Word Track Changes

Enable Microsoft Word's Track Changes (修订模式) on documents using native OOXML elements. Supports cross-run text matching and precise paragraph-level replaceme...

Security Scan

The skill's files and runtime instructions are consistent with its stated purpose: local, offline modification of DOCX files to insert Word 'track changes' OOXML elements; it does not request credentials, network access, or elevated persistence.

Purpose & Capability

Name/description match the delivered artifacts: Python scripts implementing OOXML edits, a TrackChangesProcessor class, and CLI helpers. No unrelated environment variables, binaries, or services are requested.

Instruction Scope

SKILL.md and the scripts instruct the agent to unzip a .docx, edit word/document.xml (and optionally settings.xml), and rezip. The instructions only reference the input DOCX, temporary directories, and the included scripts. There are no instructions to read unrelated system files, environment secrets, or to send data externally.

Install Mechanism

There is no install spec; the skill is instruction/code-only and relies on Python standard-library modules (zipfile, tempfile, xml.etree). No remote downloads or package installs are requested.

Credentials

The skill declares no required environment variables, credentials, or config paths. The code operates on files supplied by the user and temporary directories; requested access is proportional to the claimed functionality.

Persistence & Privilege

The skill is not forced-always, does not modify other skills' configuration, and does not request persistent privileges. It runs on-demand and operates on user-supplied documents.

Assessment

This skill appears to do exactly what it says: locally modify DOCX files by inserting OOXML <w:ins>/<w:del> elements to emulate Word Track Changes. Before installing or running: (1) back up original documents and test on non-sensitive examples to confirm correctness; (2) ensure you run the scripts in a Python 3 environment (the code uses only standard-library modules); (3) review/adjust the author/date values if needed (the processor sets them and they will appear in Word); (4) be aware that malformed or unusually-structured DOCX files may cause exceptions—review the output before distribution. No network activity or secret access is requested by the code, so the primary risk is accidental corruption of documents rather than data exfiltration.

Word Track Changes Skill

Enable native Microsoft Word Track Changes functionality using OpenXML. Handles real-world DOCX files where text is split across multiple <w:t> nodes.

When to Use

Use this skill when you need to:

• Edit a Word document while preserving a visible record of changes
• Show insertions as green underlined text
• Show deletions as red strikethrough text
• Allow users to accept/reject changes in Word's Review pane
• Replace text that may be split across multiple <w:r> / <w:t> elements

Quick Start

1. Enable Track Changes on a Document

python ~/.openclaw/skills/word-track-changes/scripts/enable_tracking.py input.docx output.docx

2. Replace Text with Revision Mark

from track_changes import TrackChangesProcessor

p = TrackChangesProcessor("document.docx")
p.set_author("Agent")
p.replace_text_with_revision(
    old_text="existing text to replace",
    new_text="new text with revision mark"
)
p.save("output.docx")
p.cleanup()

3. Insert a New Paragraph with Revision Mark

from track_changes import TrackChangesProcessor

p = TrackChangesProcessor("document.docx")
p.set_author("Agent")
p.insert_paragraph_after(
    search_text="text before new paragraph",
    new_text="New paragraph shown as insertion."
)
p.save("output.docx")
p.cleanup()

4. Batch Multiple Revisions

from track_changes import batch_revisions

revisions = [
    {"type": "replace", "old": "old text 1", "new": "new text 1"},
    {"type": "insert_after", "search": "anchor text", "new": "inserted paragraph"},
]

batch_revisions(
    "input.docx",
    revisions,
    author="Agent",
    output_path="output.docx"
)

Key Capabilities

Capability	Description
Cross-Run Matching	Finds text even when Word splits it across multiple <w:t> nodes
Paragraph-Level Precision	Only replaces the target text within its paragraph, preserving all other content
Format Preservation	Copies existing run properties (<w:rPr>) for consistent font/style
Batch Revisions	Apply multiple tracked changes in a single pass
Track Changes Settings	Automatically enables trackRevisions in settings.xml

Technical Details

OOXML Elements Used

• <w:ins> — Insertion mark (green, underlined)
• <w:del> — Deletion mark (red strikethrough)
• <w:delText> — Deleted text content

Architecture

DOCX (ZIP archive)
├── word/document.xml      ← Main content (modified with revision marks)
├── word/settings.xml      ← Track changes settings (updated if needed)
└── ...

The processor:

1. Unzips the DOCX into a temporary directory
2. Parses word/document.xml
3. Builds a paragraph-level text index to locate target text across split <w:t> nodes
4. Inserts <w:ins> / <w:del> at the exact position
5. Re-zips into a valid DOCX

Scripts Reference

All scripts are in scripts/ directory:

Script	Purpose
track_changes.py	Core library with TrackChangesProcessor
enable_tracking.py	CLI tool to enable track changes
insert_revision.py	CLI tool to replace text with revision marks
delete_revision.py	CLI tool to mark text for deletion
batch_revisions.py	CLI tool for processing multiple revisions from stdin

Python API

TrackChangesProcessor(docx_path)

Main class for processing a DOCX file.

Methods

• set_author(author) — Set the revision author name.
• replace_text_with_revision(old_text, new_text) — Replace text inside a paragraph with tracked changes. Raises ValueError if old_text is not found.
• insert_paragraph_after(search_text, new_text) — Insert a new paragraph after the paragraph containing search_text, marked as <w:ins>.
• enable_track_changes() — Update word/settings.xml to enable track revisions.
• save(output_path) — Write the modified DOCX.
• cleanup() — Remove temporary files.

Helper Functions

• enable_track_changes(input, output)
• insert_text_with_revision(input, search, new, author, output)
• mark_deletion(input, target, author, output)
• batch_revisions(input, revisions, author, output)

Example: Real-World Report Update

See example_usage.py for a complete working example.