, styles.xml, numbering.xml, header*.xml, footer*.xml, comments.xml, …). Everything the user sees — headings, tables, page numbers, TOC, tracked changes — is XML inside that ZIP. officecli gives you a semantic-path API ( /body/p[1]/r[2]) over it, so you almost never touch raw XML; when you must, use raw-set (see the XML appendix).

Shell & Execution Discipline#

docx paths contain []; some prop values contain $. Both are shell metacharacters. Escaping happens at three layers — keep them separate.

1. Shell. ALWAYS quote element paths: "/body/p[1]", not /body/p[1] (zsh/bash glob [N]). Single-quote any value containing $: --prop text='$50M' — at any length, the whole value inside one pair of single quotes. Unquoted $50M is stripped to M; mixing '…$var…' and "…$50…" on one long string is where the $50 silently vanishes.
2. CLI ( text=). The two-char escapes \n and \t ARE interpreted in --prop text= — \n becomes a <w:br/> soft line break, \t a <w:tab/> — consistently across docx / pptx / xlsx. Double them ( \\n) for a literal backslash-n (rarely wanted). This applies to row-level table c1…cN shortcuts too ( \n → <w:br/> within the cell).
3. JSON (batch). A real newline can also be passed as "\n" in the JSON string of a batch heredoc; same result.

If in doubt, view text after writing and compare character-for-character.

Incremental execution. officecli mutates the file on every call. Run commands one at a time and check each exit code — a 50-command script that fails at command 3 cascades silently. After any structural op (new style, table, TOC, section break) run get on it before stacking more.

Open/save lifecycle: officecli open <file> at the start, officecli save <file> at the end to flush to disk — save only writes and leaves the resident warm for follow-up edits; reach for officecli close <file> only to release the resident on a one-shot handoff. Both are always safe (never error or lose work). For many paragraphs of one style, use batch (one pass for the whole array). Flush only at the non-officecli boundary: officecli's own reads always see your edits; run save/ close only before a non-officecli program reads the file (python-docx, Word, a renderer, delivery).

$FILE convention. All commands use "$FILE" — set it once ( FILE="your-doc.docx"). Never copy a literal doc.docx / review.docx into output — always substitute your actual target.

Requirements for Outputs#

Deliverable standards every document MUST meet — know these before reaching for a command.

Clear hierarchy. Every non-trivial document has Title → Heading 1 → Heading 2 → body, not a wall of unstyled Normal paragraphs. If view outline shows one flat list, the hierarchy is missing.

Explicit heading sizes (Word default style sizes drift between templates): H1 ≥ 18pt (20pt for long reports), H2 = 14pt bold, H3 = 12pt bold, body = 11–12pt, line spacing 1.15–1.5x. Prefer style=Heading1 over inline sizes so a retheme touches the definition once — but set explicit sizes when you can't trust the template's styles.

One body font, one accent. One readable body font (Calibri, Cambria, Georgia, Times New Roman); accent color for heading emphasis or table headers, not rainbow formatting.

Spacing through properties. Use spaceBefore / spaceAfter on paragraphs. Rows of empty paragraphs break pagination and are flagged by view issues.

Typographic quality. New content uses curly quotes ( ' ' " "), not ASCII — Unicode directly or XML entities ( ‘/ ’/ “/ ”) inside raw-set. En-dash – for ranges ( 2024–2026), em-dash — for parenthetical breaks.

Headers, footers, page numbers on any document > 1 page. Page numbers go through a live PAGE field ( --prop field=page), never the literal text "Page 1" — the CLI injects <w:fldChar> for you (see Headers & Footers).

Preserve existing templates. When editing a file that already has a look, match it — existing conventions override these guidelines.

Visual delivery floor (applies to EVERY document)#

Before declaring done, run officecli view "$FILE" html and Read the returned HTML path to confirm ALL of these:

• No placeholder tokens rendered as data. $xxx$, {var}, {{name}}, <TODO>, lorem, xxxx must never appear in a heading, body, cover, TOC, caption, header, or footer. A literal {name} meant for a human to fill belongs inside a visible instruction paragraph ("Replace {name} before sending"), never as finished content.
• No truncated titles or overflowing cells. Widen the column or set wrapText rather than trimming content.
• TOC present when the document has 3+ headings ( --type toc).
• Cover page ≥ 60% filled, last page ≥ 40% filled. Pad a thin cover with subtitle / author / date / scope / key highlights; pad a "Thank you" last page with conclusion / next steps / contact / legal.
• No \$, \t, \n literals in document text. If view text shows these, a shell-escape layer leaked — delete the paragraph and re-enter it.

If any fails, STOP and fix before declaring done.

Common Workflow#

Six steps. Every non-trivial build follows this shape.

