minimax-docx

Create, edit, and format DOCX documents via CLI tools or direct C# scripts built on OpenXML SDK (.NET).

Setup

First time: bash scripts/setup.sh (or powershell scripts/setup.ps1 on Windows, --minimal to skip optional deps).

First operation in session: scripts/env_check.sh — do not proceed if NOT READY. (Skip on subsequent operations within the same session.)

Quick Start: Direct C# Path

When the task requires structural document manipulation (custom styles, complex tables, multi-section layouts, headers/footers, TOC, images), write C# directly instead of wrestling with CLI limitations. Use this scaffold:

// File: scripts/dotnet/task.csx  (or a new .cs in a Console project)
// dotnet run --project scripts/dotnet/MiniMaxAIDocx.Cli -- run-script task.csx
#r "nuget: DocumentFormat.OpenXml, 3.2.0"

using DocumentFormat.OpenXml;
using DocumentFormat.OpenXml.Packaging;
using DocumentFormat.OpenXml.Wordprocessing;

using var doc = WordprocessingDocument.Create("output.docx", WordprocessingDocumentType.Document);
var mainPart = doc.AddMainDocumentPart();
mainPart.Document = new Document(new Body());

// --- Your logic here ---
// Read the relevant Samples/*.cs file FIRST for tested patterns.
// See Samples/ table in References section below.

Before writing any C#, read the relevant Samples/*.cs file — they contain compilable, SDK-version-verified patterns. The Samples table in the References section below maps topics to files.

CLI shorthand

All CLI commands below use $CLI as shorthand for:

dotnet run --project scripts/dotnet/MiniMaxAIDocx.Cli --

Pipeline routing

Route by checking: does the user have an input .docx file?

User task
├─ No input file → Pipeline A: CREATE
│   signals: "write", "create", "draft", "generate", "new", "make a report/proposal/memo"
│   → Read references/scenario_a_create.md
│
└─ Has input .docx
    ├─ Replace/fill/modify content → Pipeline B: FILL-EDIT
    │   signals: "fill in", "replace", "update", "change text", "add section", "edit"
    │   → Read references/scenario_b_edit_content.md
    │
    └─ Reformat/apply style/template → Pipeline C: FORMAT-APPLY
        signals: "reformat", "apply template", "restyle", "match this format", "套模板", "排版"
        ├─ Template is pure style (no content) → C-1: OVERLAY (apply styles to source)
        └─ Template has structure (cover/TOC/example sections) → C-2: BASE-REPLACE
            (use template as base, replace example content with user content)
        → Read references/scenario_c_apply_template.md

If the request spans multiple pipelines, run them sequentially (e.g., Create then Format-Apply).

Pre-processing

Convert .doc → .docx if needed: scripts/doc_to_docx.sh input.doc output_dir/

Preview before editing (avoids reading raw XML): scripts/docx_preview.sh document.docx

Analyze structure for editing scenarios: $CLI analyze --input document.docx

Scenario A: Create

Read references/scenario_a_create.md, references/typography_guide.md, and references/design_principles.md first. Pick an aesthetic recipe from Samples/AestheticRecipeSamples.cs that matches the document type — do not invent formatting values. For CJK, also read references/cjk_typography.md.

Choose your path:

Simple (plain text, minimal formatting): use CLI — $CLI create --type report --output out.docx --config content.json
Structural (custom styles, multi-section, TOC, images, complex tables): write C# directly. Read the relevant Samples/*.cs first.

Then run the validation pipeline (below).

Scenario B: Edit / Fill

Read references/scenario_b_edit_content.md first. Preview → analyze → edit → validate.

Choose your path:

Simple (text replacement, placeholder fill): use CLI subcommands.
Structural (add/reorganize sections, modify styles, manipulate tables, insert images): write C# directly. Read references/openxml_element_order.md and the relevant Samples/*.cs.

Available CLI edit subcommands:

replace-text --find "X" --replace "Y"
fill-placeholders --data '{"key":"value"}'
fill-table --data table.json
insert-section, remove-section, update-header-footer

$CLI edit replace-text --input in.docx --output out.docx --find "OLD" --replace "NEW"
$CLI edit fill-placeholders --input in.docx --output out.docx --data '{"name":"John"}'

Then run the validation pipeline. Also run diff to verify minimal changes:

$CLI diff --before in.docx --after out.docx

Scenario C: Apply Template

Read references/scenario_c_apply_template.md first. Preview and analyze both source and template.

