Customization

Before executing, check for user customizations at: ~/.claude/skills/CORE/USER/SKILLCUSTOMIZATIONS/Documents/

If this directory exists, load and apply any PREFERENCES.md, configurations, or resources found there. These override default behavior. If the directory does not exist, proceed with skill defaults.

🚨 MANDATORY: Voice Notification (REQUIRED BEFORE ANY ACTION)

You MUST send this notification BEFORE doing anything else when this skill is invoked.

Send voice notification:

curl -s -X POST http://localhost:8888/notify
-H "Content-Type: application/json"
-d '{"message": "Running the WORKFLOWNAME workflow in the Documents skill to ACTION"}' \

/dev/null 2>&1 &

Output text notification:

Running the WorkflowName workflow in the Documents skill to ACTION...

This is not optional. Execute this curl command immediately upon skill invocation.

Documents Skill

🎯 Load Full CORE Context

Before starting any task with this skill, load complete CORE context:

read ~/.claude/skills/CORE/SKILL.md

When to Activate This Skill

Word Documents (DOCX)

• User wants to create, edit, or analyze Word documents

• User mentions "tracked changes", "redlining", "document review"

• User needs to convert documents to other formats

• User wants to work with document structure, comments, or formatting

PDF Files

• User wants to create, merge, split, or manipulate PDFs

• User mentions "extract text from PDF", "PDF tables", "fill PDF form"

• User needs to convert PDFs to/from other formats

• User wants to add watermarks, passwords, or extract images

PowerPoint Presentations (PPTX)

• User wants to create or edit presentations

• User mentions "slides", "presentation template", "speaker notes"

• User needs to convert presentations to other formats

• User wants to work with slide layouts or design elements

Excel Spreadsheets (XLSX)

• User wants to create or edit spreadsheets

• User mentions "formulas", "financial model", "data analysis"

• User needs to work with Excel tables, charts, or pivot tables

• User wants to convert spreadsheets to/from other formats

🔀 Document Type Routing

This skill organizes document processing across 4 document types:

Word Documents (DOCX)

Reference Documentation:

• docx/SKILL.md

• Complete DOCX processing guide

• docx/docx-js.md

• Creating new documents with JavaScript

• docx/ooxml.md

• Editing existing documents with OOXML

Routing Logic:

• "Create Word document", "new docx" → Create workflow (docx-js)

• "Edit Word document", "tracked changes", "redlining" → Edit workflow (OOXML)

• "Read Word document", "extract text from docx" → Read workflow (pandoc)

• "Document review", "track changes" → Redlining workflow

Supporting Resources:

• Scripts: ~/.claude/skills/documents/docx/Scripts/

• OOXML tools: ~/.claude/skills/documents/docx/ooxml/

• License: ~/.claude/skills/documents/docx/LICENSE.txt

Key Capabilities:

• Create professional documents with docx-js

• Edit with tracked changes (redlining workflow)

• Extract text/comments with pandoc

• Convert to images for visual inspection

• Work with raw OOXML for advanced features

PDF Processing

Reference Documentation:

• pdf/SKILL.md

• Complete PDF processing guide

• pdf/forms.md

• Filling PDF forms

• pdf/reference.md

• Advanced features and troubleshooting

Routing Logic:

• "Create PDF" → Creation workflow (reportlab)

• "Merge PDFs", "split PDF" → Manipulation workflow (pypdf)

• "Extract text from PDF" → Extraction workflow (pdfplumber)

• "Fill PDF form" → Forms workflow (pdf-lib or pypdf)

• "Extract tables from PDF" → Table extraction (pdfplumber + pandas)

Supporting Resources:

• Scripts: ~/.claude/skills/documents/pdf/Scripts/

• License: ~/.claude/skills/documents/pdf/LICENSE.txt

Key Capabilities:

• Create PDFs with reportlab

• Extract text/tables with pdfplumber

• Merge/split with pypdf or qpdf

• Fill forms programmatically

• Add watermarks and password protection

• Extract images from PDFs

PowerPoint Presentations (PPTX)

Reference Documentation:

• pptx/SKILL.md

• Complete PPTX processing guide

• pptx/html2pptx.md

• Creating presentations from HTML

• pptx/ooxml.md

• Editing existing presentations

Routing Logic:

• "Create presentation", "new slides" → Creation workflow (html2pptx)

• "Edit presentation", "modify slides" → Edit workflow (OOXML)

• "Use presentation template" → Template workflow

• "Extract slide text" → Read workflow (markitdown)

• "Create thumbnail grid" → Thumbnail workflow

Supporting Resources:

• Scripts: ~/.claude/skills/documents/pptx/Scripts/

• OOXML tools: ~/.claude/skills/documents/pptx/ooxml/

• License: ~/.claude/skills/documents/pptx/LICENSE.txt

Key Capabilities:

• Create presentations with html2pptx (HTML → PPTX)

• Professional design with color palettes and layouts

• Edit with OOXML for advanced features

• Work with templates (rearrange, inventory, replace)

• Generate thumbnail grids for visual analysis

• Convert to images for inspection

Excel Spreadsheets (XLSX)

Reference Documentation:

• xlsx/SKILL.md

• Complete XLSX processing guide

• xlsx/recalc.py

• Formula recalculation script

Routing Logic:

• "Create spreadsheet", "new Excel file" → Creation workflow (openpyxl)

• "Edit spreadsheet", "modify Excel" → Edit workflow (openpyxl)

• "Analyze data", "read Excel" → Analysis workflow (pandas)

• "Financial model", "formulas" → Financial modeling workflow

• "Recalculate formulas" → Recalculation workflow (recalc.py)

Supporting Resources:

• Recalc script: ~/.claude/skills/documents/xlsx/recalc.py

• License: ~/.claude/skills/documents/xlsx/LICENSE.txt

Key Capabilities:

• Create spreadsheets with formulas (openpyxl)

• Data analysis with pandas

• Financial modeling with color coding standards

• Formula recalculation with LibreOffice

• Error detection and validation

• Preserve formatting and formulas when editing

📋 Document Processing Principles

DOCX Best Practices

• Tracked Changes - Use redlining workflow for professional document review

• Minimal Edits - Only mark text that actually changes, preserve original RSIDs

• Batch Changes - Group related edits (3-10 changes) for efficient processing

• Verification - Always convert to markdown to verify changes applied correctly

PDF Best Practices

• Library Selection - pypdf for basic ops, pdfplumber for text/tables, reportlab for creation

• OCR for Scanned - Use pytesseract + pdf2image for scanned documents

• Form Filling - Follow forms.md for programmatic form completion

• Command Line - Use qpdf/pdftotext for simple operations

PPTX Best Practices

• Design First - Analyze content and choose appropriate colors/layouts before coding

• Web-Safe Fonts - Only use web-safe fonts (Arial, Helvetica, Times, etc.)

• Visual Verification - Always generate thumbnails to inspect layout issues

• Template Analysis - Create inventory before using templates to understand structure

XLSX Best Practices

• Use Formulas - ALWAYS use Excel formulas, NEVER hardcode calculated values

• Zero Errors - Deliver with zero formula errors (#REF!, #DIV/0!, etc.)

• Recalculate - Run recalc.py after creating/editing to update formula values

• Financial Standards - Follow color coding (blue inputs, black formulas, green links)

Examples

Example 1: Create proposal with tracked changes

User: "Create a consulting proposal doc with redlining" → Routes to DOCX workflows → Creates document with docx-js → Enables tracked changes for review workflow → Outputs professional .docx with revision marks

Example 2: Fill a PDF form programmatically

User: "Fill out this NDA PDF with my info" → Routes to PDF workflows → Reads form fields from PDF → Fills fields programmatically with pdf-lib → Outputs completed, flattened PDF

Example 3: Build financial model spreadsheet

User: "Create a revenue projection spreadsheet" → Routes to XLSX workflows → Creates workbook with openpyxl → Adds formulas (never hardcoded values) → Runs recalc.py to update calculations

🔗 Integration with Other Skills

Feeds Into:

• writing skill - Creating documents for blog posts and newsletters

• business skill - Creating consulting proposals and financial models

• research skill - Extracting data from research documents

Uses:

• media skill - Creating images for document illustrations

• development skill - Building document processing automation

• system skill - Command-line tools and scripting

🎯 Key Principles

Document Creation

• Quality First - Professional formatting and structure from the start

• Template Reuse - Leverage existing templates when available

• Validation - Always verify output (visual inspection, error checking)

• Automation - Use scripts for repetitive tasks

Document Editing

• Preserve Intent - Maintain original formatting and structure

• Track Changes - Use proper workflows for document review

• Batch Processing - Group related operations for efficiency

• Error Prevention - Validate before finalizing

Document Analysis

• Right Tool - Choose appropriate library/tool for the task

• Data Integrity - Preserve original data when extracting/converting

• Format Awareness - Understand document structure (OOXML, PDF structure, etc.)

• Performance - Use efficient methods for large documents

📚 Full Reference Documentation

Word Documents (DOCX):

• Main Guide: ~/.claude/skills/documents/docx/SKILL.md

• Creation Reference: ~/.claude/skills/documents/docx/docx-js.md

• Editing Reference: ~/.claude/skills/documents/docx/ooxml.md

PDF Processing:

• Main Guide: ~/.claude/skills/documents/pdf/SKILL.md

• Forms Guide: ~/.claude/skills/documents/pdf/forms.md

• Advanced Reference: ~/.claude/skills/documents/pdf/reference.md

PowerPoint Presentations (PPTX):

• Main Guide: ~/.claude/skills/documents/pptx/SKILL.md

• Creation Reference: ~/.claude/skills/documents/pptx/html2pptx.md

• Editing Reference: ~/.claude/skills/documents/pptx/ooxml.md

Excel Spreadsheets (XLSX):

• Main Guide: ~/.claude/skills/documents/xlsx/SKILL.md

• Recalc Script: ~/.claude/skills/documents/xlsx/recalc.py

Summary

The documents skill provides comprehensive document processing:

• DOCX - Create, edit, analyze Word documents with tracked changes support

• PDF - Create, manipulate, extract from PDFs with form filling capabilities

• PPTX - Create, edit presentations with professional design and templates

• XLSX - Create, edit spreadsheets with formulas and financial modeling

Reference-based organization - Each document type has complete guides and tooling

Routing is automatic - Analyzes user intent and activates appropriate document type workflow

Professional quality - Standards and best practices for production-ready documents