1. Open the file. officecli open "$FILE" (resident default). New file: officecli create "$FILE" first.
2. Orient. Existing file: officecli view "$FILE" outline — heading tree, section count, whether a TOC / watermark / tracked changes already exist. Never edit blind.
3. Build incrementally. Structural first, content next, formatting last: styles & numbering defs → sections / page setup → headings & body → tables / images / fields / TOC → headers / footers → comments. After each structural op, get it back before stacking on top.
4. Format to spec. Explicit heading sizes, spacing, widths, alignment, tabs, list indents — formatting is part of the deliverable, not optional polish.
5. Save, then trust structure over cached text. officecli save "$FILE" writes the XML. TOC / PAGE / NUMPAGES / SEQ / PAGEREF fields carry cached values that may be stale or empty until a human recalculates (F9 in Word). Confirm fields exist ( get --depth 3 finds <w:fldChar>) rather than trusting the visible text.
6. QA — assume there are problems. You are done after one fix-and-verify cycle finds zero new issues, not when your last command exited 0. See QA.

Quick Start#

Minimal viable docx: a heading, a body paragraph, a subheading, and a footer with a live page-number field. Adapt, don't copy-paste — your file, your content.

bash

FILE="review.docx"
officecli create "$FILE"
officecli open "$FILE"
officecli add "$FILE" /body --type paragraph --prop text="Q4 2026 Review" --prop style=Heading1 --prop size=20pt --prop bold=true --prop spaceAfter=12pt
officecli add "$FILE" /body --type paragraph --prop text="Revenue grew 18% year-over-year, ahead of plan." --prop size=11pt --prop spaceAfter=8pt
officecli add "$FILE" /body --type paragraph --prop text="Key Drivers" --prop style=Heading2 --prop size=14pt --prop bold=true --prop spaceBefore=12pt --prop spaceAfter=6pt
officecli add "$FILE" /body --type paragraph --prop text="Enterprise renewals, upsell, and a new EMEA region." --prop size=11pt
officecli add "$FILE" / --type footer --prop type=default --prop size=9pt --prop text="Page " --prop field=page
officecli set "$FILE" "/footer[1]/p[1]" --prop align=center
officecli save "$FILE"
officecli validate "$FILE"

Verified: validate returns no errors found; get /footer[1] --depth 3 shows the 5-run PAGE field chain (begin / instrText / separate / cached value / end).

Reading & Analysis#

Start wide, then narrow. outline tells you what's already there; jump into view text / get / query once you know where to look.

bash

officecli view "$FILE" outline            # heading tree, section count, table/image counts, watermark, tracked-changes presence — orient here first
officecli view "$FILE" html               # Read the returned HTML path: first visual check after a batch of edits (hierarchy, empty-para spacing, missing TOC)
officecli view "$FILE" text --start 1 --end 80   # text for content QA; paths shown as [/body/p[N]] so you can jump back with get
officecli view "$FILE" annotated          # values + style/font/size + warnings per run
officecli view "$FILE" stats              # paragraph counts, font usage, style distribution
officecli view "$FILE" issues             # empty paras, missing alt text, spacing anomalies

officecli watch "$FILE" keeps a live preview running for the human user to open at their discretion — agent self-check uses view html. Final visual verification is the user opening the .docx in Word / WPS / Pages.

Inspect one element. XPath-style semantic paths (1-based). Always quote — shells glob [N]. Use [last()] (with parens) for the last element; [last] errors. Add --json for machine output.

bash

officecli get "$FILE" /                          # document root: metadata, page setup
officecli get "$FILE" "/body/p[1]"                # one paragraph
officecli get "$FILE" "/body/p[1]/r[1]"           # one run (character-level formatting)
officecli get "$FILE" "/body/tbl[1]" --depth 3    # table with rows and cells
officecli get "$FILE" "/footer[1]" --depth 3      # footer — check for fldChar
officecli get "$FILE" "/styles/Heading1"          # style definition
officecli get "$FILE" /numbering --depth 2        # numbering abstractNum + num bindings

Query across the document. CSS-like selectors, for systematic checks rather than hand-walking. Operators: =, !=, ~= (contains), >=, <=, [attr] (exists). Full reference: officecli query --help.

bash

officecli query "$FILE" 'paragraph[style=Heading1]'       # all H1s
officecli query "$FILE" 'p:contains("quarterly")'         # text match
officecli query "$FILE" 'p:empty'                         # empty paragraphs (clutter)
officecli query "$FILE" 'image:no-alt'                    # accessibility gaps
officecli query "$FILE" 'paragraph[size>=24pt]'           # numeric comparison
officecli query "$FILE" 'field[fieldType!=page]'          # fields other than PAGE

query --json wraps results in .data.results[] — jq '.data.results | length' to count.

Large documents. Navigate by heading with view outline and jump with query; don't dump the whole body into context.

Creating & Editing#

Verbs: add (new element), set (change a prop), remove, move, swap, batch, raw-set (last-resort XML). Ninety percent of a build is paragraphs, runs, tables, a couple of images, a TOC, and a footer.

Paragraphs, runs, styles#

A paragraph ( p) is a block; a run ( r) is a span of consistent character formatting inside it. Set paragraph-level props (style, alignment, spacing, indent) on the p; set font / size / color / bold on the r.

bash

officecli add "$FILE" /body --type paragraph --prop text="Executive Summary" --prop style=Heading1 --prop size=18pt --prop bold=true --prop spaceAfter=12pt
officecli set "$FILE" "/body/p[1]/r[1]" --prop color=1F4E79

Use spaceBefore / spaceAfter for vertical spacing — never chains of empty paragraphs. For left indent use --prop indent=720 (twips), firstLineIndent=360 for first line, hangingIndent=720 for hanging; leading spaces fire view issues.

