docx-processing-lawvable

DOCX Live Editor

Edit Word documents with live preview and track changes in VS Code via SuperDoc extension.

How It Works

1. Write custom command to path/to/.superdoc/{docname}.json
2. Extension executes and overwrites file with response
3. Changes appear live in SuperDoc webview.

State: "command" field = pending | "success" field = response ready

Prerequisites

1. SuperDoc extension installed. Verify:

   code --profile "Lawvable" --list-extensions | grep -i superdoc
   

2. Document must be open in VS Code before editing:

   code --profile "Lawvable" path/to/doc.docx
   

3. Create new blank document:

   code --open-url "vscode://superdoc.superdoc-vscode-extension/create?path=./new-document.docx"
   

   Path can be relative or absolute. .docx extension added automatically if missing.

If code command not found: Use full path /Applications/Visual Studio Code.app/Contents/Resources/app/bin/code instead.

File Structure

The .superdoc/ folder must be in the same directory as the DOCX file. The JSON file uses the same basename as the DOCX:

project/
├── contract.docx              ← document at root
├── .superdoc/
│   └── contract.json          ← commands for contract.docx
└── subfolder/
    ├── report.docx            ← document in subfolder
    └── .superdoc/
        └── report.json        ← commands for subfolder/report.docx

Workflow

CRITICAL RULES:

• NEVER send the next command until you receive {"success": ...} from the previous one
• If response shows the raw command JSON instead of a result, the document is NOT active — re-open it first

Command Pattern

Write command, poll until response contains "success", then read:

echo '{"command":"...","args":{...}}' > path/to/.superdoc/doc.json && until grep -q '"success"' path/to/.superdoc/doc.json; do sleep 0.1; done && cat path/to/.superdoc/doc.json

Step 1: Clarify Author (once per session)

Before making any edits, ALWAYS use AskUserQuestion to ask whether changes should be attributed to the user (ask their name) or the agent. If the user wants their name, pass "author":{"name":"Their Name"} in every replaceText, insertContent, insertTable, and addComment command.

Step 2: Read First (and verify document is active)

mkdir -p path/to/.superdoc && echo '{"command":"getText","args":{"format":"text"}}' > path/to/.superdoc/doc.json && until grep -q '"success"' path/to/.superdoc/doc.json; do sleep 0.1; done && cat path/to/.superdoc/doc.json

Verifying document is active: The response MUST contain {"success": true, "result": ...}. If you see:

• The raw command JSON back → document not open, re-open with code --profile "Lawvable" path/to/doc.docx
• {"success": false, "error": "No active editor"} → document not focused, re-open it

Do NOT proceed to Step 3 until you get a successful response with document content.

Step 3: Make Edit

echo '{"command":"replaceText","args":{"search":"2024","replacement":"2025"}}' > path/to/.superdoc/doc.json && until grep -q '"success"' path/to/.superdoc/doc.json; do sleep 0.1; done && cat path/to/.superdoc/doc.json

Step 4: Trust the Response

Do NOT re-verify edits with getText. The command response {"success": true, "replacedCount": N} is the source of truth.

Why: With track changes enabled, getText returns both deleted AND inserted text concatenated (e.g., "LawvableJamie" instead of "Jamie"). This is expected — the deleted text is visually struck through but still present in plain text extraction.

Multi-Edit Pattern

Repeat Steps 2-4 for each edit. Each as a separate bash call.

When to Use Which Command (Track Changes Guide)

Key principle: Use replaceText only when you're CHANGING existing text. Use insertContent when you're ADDING new text.

Task	Command	Track Changes Display
Change a value	replaceText	2024 2025
Fill a placeholder	replaceText	[NAME] John
Fix a typo	replaceText	teh the
Change a word	replaceText	shall must
Add a word to sentence	insertContent	existing text added word
Add a new paragraph	insertContent	entire new paragraph
Add a new section	insertContent	entire new section
Add disclaimer	insertContent	disclaimer text
Add review comment	addComment	(comment balloon, no track change)

Search & Best Practices

Search extracts plain text only, ignoring all formatting:

• ✅ Matches across bold/normal, track changes, paragraphs
• ✅ Whitespace flexible (extra spaces/tabs/line breaks OK)
• Returns first occurrence. Use occurrence parameter for nth match, or include more context to make pattern unique.

Use unique phrases (5+ words):

• ❌ "the" or "Agreement" (too common)
• ✅ "agrees to pay the sum of" or "Section 3.2 Confidentiality"

Don't worry about formatting in search - matches across bold, track changes, etc.

Use occurrence for ambiguous matches (1-indexed):

{"command":"replaceText","args":{"search":"the","replacement":"that","occurrence":3}}

For insertions, find unique anchor text nearby.

