Docx Templates

Quick Start

# Install docxtpl
pip install docxtpl

# Install with image support
pip install docxtpl Pillow

# For Excel data sources
pip install docxtpl openpyxl pandas

# Verify installation
python -c "from docxtpl import DocxTemplate; print('docxtpl ready!')"

When to Use This Skill

USE when:

• Generating documents from templates with dynamic data
• Creating mail merge documents from data sources
• Building reports with loops and conditional sections
• Need to maintain consistent formatting across generated documents
• Generating contracts, invoices, letters from templates
• Processing batch document generation from databases or spreadsheets
• Templates need professional formatting preserved
• Non-technical users maintain template design

DON'T USE when:

• Building documents programmatically from scratch (use python-docx)
• Need complex document manipulation beyond template filling
• PDF output is the final format (generate docx then convert)
• Templates require complex macros or VBA
• Real-time collaborative editing needed

Prerequisites

# Core installation
pip install docxtpl>=0.16.0

# For image handling
pip install docxtpl Pillow>=9.0.0

# For data processing
pip install docxtpl pandas>=2.0.0 openpyxl>=3.1.0

# For database connections
pip install docxtpl sqlalchemy psycopg2-binary

# All dependencies
pip install docxtpl Pillow pandas openpyxl sqlalchemy

Verify Installation

from docxtpl import DocxTemplate, InlineImage
from docx.shared import Mm, Inches

print("docxtpl installed successfully!")

# Quick test
# template = DocxTemplate("template.docx")
# context = {"name": "World"}
# template.render(context)
# template.save("output.docx")

Resources

• docxtpl Documentation: https://docxtpl.readthedocs.io/
• GitHub Repository: https://github.com/elapouya/python-docx-template
• Jinja2 Template Syntax: https://jinja.palletsprojects.com/
• python-docx (underlying library): https://python-docx.readthedocs.io/

Version History

• 1.0.0 (2026-01-17): Initial release with template rendering, loops, conditionals, tables, images, mail merge

This skill provides comprehensive patterns for template-based document generation with docxtpl, refined from production document automation workflows.

Sub-Skills

• 1. Basic Template Rendering
• 2. Loops and Iterations
• 3. Conditional Content
• 4. Table Generation
• 5. Image Insertion
• 6. Mail Merge and Batch Generation
• Database Integration
• FastAPI Service
• 1. Template Design (+2)
• Template Variables Not Rendering (+2)