Tables#

Tables are /body/tbl[N] with rows tr[N] and cells tc[N]. Add with row/column counts, then fill.

bash

officecli add "$FILE" /body --type table --prop rows=4 --prop cols=3 --prop width=100%
officecli set "$FILE" "/body/tbl[1]/tr[1]" --prop header=true --prop c1=Quarter --prop c2="Revenue" --prop c3="Growth"
officecli set "$FILE" "/body/tbl[1]/tr[1]/tc[1]/p[1]/r[1]" --prop bold=true

Row-level set supports height, header, and c1 / c2 / … / cN text shortcuts ( cN generalises to any column count). Cell formatting (bold, fill, color) goes on the cell's paragraph / run — not row-level. For per-cell borders, set cell-level border.* on the tc ( --prop border.bottom="single;6;000000;0"), or paragraph-level pbdr.* on the inner paragraph.

Horizontal rule = a paragraph bottom border, never a 1-row table. A table-as-divider renders as an empty min-height box (worst in headers/footers). Use pbdr.bottom ( STYLE;SIZE;COLOR) on the paragraph instead:

bash

officecli set "$FILE" "/body/p[3]" --prop pbdr.bottom="single;6;2E75B6"

Lists (bullets, numbered, multi-level)#

For single-level bullets/numbers, set listStyle on the paragraph ( listStyle is a paragraph prop, NOT a run prop — common mistake):

bash

officecli add "$FILE" /body --type paragraph --prop text="First item" --prop listStyle=bullet

For multi-level (legal-style 1 / 1.1 / 1.1.1), add an abstractNum, then a num, then reference the numId per paragraph:

bash

officecli add "$FILE" /numbering --type abstractnum --prop format=decimal     # → abstractNum id=0
officecli add "$FILE" /numbering --type num --prop abstractNumId=0             # → num id=1
officecli add "$FILE" /body --type paragraph --prop text="Section one" --prop numId=1 --prop ilvl=0

IDs are 0-based: the first abstractNum is id=0; the num references it via abstractNumId=0 and is itself assigned id=1. A non-existent abstractNumId errors, so check ids after creating. Verify with officecli query "$FILE" 'paragraph[numId>0]'. See help docx abstractnum / help docx num for level and format options.

Tab stops (signature lines, leader rows)#

Tab stops are a first-class tab child of the paragraph; pos accepts 6in/ 6cm/twips, val ∈ left/ center/ right, leader ∈ none/ dot/ hyphen/ underscore. See help docx tab.

bash

officecli add "$FILE" "/body/p[1]" --type tab --prop pos=6in --prop val=right --prop leader=dot

Leader caveat. leader=dot alone emits no dots — the leader renders only when a real <w:tab/> character sits in a run between the text and the tab stop. Put one there with \t in the text: define the stop ( add tab --prop pos=6in --prop val=right --prop leader=dot), then --prop text="Chapter 1\t12" — the \t becomes the <w:tab/> and dots fill to the right-aligned page number. (Literal text="Chapter 1 ......... 12" also ships, but a real tab stop aligns cleanly.)

Fields (PAGE / NUMPAGES / DATE / MERGEFIELD / REF)#

Fields are live values computed at render time. fieldType picks the field; name supplies the target (merge name or ref bookmark); format / instr add switches.

FieldUseExamplepagecurrent page number--prop field=page on footer, or --prop fieldType=page inlinenumpagestotal pages--prop field=numpages / --prop fieldType=numpages``datetoday--prop fieldType=date --prop format='yyyy-MM-dd'``mergefieldtemplate merge token--prop fieldType=mergefield --prop name=CustomerName``refcross-reference to a bookmark--prop fieldType=ref --prop name=bookmarkName

Full fieldType enum (30+ values incl. pageref, seq, styleref, docproperty, createdate, …) is in help docx field. There is NO fieldInstr fieldType — use the instruction prop for raw field instruction text when typed shortcuts fall short. Picture switches ( MERGEFIELD Amount \# "#,##0.00", DATE \@ "yyyy年MM月") go via --prop instruction='…' (mergefield's format prop is ignored with a warning — use instruction).

bash

officecli add "$FILE" "/body/p[3]" --type field --prop fieldType=mergefield --prop name=customer_name
# Renders «customer_name» — visible placeholder, replaced in Word at mail-merge time.

MERGEFIELD templates: never render placeholder literals. A {{customer_name}} or $NAME$ shown as body text is a failed template the recipient sees — insert a real MERGEFIELD (above), or confine literal tokens to an obvious instruction paragraph. Confirm with query 'field[fieldType=mergefield]'.

