Word documents (docx) skill

The docx skill is the set of instructions and helper scripts Claude uses when you ask for a Word document. You get a real .docx file you can open in Word or Google Docs, not a block of text to paste. A skill is a folder of instructions and scripts that Claude loads only when your request matches it.

What it does (plain English)

The skill tells Claude how to handle three jobs, each in a different way:

Job	How the skill does it
Create a new document	Writes a script with the docx JavaScript library
Edit an existing document	Unzips the file, edits the XML inside, zips it again
Read a document	Converts it to Markdown with pandoc

A .docx file is a ZIP archive of XML files, which is why the skill can make precise edits without retyping your whole document. After writing a file it converts it to PDF and then to page images, so Claude can look at the pages and catch layout problems before handing the file over.

Anthropic publishes the skill’s source in the anthropics/skills repository as a reference. The same skill powers Claude’s built-in document creation, according to the repository README.

Is it for you?

Yes, if you produce Word files for other people: reports, letters, memos, contract markups, templates with headers and page numbers. It is especially useful when the result has to survive someone else’s review in Word, because tracked changes and comments come out as real Word features.

Skip it if your team lives in Google Docs. The skill’s own description says not to use it for Google Docs; the Google Docs connector is the better fit there.

What you can do with it

1. Draft a formatted report. “Turn these meeting notes into a two-page Word report with a title page, headings and a table of contents.” The skill knows that a table of contents only picks up built-in heading styles, a common reason TOCs come out empty.
2. Redline a contract. “Mark up this NDA: change the term to 2 years and delete clause 7, as tracked changes under my name.” The skill wraps every change in Word’s insert and delete markup, then runs a validator with your author name to flag any edit that was not tracked.
3. Leave review comments. “Add a comment on the fees section saying the cap is too low.” A helper script writes the six linked files Word needs for a comment to appear.
4. Produce a clean copy. “Accept all tracked changes and give me the final version.” A script does this through LibreOffice.
5. Switch page size. The skill defaults to A4 and includes the exact US Letter dimensions, so ask for “US Letter” if you are in North America.

How to set it up

In claude.ai or the Claude desktop app

1. Go to Settings > Capabilities and turn on Code execution and file creation. Skills run in Claude’s code sandbox, so nothing works without this.
2. Open Customize > Skills. Anthropic’s document skills appear under From Anthropic & Partners and activate automatically when you ask for a Word file.
3. Ask for a document in plain words, for example “Make this a Word doc.”

On Team and Enterprise plans, an Owner may need to enable code execution and skills for the organization first, under Organization settings > Capabilities.

In Claude Code

1. Start Claude Code in your project folder.
2. Run /plugin marketplace add anthropics/skills
3. Run /plugin install document-skills@anthropic-agent-skills, then choose a scope (just you, the whole project, or this repo only).
4. Ask: “Use the docx skill to create a cover letter from notes.md.”

The document-skills plugin installs four skills together: docx, pdf, pptx and xlsx. Claude Code’s claude plugin details command estimates the docx skill at about 290 tokens of always-on context and about 2.4k tokens each time it is used.

Watch out for

• License. This skill is source-available, not open source. Its LICENSE.txt says you may not copy it outside Anthropic’s services, create derivative works or redistribute it. Read it, use it inside Claude, but do not fork and republish it.
• Software it expects. In Claude Code the skill calls tools that must exist on your computer: Node’s docx package, pandoc, LibreOffice and Poppler’s pdftoppm. claude.ai’s sandbox has them; your laptop may not.
• Untrusted files. The skill’s own steps strip symlinks from documents received from outside parties before editing. That is a sensible habit for any file someone emails you.
• Plan wording differs. Anthropic’s support article says all users can access the built-in document skills; the skills overview lists Pro, Max, Team and Enterprise. Check your own Customize > Skills page.
• Behavior can differ from the repo. The README states that the skills in the repository are for demonstration and that what Claude does in the product may differ.

Alternatives

• Google Docs connector if your documents live in Google Drive and you want live editing.
• PDF skill when the final deliverable is a PDF or a filled-in PDF form.
• PowerPoint skill and Excel skill, which come in the same Claude Code plugin.