$CLI apply-template --input source.docx --template template.docx --output out.docx

For complex template operations (multi-template merge, per-section headers/footers, style merging), write C# directly — see Critical Rules below for required patterns.

Run the validation pipeline, then the hard gate-check:

$CLI validate --input out.docx --gate-check assets/xsd/business-rules.xsd

Gate-check is a hard requirement. Do NOT deliver until it passes. If it fails: diagnose, fix, re-run.

Also diff to verify content preservation: $CLI diff --before source.docx --after out.docx

Validation pipeline

Run after every write operation. For Scenario C the full pipeline is mandatory; for A/B it is recommended (skip only if the operation was trivially simple).

$CLI merge-runs --input doc.docx                                    # 1. consolidate runs
$CLI validate --input doc.docx --xsd assets/xsd/wml-subset.xsd     # 2. XSD structure
$CLI validate --input doc.docx --business                           # 3. business rules

If XSD fails, auto-repair and retry:

$CLI fix-order --input doc.docx
$CLI validate --input doc.docx --xsd assets/xsd/wml-subset.xsd

If XSD still fails, fall back to business rules + preview:

$CLI validate --input doc.docx --business
scripts/docx_preview.sh doc.docx
# Verify: font contamination=0, table count correct, drawing count correct, sectPr count correct

Final preview: scripts/docx_preview.sh doc.docx

Critical rules

These prevent file corruption — OpenXML is strict about element ordering.

Element order (properties always first):

Parent	Order
`w:p`	`pPr` → runs
`w:r`	`rPr` → `t`/`br`/`tab`
`w:tbl`	`tblPr` → `tblGrid` → `tr`
`w:tr`	`trPr` → `tc`
`w:tc`	`tcPr` → `p` (min 1 `<w:p/>`)
`w:body`	block content → `sectPr` (LAST child)

Direct format contamination: When copying content from a source document, inline rPr (fonts, color) and pPr (borders, shading, spacing) override template styles. Always strip direct formatting — keep only pStyle reference and t text. Clean tables too (including pPr/rPr inside cells).

Track changes: <w:del> uses <w:delText>, never <w:t>. <w:ins> uses <w:t>, never <w:delText>.

Font size: w:sz = points × 2 (12pt → sz="24"). Margins/spacing in DXA (1 inch = 1440, 1cm ≈ 567).

Heading styles MUST have OutlineLevel: When defining heading styles (Heading1, ThesisH1, etc.), always include new OutlineLevel { Val = N } in StyleParagraphProperties (H1→0, H2→1, H3→2). Without this, Word sees them as plain styled text — TOC and navigation pane won't work.

Multi-template merge: When given multiple template files (font, heading, breaks), read references/scenario_c_apply_template.md section "Multi-Template Merge" FIRST. Key rules:

Merge styles from all templates into one styles.xml. Structure (sections/breaks) comes from the breaks template.
Each content paragraph must appear exactly ONCE — never duplicate when inserting section breaks.
NEVER insert empty/blank paragraphs as padding or section separators. Output paragraph count must equal input. Use section break properties (w:sectPr inside w:pPr) and style spacing (w:spacing before/after) for visual separation.
Insert oddPage section breaks before EVERY chapter heading, not just the first. Even if a chapter has dual-column content, it MUST start with oddPage; use a second continuous break after the heading for column switching.
Dual-column chapters need THREE section breaks: (1) oddPage in preceding para's pPr, (2) continuous+cols=2 in the chapter HEADING's pPr, (3) continuous+cols=1 in the last body para's pPr to revert.
Copy titlePg settings from the breaks template for EACH section. Abstract and TOC sections typically need titlePg=true.

Multi-section headers/footers: Templates with 10+ sections (e.g., Chinese thesis) have DIFFERENT headers/footers per section (Roman vs Arabic page numbers, different header text per zone). Rules:

Use C-2 Base-Replace: copy the TEMPLATE as output base, then replace body content. This preserves all sections, headers, footers, and titlePg settings automatically.
NEVER recreate headers/footers from scratch — copy template header/footer XML byte-for-byte.
NEVER add formatting (borders, alignment, font size) not present in the template header XML.
Non-cover sections MUST have header/footer XML files (at least empty header + page number footer).
See references/scenario_c_apply_template.md section "Multi-Section Header/Footer Transfer".

References

Load as needed — don't load all at once. Pick the most relevant files for the task.

The C# samples and design references below are the project's knowledge base ("encyclopedia"). When writing OpenXML code, ALWAYS read the relevant sample file first — it contains compilable, SDK-version-verified patterns that prevent common errors. When making aesthetic decisions, read the design principles and recipe files — they encode tested, harmonious parameter sets from authoritative sources (IEEE, ACM, APA, Nature, etc.), not guesses.

