DOCX Edit Skill

Thin wrapper that routes in-place DOCX editing requests to the docx-edit-agent, which edits documents using SuperDoc MCP with optional Word AppleScript integration for zero-friction workflow.

Context Pointers

Reference (do not load eagerly):

• Path: .claude/context/formats/subagent-return.md
• Purpose: Return validation
• Load at: Subagent execution only

Note: This skill is a thin wrapper. Context is loaded by the delegated agent, not this skill.

Trigger Conditions

This skill activates when:

Direct Invocation

• User explicitly runs /edit command with a .docx file
• User requests document editing in conversation

Implicit Invocation (during task implementation)

When an implementing agent encounters any of these patterns:

Plan step language patterns:

• "Edit [file].docx to [change]"
• "Replace [text] with [text] in [file].docx"
• "Update the Word document [file]"
• "Add tracked changes to [file].docx"
• "Modify [file].docx with [instruction]"
• "Create a new document [file].docx"

File extension detection:

• Target file has extension: .docx
• Operation type: edit, replace, update, modify, create

Task description keywords:

• "DOCX editing"
• "Word document editing"
• "tracked changes"
• "in-place document edit"

When NOT to Trigger

Do not invoke for:

• Non-DOCX files (.xlsx, .pptx, .pdf, etc.)
• Document conversion (use skill-filetypes for /convert)
• PDF annotation extraction (use skill-scrape for /scrape)
• Spreadsheet table extraction (use skill-spreadsheet for /table)
• Reading document content without editing (use markitdown or /convert)

Execution

1. Input Validation

Validate required inputs:

• file_path - Must be provided; for edit/batch must exist; for create mode may not exist yet
• instruction - Natural language editing instruction (required)
• mode - One of: "edit", "batch", "create" (inferred from file_path and flags)

# For edit mode: validate source exists and is .docx
if [ "$mode" = "edit" ]; then
  if [ ! -f "$file_path" ]; then
    return error "DOCX file not found: $file_path"
  fi
  if [[ "${file_path##*.}" != "docx" ]]; then
    return error "Source must be a .docx file: $file_path"
  fi
fi

# For batch mode: validate directory exists
if [ "$mode" = "batch" ]; then
  if [ ! -d "$file_path" ]; then
    return error "Directory not found: $file_path"
  fi
fi

# For create mode: validate .docx extension
if [ "$mode" = "create" ]; then
  if [[ "${file_path##*.}" != "docx" ]]; then
    return error "New file must have .docx extension: $file_path"
  fi
fi

2. Context Preparation

Prepare delegation context:

{
  "file_path": "/absolute/path/to/document.docx",
  "instruction": "Replace ACME Corp with NewCo Inc. using tracked changes",
  "mode": "edit",
  "metadata": {
    "session_id": "sess_{timestamp}_{random}",
    "delegation_depth": 1,
    "delegation_path": ["orchestrator", "edit", "skill-docx-edit"]
  }
}

3. Invoke Agent

CRITICAL: You MUST use the Agent tool to spawn the docx-edit agent.

Required Tool Invocation:

Tool: Agent (NOT Skill, NOT Plan)
Parameters:
  - subagent_type: "docx-edit-agent"
  - prompt: [Include file_path, instruction, mode, metadata]
  - description: "Edit {file_path}: {instruction}"

DO NOT use Skill(docx-edit-agent) - this will FAIL. Agents live in .claude/agents/ or extension agent directories, not .claude/skills/. The Skill tool can only invoke skills from .claude/skills/.

The agent will:

• Check if Word has the file open (macOS only)
• Save partner's unsaved work if needed (macOS only)
• Perform SuperDoc editing operations
• Reload the document in Word if it was open (macOS only)
• Confirm edit results
• Return standardized JSON result

4. Return Validation

Validate return matches subagent-return.md schema:

• Status is one of: edited, created, partial, failed
• Summary is non-empty and <100 tokens
• Artifacts array present with output file path
• Metadata contains session_id, agent_type, delegation info

Status value rules:

• edited - File successfully modified in place
• created - New file successfully created
• partial - Some edits applied, others failed (batch mode)
• failed - No edits applied, error occurred
• NEVER use "completed" (triggers Claude stop behavior)

5. Return Propagation

Return validated result to caller without modification.

Return Format

See .claude/context/formats/subagent-return.md for full specification.

Expected successful return:

{
  "status": "edited",
  "summary": "Replaced 3 instances of 'ACME Corp' with 'NewCo Inc.' in contract.docx with tracked changes (author: Claude)",
  "artifacts": [
    {
      "type": "implementation",
      "path": "/absolute/path/to/contract.docx",
      "summary": "Edited DOCX with tracked changes"
    }
  ],
  "metadata": {
    "session_id": "sess_...",
    "agent_type": "docx-edit-agent",
    "delegation_depth": 2,
    "delegation_path": ["orchestrator", "edit", "skill-docx-edit", "docx-edit-agent"],
    "tool_used": "superdoc",
    "changes_count": 3,
    "tracked_changes": true,
    "word_was_open": true,
    "word_reloaded": true
  },
  "next_steps": "Review tracked changes in Word"
}

Error Handling

Input Validation Errors

Return immediately with failed status if file not found, not a .docx, or instruction is empty.

Agent Errors

Pass through the agent's error return verbatim.

Tool Not Available

Return failed status with installation instructions for SuperDoc MCP or python-docx.

MUST NOT

• Run the postflight step (git commit, status update) -- that is the command's responsibility
• Modify the return from docx-edit-agent before propagating
• Load context files eagerly -- only reference them when needed
• Use the Skill tool to invoke docx-edit-agent (use Agent tool instead)