SEQ / PAGEREF / TOC field values. officecli doesn't store rendered field values at write time. Recompute by what each path needs:

• SEQ numbering ( Figure 1/2/3): officecli set "$FILE" / --prop recalcFields=seq counts SEQ fields in body document order and writes the cached values ( evaluated flips true; switches/formats in help docx document). Heading-relative \s and SEQ in headers/footers defer to Word.
• PAGE / PAGEREF / NUMPAGES / TOC page numbers need pagination, which officecli has no engine for — officecli set "$FILE" /settings --prop updateFields=true defers them to Word on open.

Use both on a multi-figure document. Academic papers: see the officecli-academic-paper skill.

Headers & Footers (page numbering)#

Single-command pattern — the CLI injects <w:fldChar>, so you never compose the field by hand:

bash

# Empty first-page footer — auto-enables differentFirstPage so the cover has no page number
officecli add "$FILE" / --type footer --prop type=first --prop text=""
# Default footer with live page number
officecli add "$FILE" / --type footer --prop type=default --prop align=center --prop size=9pt --prop text="Page " --prop field=page

When both exist, the default footer is /footer[2]; alone it is /footer[1]. Verify: get --depth 3 must show fldChar children, not just a run with literal "Page" ( view outline prints "Footer: Page" for both live fields AND static text — don't rely on it). Do NOT set --prop differentFirstPage=true — that prop is unsupported (rejected with exit 2, not silently); adding a first-type footer flips the bit. For composite Page X of Y, see recipe (b).

Table of Contents#

For any document with 3+ headings:

bash

officecli add "$FILE" /body --type toc --prop levels="1-3" --prop title="Table of Contents" --prop hyperlinks=true --index 0

Page numbers render automatically ( --prop pageNumbers=true toggles them explicitly). Address the TOC directly: /toc[1] or /tableofcontents resolve to the first TOC field for get/ set/ remove without hand-walking XPath.

TOC delivery step (mandatory before handoff). The live TOC field is a placeholder until recalculated. Some viewers populate it on first open; others show the literal Update field to see table of contents until the reader recalculates. Pick by recipient:

• Will recalculate (or press F9): run officecli set "$FILE" /settings --prop updateFields=true so Word recomputes the TOC (and all fields) on open, and/or add a visible "Press F9 to refresh the TOC and page numbers" instruction. Done.
• Cannot / will not recalculate: use the static TOC fallback — recipe (f) (the live field renders a placeholder until recalculated; no headless pipeline can pre-populate it).

Ship-check: officecli query "$FILE" 'p:contains("Update field to see")' must return empty whenever the reader won't recalculate. A match means switch to recipe (f).

Images#

Pictures go inside a run. Alt text is mandatory for accessibility — pass alt directly at create time:

bash

officecli add "$FILE" "/body/p[5]" --type picture --prop src=logo.png --prop width=1.5in --prop alt="Acme logo"

Confirm officecli query "$FILE" 'image:no-alt' is empty before delivery.

Charts#

For data, add a native chart — editable, themeable, accessible, re-renders in Word — never a flat PNG screenshot of a chart. data="Label:v1,v2,…" per series; one data= per series (or series1=/ series2=).

bash

officecli add "$FILE" /body --type chart --prop chartType=bar --prop title="Revenue by Region" --prop categories="EMEA,APAC,Americas" --prop data="2026:120,150,180"

chartType ∈ bar / column / line / pie / area / scatter ( help docx chart for axis/legend/series styling). A PNG via --type picture is only a fallback for an exotic chart officecli can't build.

Hyperlinks and bookmarks#

External links go via hyperlink:

bash

officecli add "$FILE" "/body/p[2]" --type hyperlink --prop url="https://example.com" --prop text="our site"

Internal links (to a bookmark) use --prop anchor=bookmarkName — not a #fragment in url:

bash

officecli add "$FILE" "/body/p[2]" --type hyperlink --prop anchor=chapter1 --prop text="See Chapter 1"

Pairing a PAGEREF field with visible text is the alternative. See help docx hyperlink / help docx bookmark.

Sections and page setup#

Document root / carries page setup ( pageWidth, pageHeight, margins, in twips). Multi-section documents (landscape insert, columns) add a section break — see help docx section. Both camelCase ( pageWidth, canonical) and lowercase alias ( pagewidth) are accepted; prefer camelCase.

bash

officecli set "$FILE" / --prop pageWidth=12240 --prop pageHeight=15840 --prop marginTop=1440 --prop marginLeft=1440
# Newspaper-style multi-column flow (columnSpace in twips; 720 = 0.5in):
officecli set "$FILE" / --prop columns=2 --prop columnSpace=720

Forcing page breaks — belt-and-suspenders#

Two mechanisms exist; neither alone is reliable across every viewer. Depending on viewer and preceding content, <w:pageBreakBefore/> may be ignored OR <w:br w:type="page"/> rendered as a soft break — opposite failures. Apply BOTH on every H1 you want on a fresh page, the TOC heading, and the cover-closing paragraph:

bash

officecli add "$FILE" /body --type pagebreak --index <N>          # 1. pagebreak element BEFORE the heading
officecli set "$FILE" "/body/p[<N+1>]" --prop pageBreakBefore=true # 2. on the heading itself

--prop break=newPage is a shorter alias for pageBreakBefore=true (accepts newPage|page|nextPage|pageBreak). Same XML, same belt-and-suspenders rule. Preview with view html and count pages.