Scenario guides (read first for each pipeline)

File	When
`references/scenario_a_create.md`	Pipeline A: creating from scratch
`references/scenario_b_edit_content.md`	Pipeline B: editing existing content
`references/scenario_c_apply_template.md`	Pipeline C: applying template formatting

C# code samples (compilable, heavily commented — read when writing code)

File	Topic
`Samples/DocumentCreationSamples.cs`	Document lifecycle: create, open, save, streams, doc defaults, settings, properties, page setup, multi-section
`Samples/StyleSystemSamples.cs`	Styles: Normal/Heading chain, character/table/list styles, DocDefaults, latentStyles, CJK 公文, APA 7th, import, resolve inheritance
`Samples/CharacterFormattingSamples.cs`	RunProperties: fonts, size, bold/italic, all underlines, color, highlight, strike, sub/super, caps, spacing, shading, border, emphasis marks
`Samples/ParagraphFormattingSamples.cs`	ParagraphProperties: justification, indentation, line/paragraph spacing, keep/widow, outline level, borders, tabs, numbering, bidi, frame
`Samples/TableSamples.cs`	Tables: borders, grid, cell props, margins, row height, header repeat, merge (H+V), nested, floating, three-line 三线表, zebra striping
`Samples/HeaderFooterSamples.cs`	Headers/footers: page numbers, "Page X of Y", first/even/odd, logo image, table layout, 公文 "-X-", per-section
`Samples/ImageSamples.cs`	Images: inline, floating, text wrapping, border, alt text, in header/table, replace, SVG fallback, dimension calc
`Samples/ListAndNumberingSamples.cs`	Numbering: bullets, multi-level decimal, custom symbols, outline→headings, legal, Chinese 一/（一）/1./(1), restart/continue
`Samples/FieldAndTocSamples.cs`	Fields: TOC, SimpleField vs complex field, DATE/PAGE/REF/SEQ/MERGEFIELD/IF/STYLEREF, TOC styles
`Samples/FootnoteAndCommentSamples.cs`	Footnotes, endnotes, comments (4-file system), bookmarks, hyperlinks (internal + external)
`Samples/TrackChangesSamples.cs`	Revisions: insertions (w:t), deletions (w:delText!), formatting changes, accept/reject all, move tracking
`Samples/AestheticRecipeSamples.cs`	13 aesthetic recipes from authoritative sources: ModernCorporate, AcademicThesis, ExecutiveBrief, ChineseGovernment (GB/T 9704), MinimalModern, IEEE Conference, ACM sigconf, APA 7th, MLA 9th, Chicago/Turabian, Springer LNCS, Nature, HBR — each with exact values from official style guides

Note: Samples/ path is relative to scripts/dotnet/MiniMaxAIDocx.Core/.

Markdown references (read when you need specifications or design rules)

File	When
`references/openxml_element_order.md`	XML element ordering rules (prevents corruption)
`references/openxml_units.md`	Unit conversion: DXA, EMU, half-points, eighth-points
`references/openxml_encyclopedia_part1.md`	Detailed C# encyclopedia: document creation, styles, character & paragraph formatting
`references/openxml_encyclopedia_part2.md`	Detailed C# encyclopedia: page setup, tables, headers/footers, sections, doc properties
`references/openxml_encyclopedia_part3.md`	Detailed C# encyclopedia: TOC, footnotes, fields, track changes, comments, images, math, numbering, protection
`references/typography_guide.md`	Font pairing, sizes, spacing, page layout, table design, color schemes
`references/cjk_typography.md`	CJK fonts, 字号 sizes, RunFonts mapping, GB/T 9704 公文 standard
`references/cjk_university_template_guide.md`	Chinese university thesis templates: numeric styleIds (1/2/3 vs Heading1), document zone structure (cover→abstract→TOC→body→references), font expectations, common mistakes
`references/design_principles.md`	Aesthetic foundations: 6 design principles (white space, contrast/scale, proximity, alignment, repetition, hierarchy) — teaches WHY, not just WHAT
`references/design_good_bad_examples.md`	Good vs Bad comparisons: 10 categories of typography mistakes with OpenXML values, ASCII mockups, and fixes
`references/track_changes_guide.md`	Revision marks deep dive
`references/troubleshooting.md`	Symptom-driven fixes: 13 common problems indexed by what you SEE (headings wrong, images missing, TOC broken, etc.) — search by symptom, find the fix