Document DOCX Skill — Quick Reference

This skill enables creation, editing, and analysis of Word documents programmatically. Claude should apply these patterns when users need to generate reports, contracts, proposals, documentation, or any structured Word documents from data or templates.

Modern Best Practices (Dec 2025):

• Use styles (Headings, lists, tables) for structure and maintainability.
• Keep versioning and owners explicit (review cadence, last-updated).
• Accessibility basics: headings hierarchy, readable tables, alt text where possible.
• Prefer a source doc + PDF release artifact workflow for distribution.

Quick Reference

When to Use This Skill

Claude should invoke this skill when a user requests:

• Generate Word documents from data or templates
• Create formatted reports with tables, headers, styles
• Extract content from existing DOCX files
• Convert DOCX to HTML or other formats
• Implement mail merge or template filling
• Add tracked changes or comments
• Create document automation workflows

Core Operations

Create Document (Python)

from docx import Document
from docx.shared import Inches, Pt
from docx.enum.text import WD_ALIGN_PARAGRAPH

doc = Document()

# Title
title = doc.add_heading('Document Title', 0)
title.alignment = WD_ALIGN_PARAGRAPH.CENTER

# Paragraph with formatting
para = doc.add_paragraph()
run = para.add_run('Bold and ')
run.bold = True
run = para.add_run('italic text.')
run.italic = True

# Table
table = doc.add_table(rows=3, cols=3)
table.style = 'Table Grid'
for i, row in enumerate(table.rows):
    for j, cell in enumerate(row.cells):
        cell.text = f'Row {i+1}, Col {j+1}'

# Image
doc.add_picture('image.png', width=Inches(4))

# Save
doc.save('output.docx')

Create Document (Node.js)

import { Document, Packer, Paragraph, TextRun, Table, TableRow, TableCell } from 'docx';
import * as fs from 'fs';

const doc = new Document({
  sections: [{
    properties: {},
    children: [
      new Paragraph({
        children: [
          new TextRun({ text: 'Bold text', bold: true }),
          new TextRun({ text: ' and normal text.' }),
        ],
      }),
      new Table({
        rows: [
          new TableRow({
            children: [
              new TableCell({ children: [new Paragraph('Cell 1')] }),
              new TableCell({ children: [new Paragraph('Cell 2')] }),
            ],
          }),
        ],
      }),
    ],
  }],
});

Packer.toBuffer(doc).then((buffer) => {
  fs.writeFileSync('output.docx', buffer);
});

Template-Based Generation (Python)

from docxtpl import DocxTemplate

doc = DocxTemplate('template.docx')
context = {
    'company_name': 'Acme Corp',
    'date': '2025-01-15',
    'items': [
        {'name': 'Widget A', 'price': 100},
        {'name': 'Widget B', 'price': 200},
    ]
}
doc.render(context)
doc.save('filled_template.docx')

Extract Content

from docx import Document

doc = Document('input.docx')

# Extract all text
full_text = []
for para in doc.paragraphs:
    full_text.append(para.text)

# Extract tables
for table in doc.tables:
    for row in table.rows:
        row_data = [cell.text for cell in row.cells]
        print(row_data)

Document Structure Patterns

Report Template

REPORT STRUCTURE
├── Title Page (heading level 0, centered)
├── Table of Contents (auto-generated)
├── Executive Summary (heading level 1)
├── Body Sections (heading levels 1-3)
│   ├── Introduction
│   ├── Findings (with tables, charts)
│   └── Recommendations
├── Appendices
└── Footer (page numbers, date)

Contract Template

CONTRACT STRUCTURE
├── Header (parties, date)
├── Recitals (WHEREAS clauses)
├── Definitions
├── Terms and Conditions (numbered sections)
├── Signatures Block
└── Exhibits/Schedules

Styling Reference

Do / Avoid (Dec 2025)

Do

• Use consistent heading levels and a table of contents for long docs.
• Capture decisions and action items with owners and due dates.
• Store docs in a versioned, searchable system.

Avoid

• Manual formatting instead of styles (breaks consistency).
• Docs with no owner or review cadence (stale quickly).
• Copy/pasting without updating definitions and links.

What Good Looks Like

• Structure: consistent heading hierarchy, styles, and (when needed) an auto-generated table of contents.
• Decisions: decisions/actions captured with owner + due date (not buried in prose).
• Versioning: doc ID + version + change summary; review cadence defined.
• Accessibility: headings/reading order are correct; alt text for non-decorative images.
• Reuse: use templates/doc-template-pack.md for decision logs and recurring doc types.

Optional: AI / Automation

Use only when explicitly requested and policy-compliant.

• Summarize meeting notes into decisions/actions; humans verify accuracy.
• Draft first-pass docs from outlines; do not invent facts or quotes.

Navigation

Resources

• resources/docx-patterns.md — Advanced formatting, styles, headers/footers
• resources/template-workflows.md — Mail merge, batch generation
• data/sources.json — Library documentation links

Templates

• templates/report-template.md — Standard report structure
• templates/contract-template.md — Legal document structure
• templates/doc-template-pack.md — Decision log, meeting notes, changelog templates

Related Skills

• ../document-pdf/SKILL.md — PDF generation and conversion
• ../document-docx/SKILL.md — Document workflow automation
• ../docs-codebase/SKILL.md — Technical writing patterns