Report-level recipes#

Patterns that come up on every long-form report. Each has been executed and validate-passed.

(a) Rich cover page — hit the ≥ 60% filled floor. Stack a confidentiality banner, title, subtitle, client/project/date block, and a key-themes strip, then force the next section onto a new page:

bash

officecli add "$FILE" /body --type paragraph --prop text="CONFIDENTIAL — CLIENT USE ONLY" --prop align=center --prop size=9pt --prop color=C00000 --prop spaceAfter=24pt
officecli add "$FILE" /body --type paragraph --prop text="Strategic Growth Review" --prop style=Title --prop size=32pt --prop bold=true --prop align=center --prop font=Cambria --prop spaceAfter=8pt
officecli add "$FILE" /body --type paragraph --prop text="FY26 Outlook and Scenario Planning" --prop italic=true --prop size=16pt --prop align=center --prop spaceAfter=36pt
officecli add "$FILE" /body --type paragraph --prop text='Prepared for: Acme Corp. Leadership Team' --prop align=center --prop size=11pt
officecli add "$FILE" /body --type paragraph --prop text='Engagement: 2026-04 — 2026-06' --prop align=center --prop size=11pt --prop spaceAfter=36pt
officecli add "$FILE" /body --type paragraph --prop text="Key themes: 1) margin resilience, 2) EMEA expansion, 3) capital allocation." --prop align=center --prop italic=true --prop size=10pt
officecli add "$FILE" /body --type pagebreak
officecli set "$FILE" "/body/p[last()]" --prop pageBreakBefore=true

(b) Page X of Y footer — composite PAGE + NUMPAGES. Add the footer paragraph, then three child ops build Page <X> of <Y> live. The official help docx footer recipe.

bash

officecli add "$FILE" / --type footer --prop type=default --prop text="Page " --prop align=center --prop size=9pt
officecli add "$FILE" "/footer[1]/p[1]" --type field --prop fieldType=page
officecli add "$FILE" "/footer[1]/p[1]" --type run --prop text=" of "
officecli add "$FILE" "/footer[1]/p[1]" --type field --prop fieldType=numpages
officecli get "$FILE" "/footer[1]/p[1]" --depth 1 | grep -o fldChar | wc -l   # expect ≥ 4; use grep -o ... | wc -l, NOT grep -c (single-line XML returns 1)

(c) Header row with fill and white bold text. Order matters — populate header cell text FIRST (runs don't exist in empty cells; a set …/tc[N]/p[1]/r[1] on an empty cell errors "No r found"), THEN cell fill, THEN run formatting:

bash

officecli add "$FILE" /body --type table --prop rows=5 --prop cols=4 --prop width=100%
officecli set "$FILE" "/body/tbl[1]/tr[1]" --prop header=true --prop c1=Quarter --prop c2=Revenue --prop c3=Growth --prop c4=Status
for col in 1 2 3 4; do
  officecli set "$FILE" "/body/tbl[1]/tr[1]/tc[$col]" --prop fill=1F4E79
  officecli set "$FILE" "/body/tbl[1]/tr[1]/tc[$col]/p[1]/r[1]" --prop bold=true --prop color=FFFFFF
done
for row in 3 5; do for col in 1 2 3 4; do
  officecli set "$FILE" "/body/tbl[1]/tr[$row]/tc[$col]" --prop fill=D9E2F3      # zebra stripe
done; done

(d) Financial table — right-align numbers, bold totals, bottom border on total row.

bash

for row in 2 3 4 5; do for col in 2 3 4; do
  officecli set "$FILE" "/body/tbl[1]/tr[$row]/tc[$col]/p[1]" --prop align=right
done; done
for col in 1 2 3 4; do
  officecli set "$FILE" "/body/tbl[1]/tr[5]/tc[$col]/p[1]/r[1]" --prop bold=true
  officecli set "$FILE" "/body/tbl[1]/tr[4]/tc[$col]/p[1]" --prop pbdr.bottom="single;6;000000;0"
done

(e) Cell with multiple bullets (SWOT / risk matrix). c1="a\nb" gives a <w:br/> line break within one paragraph — fine for plain multi-line text, but bullets need separate paragraphs. Seed the first via set c1=, then add paragraph (with listStyle=bullet) under the cell per subsequent bullet:

bash

officecli set "$FILE" "/body/tbl[1]/tr[1]" --prop c1="Installed base of 18k enterprise seats"
officecli add "$FILE" "/body/tbl[1]/tr[1]/tc[1]" --type paragraph --prop text="Margin structure above peer median" --prop listStyle=bullet
officecli set "$FILE" "/body/tbl[1]/tr[1]/tc[1]/p[1]" --prop listStyle=bullet

If the seeded line lands at the bottom, re-order: officecli move "$FILE" "/body/tbl[1]/tr[1]/tc[1]/p[N]" --index 0.

