docx-footnote-reader

Extract footnotes, endnotes, and body text from .docx files using Node.js. Use this skill when you need to read footnote/endnote content from Word documents, such as technical specifications, legal documents, or academic papers.

Overview

A skill for extracting footnotes, endnotes, and body text from Microsoft Word (.docx) files. This is particularly useful for:

• Technical documentation with reference notes
• Legal documents with citations
• Academic papers with footnoted references
• Any document where footnote content is important

Usage

Command Line

node index.js path/to/document.docx

Programmatic API

const { extractFootnotes } = require('docx-footnote-reader');

const result = await extractFootnotes('./document.docx');

console.log(`Body: ${result.body.length} characters`);
console.log(`Footnotes: ${result.footnotes.length} notes`);
console.log(`Endnotes: ${result.endnotes.length} notes`);

// Access individual footnotes
result.footnotes.forEach((note, idx) => {
  console.log(`Footnote ${idx + 1}: ${note}`);
});

Return Value

The extractFootnotes function returns a Promise that resolves to:

{
  body: string;           // Document body text
  footnotes: string[];    // Array of footnote strings
  endnotes: string[];     // Array of endnote strings
}

How It Works

1. Uses word-extractor library to parse the .docx file
2. Extracts body text via doc.getBody()
3. Extracts footnotes via doc.getFootnotes() - handles both string and array return types
4. Extracts endnotes via doc.getEndnotes() - handles both string and array return types
5. Splits footnote/endnote strings by newline and filters empty entries

Important Notes

• The word-extractor library returns footnotes as a single string separated by newlines, not an array
• This skill automatically handles both string and array return types
• Empty footnotes/endnotes are filtered out
• Each footnote string is trimmed of whitespace

Dependencies

• Node.js >= 14
• word-extractor (automatically installed via npm)

Installation

cd docx-footnote-reader
npm install

Example Output

========================================
Extraction Result
========================================

Body length: 58057 characters

Footnotes count: 73

Footnotes:

Footnote 1:
Description about error injection in this document, if the context does not mention single-frame multi-bit or Burst, it refers to single-bit error injection.

Footnote 2:
This feature is only supported on PG2K100 devices.

...

Troubleshooting

"Cannot find module 'word-extractor'"

Run npm install in the skill directory.

Empty footnotes array

• Check that the document actually contains footnotes
• Verify the file path is correct
• Try opening the document in Word to confirm footnotes exist

Footnotes merged into one string

This is expected behavior from word-extractor. This skill automatically splits them by newlines.

File Structure

docx-footnote-reader/
├── index.js        # Main extraction logic
├── package.json    # npm dependencies
├── SKILL.md        # This file
└── LICENSE.txt     # License terms