DOCX Formatter

DOCX Formatter produces real, well-structured Microsoft Word files (.docx) — not Markdown pretending to be a document. It is built for people who need to ship finished deliverables: contracts, board reports, proposals, and letterhead-branded correspondence where heading styles, an auto-numbered table of contents, page numbers, and footnotes actually have to render correctly when the recipient opens the file in Word.

When to use it

• You asked for a "report," "memo," "contract," or "letter" and the recipient expects an editable .docx, not a PDF.
• You need a clickable, auto-updating table of contents driven by real heading styles (Heading 1/2/3).
• You're applying a company letterhead, header/footer, and "Page X of Y" numbering across every page.
• You're editing an existing document — find-and-replace, swapping images, or adding footnotes — without flattening the original styling.

What it does / how it works

Under the hood the skill works directly with the Office Open XML format. New documents are assembled with a docx generation library so paragraphs carry true style references (HeadingLevel.HEADING_1, etc.) rather than manual font sizing — that's what makes the TOC and navigation pane work. A TableOfContents field is inserted and marked dirty so Word rebuilds it on open. Headers and footers hold the letterhead and a PAGE/NUMPAGES field pair for "Page X of Y." Images are embedded as relationships in the package, not linked.

For editing existing files, it manipulates the unzipped word/document.xml and related parts, preserving styles. Conversion to and from other formats (Markdown, HTML) goes through Pandoc when needed. Tracked-changes (redlining) and comments are supported by writing the appropriate w:ins/w:del and comment parts.

Usage example

curl -fsSL --create-dirs -o ~/.claude/skills/docx-formatter/SKILL.md https://claudeskil.com/skills/docx-formatter/SKILL.md

# then, in a Claude session:
"Generate a Q2 board report as a .docx: cover page with our
 letterhead, an auto table of contents, Heading 1 sections for
 Summary / Financials / Outlook, a revenue table, footnotes on
 the figures, and 'Page X of Y' in the footer."

You can also point it at an existing file: "In contract.docx, replace every 'Acme Inc.' with 'Acme LLC' using tracked changes and add a comment on clause 4."

Tips & gotchas

• The TOC populates only after Word opens the file and refreshes fields. If it looks empty, that's expected — press Ctrl/Cmd+A then F9, or trust that the dirty flag triggers a prompt on open.
• TOC entries come from heading styles, not bold text. Ask for real headings or the TOC stays blank.
• Embed images rather than linking so the file stays portable; very large images inflate the package — resize first.
• Footers with NUMPAGES are also field-based, so "Y" in "Page X of Y" resolves on open.

FAQ

Can it edit a document I already have instead of starting fresh? Yes — it reads the existing .docx, applies find-and-replace, image swaps, footnotes, or comments, and preserves the original styles.

Does it produce PDFs? No. This skill outputs .docx. Convert to PDF afterward in Word or with a separate PDF tool.

Will tracked changes show up as real Word revisions? Yes. Redline edits are written as native insertions/deletions, so reviewers see them in Word's Review pane and can accept or reject each one.