(f) Static TOC fallback (cross-viewer reliability). When delivering to viewers that don't auto-recalculate, the live TOC field renders the literal Update field to see table of contents. No CLI-only pipeline can pre-populate a TOC field the way Word does on save. Workaround: remove the TOC field, keep a visible heading, hand-write one dot-leader line per heading.

bash

officecli query "$FILE" 'p:contains("Update field to see")'        # note the /body/p[N] paths, then:
officecli remove "$FILE" "/body/p[N]"                              # repeat per hit
officecli add "$FILE" /body --type paragraph --prop text="Contents" --prop style=TOCHeading --prop size=14pt --prop bold=true --index <pos>
officecli add "$FILE" /body --type paragraph --prop text="1. Executive Summary ......................................... 3" --prop size=11pt --index <pos+1>
# … one per heading. Page numbers manual; eyeball positions via view html. Live --type toc remains correct for recipients who recalculate.

Template delivery — separating Template Notes from end-user content#

HR / legal / vendor templates carry internal-only guidance ("replace {{CompanyName}}") that must NOT ship. Two working patterns:

• Trailing "Template Notes" section under a clear Heading 1 ("Template Notes for HR Users") with all instructions below it; before distribution, remove from the heading downward (locate with query 'paragraph[style=Heading1]:contains("Template Notes")').
• Bookmark-bounded internal section between __template_notes_start / _end bookmarks; at delivery raw-set removes everything between the anchors.

Delivery gate for templates: after removal, query 'p:contains("Template Notes")' AND query 'p:contains("{{")' both return empty. If a notes paragraph survives, a downstream employee reads internal language.

Advanced / specialty topics (skip if you are writing a report)#

Reports, memos, letters, proposals, and HR templates don't need this. Keep reading only if your document is academic (equations, footnotes, bibliography), reviewed (comments, tracked changes), or marked (watermark).

Equations and footnotes. --type equation takes LaTeX — \frac, \sum, Greek, \mathit, \mathcal all render. By default it creates a standalone /body/oMathPara[N] display block; pass --prop mode=inline with a paragraph parent path ( add "/body/p[N]" --type equation --prop formula=… --prop mode=inline) to drop an inline <m:oMath> into running text. Footnotes auto-number by paragraph index. Bibliography hanging indent: firstLineIndent=-720 indent=720 per entry.

bash

officecli add "$FILE" /body --type equation --prop formula="\\frac{a}{b} + \\sum_{i=1}^{n} x_i"
officecli add "$FILE" "/body/p[3]" --type footnote --prop text="See Appendix A for methodology."

Comments and tracked changes. Bulk accept/reject: set "$FILE" /revision --prop revision.action=accept (or --prop revision.action=reject); narrow with a selector like /revision[@author=Alice] or /revision[@type=ins]. Locate individual changes with query ins and query del ( trackedchange is not a selector). Create tracked changes on a run with --prop revision.type=ins|del --prop revision.author=… ( help docx run for the full revision.* set — format/ moveFrom/ moveTo too). Add a comment: add "/body/p[4]" --type comment --prop author=… --prop text=…; reply-thread it with --prop parentId=N and mark it resolved with set "/comments/comment[N]" --prop done=true (resolve rather than delete to keep the audit trail — query 'comment[done=false]' then lists what's still open). Prop schema: help docx comment / help docx run.

Watermark. add / --type watermark --prop text="DRAFT" --prop color=BFBFBF --prop opacity=0.8 in one command (default opacity 0.5); set /watermark --prop opacity=… adjusts it later.

When to switch skills. Stay in docx for chapter drafts, ≤ 3 footnotes, ≤ 2 equations, no bibliography/cross-refs. Switch to academic-paper for citation styles (APA / Chicago / IEEE / GB 7714), in-text↔reference auto-linking, numbered equations with \ref, "List of Figures", or auto-updating cross-refs. Switch to officecli-word-form when the document's purpose is data capture — fillable forms, contracts with user-fill slots, questionnaires, mail-merge templates ( <w:sdt> content controls, <w:ffData>, documentProtection=forms).

Raw-set escape hatch (L1 / L2 / L3)#

Three tiers of precision; use the lowest that does the job.

• L1 — high-level props ( --prop text=…, --prop style=Heading1): your default. Covers 80%.
• L2 — dotted-attr fallback ( pbdr.top=, ind.left=, shd.fill=, padding.top=, font.size=): when L1 lacks the knob. Example: --prop pbdr.bottom="single;6;1F4E79;0". Emits schema-valid XML.
• L3 — raw-set with XML: last resort, no schema protection. Use for internal hyperlinks, composite fields, and other shapes the typed verbs can't express (see XML appendix).

Borders use the format style;size;color;space: single;4;FF0000;1. Hex colors never start with #: FF0000. Scheme color names ( accent1..6, dark1/ dark2, light1/ light2, hyperlink) are accepted anywhere a hex color is — prefer hex for stable colors across themes.