Commands

getText - Read Document Content

// Get both text and HTML (default)
{"command":"getText","args":{}}

// Get only plain text (fewer tokens)
{"command":"getText","args":{"format":"text"}}

// Get only HTML (preserves structure)
{"command":"getText","args":{"format":"html"}}

Formats: text (plain text with paragraph breaks), html (full HTML), both (default)

getNodes - Get Document Structure

Get all nodes of a specific type with their positions. Useful for understanding document structure before making edits.

// Get all paragraphs (use to identify section titles for TOC)
{"command":"getNodes","args":{"type":"paragraph"}}

// Get all tables
{"command":"getNodes","args":{"type":"table"}}

Valid types: paragraph, table, tableRow, tableCell, bulletList, orderedList, listItem, image, blockquote

Returns:

{
  "nodes": [
    {"index": 0, "type": "paragraph", "from": 0, "to": 31, "text": "Non-Disclosure Agreement", "textLength": 24},
    {"index": 1, "type": "paragraph", "from": 227, "to": 241, "text": "Background", "textLength": 10},
    {"index": 2, "type": "paragraph", "from": 586, "to": 601, "text": "Definitions", "textLength": 11, "marker": "1."}
  ],
  "count": 3
}

replaceText - Find and Replace (DELETION + INSERTION)

Use when: Changing existing text to something different. The found text is DELETED and replaced. Track changes effect: Shows as deleted text + new text (strikethrough + underline). Scope: Replaces ALL occurrences by default. Use occurrence parameter to replace only the Nth match.

// Change a value: "2024" → "2025"
{"command":"replaceText","args":{"search":"2024","replacement":"2025"}}

// Change a placeholder: "[ORG_NAME]" → "Lawvable"
{"command":"replaceText","args":{"search":"[ORG_NAME]","replacement":"Lawvable"}}

// Change a word: "shall" → "must"
{"command":"replaceText","args":{"search":"shall","replacement":"must","occurrence":1}}

// Add formatting to existing text (text is replaced with formatted version)
{"command":"replaceText","args":{"search":"Important Notice","replacement":"<strong>Important Notice</strong>"}}

insertContent - Insert New Content (INSERTION ONLY)

Use when: Adding new text/elements while keeping the anchor text intact. The anchor text STAYS, new content is added before/after. Track changes effect: Shows as new text only (underline, no strikethrough).

CRITICAL: When you need to ADD words to a sentence without changing existing words, you MUST use insertContent, NOT replaceText. Using replaceText will show the entire sentence as deleted and rewritten, which clutters the track changes view.

// CORRECT: Add a word after existing text - shows only the addition as tracked
// Original: "The party agrees to pay"  →  Result: "The party agrees to pay promptly"
{"command":"insertContent","args":{"content":" promptly","position":{"after":"agrees to pay"}}}

// WRONG: Using replaceText to add a word - shows entire phrase as deleted + rewritten
// This would show: "~~agrees to pay~~" + "agrees to pay promptly" (ugly track changes!)
// {"command":"replaceText","args":{"search":"agrees to pay","replacement":"agrees to pay promptly"}}

// Add a new section after a heading
{"command":"insertContent","args":{"content":"<h2>New Section</h2><p>Content here.</p>","position":{"after":"Introduction"}}}

// Add a disclaimer before signatures
{"command":"insertContent","args":{"content":"<p>By signing below, parties confirm agreement.</p>","position":{"before":"Signatures"}}}

// Add a clause after a section
{"command":"insertContent","args":{"content":"<p>Additional clause text.</p>","position":{"after":"Section 2."},"author":{"name":"Jane Smith"}}}

insertTable - Create a Table

// Insert 3x4 table after specific text
{"command":"insertTable","args":{"rows":3,"cols":4,"position":{"after":"Introduction"}}}

// Insert 2x2 table (default) before specific text
{"command":"insertTable","args":{"position":{"before":"Signatures"}}}

// Pre-populated table with headers and data (dimensions inferred)
{"command":"insertTable","args":{"data":[["Name","Role"],["Alice","Engineer"]],"position":{"after":"Team:"}}}

// Cells support HTML formatting
{"command":"insertTable","args":{"data":[["<strong>Header</strong>"],["Value"]]}}

// With custom author for track changes
{"command":"insertTable","args":{"rows":2,"cols":3,"author":{"name":"John"}}}

Parameters:

• rows, cols - Dimensions (default: 2, or inferred from data)
• data - 2D array of cell contents (row-major). Supports plain text or HTML. Empty strings for blank cells.
• position - {"after": "text"} or {"before": "text"} for anchor-based positioning
• author - Optional author for track changes attribution

addComment - Add Comment to Text

// Add a comment on specific text
{"command":"addComment","args":{"search":"confidential information","comment":"This clause needs legal review"}}

// Comment on nth occurrence
{"command":"addComment","args":{"search":"Party","comment":"Verify party name","occurrence":2}}

Parameters:

• search (required) - Text to find and attach comment to
• comment (required) - The comment text
• occurrence - Which match (1-indexed), defaults to first
• author - Optional {name, email} for attribution

formatText - Apply Formatting

Apply text styling, paragraph properties, and heading conversion. Not tracked (applied directly for performance).