QA (Required)#

Assume there are problems — QA is a bug hunt, not a confirmation step. Your first document is almost never correct; zero issues on first inspection means you weren't looking hard enough. Headings look fine until view outline shows an H3 directly under an H1; the footer shows "Page 1" until get --depth 3 reveals a static run, not a field.

Minimum cycle before "done"#

1. officecli view "$FILE" issues — empty paras, missing alt text, formatting anomalies.
2. officecli view "$FILE" outline — heading hierarchy (no H1 → H3 skips), TOC presence, section count.
3. officecli view "$FILE" text --max-lines 400 — typos, stray \$/ \t/ \n literals, placeholder tokens.
4. officecli validate "$FILE" — schema check (the Delivery Gate re-runs this on the closed, on-disk file).
5. Visual pass — whole document as a contact sheet (vision-capable agents only — if you cannot interpret images, skip this step: steps 1–4 are your ceiling, and flag the document "not visually verified" at handoff). officecli view "$FILE" screenshot --grid auto -o /tmp/sheet.png, then Read it. --grid auto tiles every page into one image (auto column count; --grid 4 to force) — you see pagination, blank pages, heading rhythm, lopsided margins, and TOC/cover placement, not just the DOM. Windows+Word renders each page through real Word; elsewhere HTML. If the screenshot fails, fall back to view html and flag cross-page breaks / alignment / rhythm as "not visually verified". Thumbnails only locate: confirm any fine call (column alignment, line spacing, indents, dark-on-dark, caption placement) on the suspect page at full resolution with screenshot --page N (no --grid; real Word on Windows). "validate pass" is not delivery; "looks like a real document" is.
6. If anything failed, fix, then rerun the full cycle — one fix commonly creates another problem.

Delivery Gate (run before handing off — any failure = REJECT, do NOT deliver)#

Copy-paste, set FILE, and refuse to declare done until every gate prints OK.

bash

FILE="your-file.docx"

# Gate 1 — schema.
officecli close "$FILE" 2>/dev/null
officecli validate "$FILE" | grep -q "no errors found" || { echo "REJECT Gate 1: validate failed"; exit 1; }
echo "Gate 1 OK"

# Gate 2 — token leak (shell-escape / template tokens / TOC placeholder / literal \$ \t \n). grep -c never false-PASSes.
LEAK=$(officecli view "$FILE" text | grep -cE '(\$[A-Za-z_]+\$|\{\{[^}]+\}\}|<TODO>|xxxx|lorem|Update field to see|\\[\$tn])')
[ "$LEAK" -eq 0 ] && echo "Gate 2 OK" || { echo "REJECT Gate 2: $LEAK leak line(s)"; officecli view "$FILE" text | grep -nE '(\$[A-Za-z_]+\$|\{\{[^}]+\}\}|<TODO>|xxxx|lorem|Update field to see|\\[\$tn])'; exit 1; }

# Gate 3 — live PAGE field exists when a footer is expected.
FLD=$(officecli query "$FILE" 'field[fieldType=page]' --json | jq '.data.results | length')
[ "$FLD" -ge 1 ] && echo "Gate 3 OK" || { echo "REJECT Gate 3: no live PAGE field"; exit 1; }
echo "Delivery Gate PASS"

Field / cached-value spot-check#

Fields carry cached values that may be stale or empty at write time — confirm existence by structure, not text.

• Footer PAGE: get /footer[N] --depth 3 lists the begin / instrText / separate / cached / end run chain — ≥ 5 runs for one PAGE, ≥ 11 for composite "Page X of Y". A single run with text "Page" = field missing; re-add with --prop field=page.
• TOC: get /toc[1] --depth 2 shows field structure. Page numbers may read 1 1 1 1 or Update field to see… until recalculated (see TOC delivery step).
• MERGEFIELD: query 'field[fieldType=mergefield]' — one per slot, no literal {{name}} elsewhere.

Honest limit#

validate catches schema errors, not design errors — a document can pass it with wrong heading hierarchy, fake-Heading-1 sizes, placeholder tokens as body text, or an empty first-page footer on a coverless document. The contact-sheet visual pass ( screenshot --grid) and the field-structure check are how you catch what validation can't.

QA display notes (don't chase these)#

• view text shows "1." for every numbered list item regardless of rendered number — actual output increments correctly.
• view issues flags "body paragraph missing first-line indent" on cover paragraphs, centered headings, list items, bibliography entries — first-line indent is only required for APA/academic body text; on block-style professional documents these are expected.

Known Issues & Pitfalls#

When something "looks broken", attribute it before chasing: [AGENT-ERROR] the document is wrong (fix it) · [RENDERER-BUG] the document is correct, a viewer renders it differently (don't chase) · [SKILL gap] the skill didn't teach the rule (file an issue).

Renderer quirks (cross-viewer, [RENDERER-BUG] — don't chase)#

Before calling a color/field/chart broken, open the file in the user's target viewer; if it looks correct there it's a viewer quirk.

• PAGE field may render literal "Page" (no number) until recalculated — judge by fldChar presence, not the digit.
• TOC cached page numbers may read "1 1 1 1" until F9.
• Pie / doughnut fill may collapse to one color in some viewers (column/bar render fine).
• Form-control checkboxes may render double-boxed; OMML equation baselines may shift across viewers (XML identical).

Common pitfalls#

PitfallCorrect approach--index vs [N]``--index is 0-based; [N] paths are 1-basedMultiple add --index N with the same NEach insert shifts later content down; reusing N puts later items BEFORE earlier ones — insert in reverse order, or move --after/--before anchored on paraIdUnquoted [N] in zsh/bashQuote every path: "/body/p[1]"``[last] as predicateMust be [last()] with parensRaw twips in spacingUse unit-qualified values: 12pt, 0.5cm, 1.5xEmpty paragraphs for spacingUse spaceBefore / spaceAfterRow-level set for cell formattingRow set only supports height, header, c1..cN text; format goes on the cell paragraph / runlistStyle on a runIt's a paragraph propertyIndent via leading spacesindent=720 / firstLineIndent=360 / hangingIndent=720 (dotted ind.left / ind.firstLine also work)Cover page-number suppression via set differentFirstPage=trueUNSUPPORTED — add a first-type footer: --type footer --prop type=first --prop text=""``--type pagebreak OR pageBreakBefore alone not breakingApply BOTH (see Forcing page breaks)Multiple bullet paragraphs in one cellc1="a\nb" makes a <w:br/> line break (one paragraph); for separate bullet paragraphs use recipe (e)raw-set when dotted-attr would workPrefer L2 dotted-attr over L3 raw-setNext paragraph inherits the previous Heading styleSet explicit --prop style=Normal on the following paragraphModifying a file open in WordClose it in Word firstEcho into batch breaks on $/ 'Heredoc with single-quoted delimiter: cat <<'EOF' | officecli batch …

Raw-set XML appendix (L3 patterns)#

raw-set injects literal OOXML — no schema protection. Element order in <w:pPr>: pStyle, numPr, spacing, ind, jc, rPr (last). Smart quotes as entities ( ‘/ ’/ “/ ”). Add xml:space="preserve" to any <w:t> with leading/trailing spaces. RSIDs are 8-digit hex. Use "Claude" as the author for tracked changes/comments unless the user names another.

Tracked-change insertion / deletion — prefer the high-level --prop revision.type=ins|del on a run; raw-set only for what the typed path can't express (rejecting/restoring another author's change, below). Replace the whole <w:r>…</w:r>, never inject tags inside a run; copy the original <w:rPr> into both to preserve formatting. Inside <w:del> use <w:delText> (and <w:delInstrText> for instructions):

xml

<w:r><w:t>The term is </w:t></w:r>
<w:del w:id="1" w:author="Claude" w:date="2026-01-01T00:00:00Z"><w:r><w:delText>30</w:delText></w:r></w:del>
<w:ins w:id="2" w:author="Claude" w:date="2026-01-01T00:00:00Z"><w:r><w:t>60</w:t></w:r></w:ins>
<w:r><w:t> days.</w:t></w:r>

When deleting ALL content of a paragraph/list item, also mark the paragraph mark deleted ( <w:del/> inside <w:pPr><w:rPr>) — otherwise accepting changes leaves an empty paragraph. To reject another author's insertion, nest your <w:del> inside their <w:ins>; to restore their deletion, add a <w:ins> after it (don't modify theirs).

Internal hyperlink to a bookmark (prefer the high-level --prop anchor= path; raw-set only for custom run styling the command can't express):

xml

<w:hyperlink w:anchor="chapter1"><w:r><w:rPr><w:rStyle w:val="Hyperlink"/></w:rPr><w:t>See Chapter 1</w:t></w:r></w:hyperlink>

Composite field in one run (e.g. two fields the single-command path can't compose) — the fldChar begin / instrText / separate / value / end chain:

xml

<w:r><w:fldChar w:fldCharType="begin"/></w:r>
<w:r><w:instrText xml:space="preserve"> PAGE </w:instrText></w:r>
<w:r><w:fldChar w:fldCharType="separate"/></w:r>
<w:r><w:t>1</w:t></w:r>
<w:r><w:fldChar w:fldCharType="end"/></w:r>

Comment markers are siblings of <w:r>, NEVER inside one (reply threading and resolved-state are high-level — --prop parentId=/ done=, see Comments above):

xml

<w:commentRangeStart w:id="0"/><w:r><w:t>annotated text</w:t></w:r><w:commentRangeEnd w:id="0"/>
<w:r><w:rPr><w:rStyle w:val="CommentReference"/></w:rPr><w:commentReference w:id="0"/></w:r>

Force field recalc on open with officecli set "$FILE" /settings --prop updateFields=true (writes <w:updateFields w:val="true"/>; covers the layout-dependent fields PAGE / PAGEREF / NUMPAGES / TOC page numbers — no raw-set needed). For SEQ numbering, prefer set / --prop recalcFields=seq, which writes correct cached values now without waiting on Word.

Help pointer#

When in doubt: officecli help docx, officecli help docx <element>, officecli help docx <verb> <element>, --json for agents. Help is the authoritative schema; this skill is the decision guide.