// Multiple text formats on entire document
{"command":"formatText","args":{"fontFamily":"Arial","fontSize":"12pt","color":"#333333","scope":"document"}}

// Bold + highlight on specific range (use getNodes to find positions)
{"command":"formatText","args":{"bold":true,"highlight":"#FFEB3B","scope":{"from":100,"to":200}}}

// Remove formatting (false removes, omit leaves unchanged)
{"command":"formatText","args":{"bold":false,"highlight":false,"scope":{"from":100,"to":200}}}

// Add hyperlink to text range
{"command":"formatText","args":{"link":"https://example.com","scope":{"from":100,"to":120}}}

// Remove hyperlink
{"command":"formatText","args":{"link":false,"scope":{"from":100,"to":120}}}

// Set line height on entire document
{"command":"formatText","args":{"lineHeight":"1.5","scope":"document"}}

// Set spacing + indent
{"command":"formatText","args":{"spacingBefore":"12pt","spacingAfter":"6pt","indent":36,"scope":"document"}}

// Align text right (use with scope from getNodes)
{"command":"formatText","args":{"textAlign":"right","scope":{"from":0,"to":25}}}

Text-level parameters:

• fontFamily - Font name (e.g., "Arial", "Times New Roman")
• fontSize - Size with unit (e.g., "12pt", "14px")
• color - Text color as CSS (e.g., "#ff0000", "red")
• highlight - Background color, or false to remove
• bold, italic, underline, strikethrough - true to apply, false to remove, omit to leave unchanged
• link - URL string to create hyperlink, or false to remove

Block-level parameters:

• textAlign - Paragraph alignment: left, center, right, justify
• lineHeight - Line spacing (e.g., "1.0", "1.5", "2.0")
• indent - Left indentation in points (e.g., 36 for 0.5", 72 for 1"). Use 0 to remove.
• spacingBefore - Space before paragraph (e.g., "12pt", "6pt")
• spacingAfter - Space after paragraph (e.g., "12pt", "6pt")

Scope: "document" for entire doc, or {"from": N, "to": M} for range. Use getNodes to find positions.

insertTableOfContents - Create TOC with Bookmarks

Insert a proper table of contents with internal navigation links. You identify the heading entries (position + level), the command handles bookmarks and TOC node creation.

Workflow:

1. Use getNodes with type paragraph to get all paragraph positions
2. Identify which paragraphs are section titles (by text content, bold styling, numbering, etc.). Numbered paragraphs include a marker field (e.g., "marker": "1.") — the TOC automatically prepends it to the entry text.
3. Pass their positions and heading levels to insertTableOfContents

// TOC matching document font (always pass style with fontFamily + fontSize)
{"command":"insertTableOfContents","args":{"entries":[{"level":1,"from":227,"to":241},{"level":2,"from":586,"to":601}],"position":{"after":"Non-Disclosure Agreement"},"style":{"fontFamily":"Arial","fontSize":"10pt"}}}

// Custom title
{"command":"insertTableOfContents","args":{"entries":[{"level":2,"from":229,"to":243}],"style":{"fontFamily":"Arial","fontSize":"10pt"},"title":"Contents"}}

// No title
{"command":"insertTableOfContents","args":{"entries":[{"level":2,"from":229,"to":243}],"style":{"fontFamily":"Arial","fontSize":"10pt"},"title":""}}

Parameters:

• entries (required) - Array of {level: 1-6, from: N, to: M}. Positions from getNodes output. The command reads the text automatically.
• position - {"after": "text"} or {"before": "text"} (default: beginning of document)
• title - TOC title (default: "Table of Contents", "" for none)
• style (required) - {fontFamily, fontSize} to match the document's font conventions. ALWAYS detect the document's font family and size from getText with html format and pass them here. Bold and black (#000000) are applied by default. The title is automatically 2pt larger than entries. Optional: color to override the default black.
• author - Optional author for track changes attribution

The command inserts invisible bookmarks at each heading and creates TOC entries with internal links pointing to them. All entries are automatically left-indented based on their level (0.5" per level). The existing text and styling are not modified.

deleteTableOfContents - Remove TOC

Delete the table of contents from the document.

// Remove TOC only
{"command":"deleteTableOfContents","args":{}}

// Remove TOC and its bookmarks
{"command":"deleteTableOfContents","args":{"removeBookmarks":true}}

undo / redo - History Navigation

// Undo the last action
{"command":"undo","args":{}}

// Redo the last undone action
{"command":"redo","args":{}}

Returns: {"success": true} if action was undone/redone, {"success": false} if nothing to undo/redo.

acceptAllChanges / rejectAllChanges - Finalize Track Changes

Accept or reject all tracked changes in the document. Use after edits are complete and reviewed.

// Accept all tracked changes (removes strikethroughs, keeps insertions)
{"command":"acceptAllChanges","args":{}}

// Reject all tracked changes (removes insertions, restores deleted text)
{"command":"rejectAllChanges","args":{}}

Note: After accepting all changes, getText will return clean text without the deleted content concatenated.

Header/Footer Editing

Edit document headers and footers by switching editing mode. While in header/footer mode, all commands (getText, replaceText, insertContent, etc.) operate on the header/footer content instead of the body.

focusHeader / focusFooter - Enter Header/Footer Mode

{"command":"focusHeader","args":{}}
{"command":"focusFooter","args":{}}

exitHeaderFooter - Return to Body Mode

{"command":"exitHeaderFooter","args":{}}

Header/Footer Workflow

# 1. Focus header
echo '{"command":"focusHeader","args":{}}' > .superdoc/doc.json && until grep -q '"success"' .superdoc/doc.json; do sleep 0.1; done && cat .superdoc/doc.json

# 2. Read current header content
echo '{"command":"getText","args":{"format":"text"}}' > .superdoc/doc.json && until grep -q '"success"' .superdoc/doc.json; do sleep 0.1; done && cat .superdoc/doc.json

# 3. Insert content (no position needed for empty header/footer)
echo '{"command":"insertContent","args":{"content":"<p>CONFIDENTIAL</p>"}}' > .superdoc/doc.json && until grep -q '"success"' .superdoc/doc.json; do sleep 0.1; done && cat .superdoc/doc.json

# 4. Exit back to body
echo '{"command":"exitHeaderFooter","args":{}}' > .superdoc/doc.json && until grep -q '"success"' .superdoc/doc.json; do sleep 0.1; done && cat .superdoc/doc.json

Notes:

• Header/footer must be defined in the DOCX structure (cannot create new ones, but can edit empty ones)
• For empty headers/footers, insertContent without a position argument inserts at the start
• Always exitHeaderFooter when done to return to body editing

HTML Formatting

Format	HTML
Headings	<h1>, <h2>, <h3>
Paragraph	<p>Text</p>
Bold/Italic/Underline	<strong>, <em>, <u>
Color	<span style="color: red">text</span>
Lists	<ul><li>...</li></ul>, <ol><li>...</li></ol>
Link	<a href="url">text</a>

Adding a link to existing text:

Use formatText with link parameter and position scope:

// Step 1: Get paragraph positions
{"command":"getNodes","args":{"type":"paragraph"}}

// Step 2: Apply link to the target range
{"command":"formatText","args":{"link":"https://example.com","scope":{"from":218,"to":230}}}

Important: Replacement strings are only parsed as HTML if they start with <tag> and end with </tag>. Including text before/after (e.g., (<a>text</a>)) treats the entire string as literal text.

Creating lists with insertContent:

// Bullet list
{"command":"insertContent","args":{"content":"<ul><li>First</li><li>Second</li></ul>","position":{"after":"Key points:"}}}

// Numbered list with nested items and formatting
{"command":"insertContent","args":{"content":"<ol><li><strong>Step one</strong><ul><li>Sub-item</li></ul></li><li>Step two</li></ol>","position":{"after":"Instructions:"}}}

Bulk Editing (Multiple Documents)

When edits target multiple documents, iterate sequentially — open each document, make the edits, verify, then move to the next. Do NOT use subagents; sequential iteration is simpler and avoids race conditions.

Pattern:

for each document:
    1. Open: code --profile "Lawvable" path/to/doc.docx
    2. Read: getText
    3. Edit: replaceText / insertContent
    4. Verify response shows success

Keep documents open in tabs — no need to close between edits.

Troubleshooting

• Command not executing / raw JSON returned: Document not open. Re-open with code --profile "Lawvable" path/to/doc.docx and retry.
• code command not found: Use full path /Applications/Visual Studio Code.app/Contents/Resources/app/bin/code instead.
• "Text not found" error: Use getText first to see actual content, then include more surrounding context in search string.
• Corrupted replacement: Commands sent without waiting for responses. Always wait for {"success": ...} before sending the next command.