Document Generator Skill

Generate professional Word (.docx), Excel (.xlsx), and PDF documents with comprehensive formatting support including fonts, colors, tables, images, layouts, and more.

When to Use This Skill

Use this skill when the user needs to:

• Create Word documents with rich formatting (headings, paragraphs, tables, images, styles)
• Generate Excel spreadsheets with formulas, styling, and data
• Export content to PDF format with professional layouts
• Work with document templates and fill them with data
• Create reports, invoices, data exports, or any formatted document output

Core Capabilities

Word Documents (.docx)

• Text formatting: font family, size, color, bold, italic, underline
• Paragraph styles: alignment, spacing, indentation
• Tables with custom styling and borders
• Images with positioning and sizing
• Headers and footers
• Page layout: margins, orientation, page size
• Bullet and numbered lists
• Hyperlinks

Excel Spreadsheets (.xlsx)

• Cell formatting: font, size, color, background
• Formulas and calculations
• Multiple sheets
• Column widths and row heights
• Cell borders and alignment
• Number formatting (currency, percentage, dates)
• Merged cells
• Freeze panes

PDF Documents (.pdf)

• Text with custom fonts, sizes, and colors
• Paragraphs with alignment
• Tables with styling
• Images
• Page layout and margins
• Multi-page documents
• Headers and footers

How to Use

Step 1: Understand the Requirements

Ask clarifying questions if needed:

• What type of document? (Word/Excel/PDF)
• What content should it contain?
• Any specific formatting requirements?
• Should it use a template?
• Where should the output be saved?

Step 2: Choose the Right Script

The skill provides three main scripts in the scripts/ directory:

• generate_word.py - For Word documents
• generate_excel.py - For Excel spreadsheets
• generate_pdf.py - For PDF documents

Each script accepts a JSON configuration that describes the document structure and content.

Step 3: Prepare the Configuration

Create a JSON configuration file that describes the document. The structure varies by document type - see the reference files for detailed schemas:

• references/word_schema.md - Word document configuration
• references/excel_schema.md - Excel spreadsheet configuration
• references/pdf_schema.md - PDF document configuration

Step 4: Generate the Document

Run the appropriate script with the configuration:

python document-generator/scripts/generate_word.py config.json output.docx
python document-generator/scripts/generate_excel.py config.json output.xlsx
python document-generator/scripts/generate_pdf.py config.json output.pdf

Step 5: Verify and Iterate

Check the generated document and make adjustments to the configuration if needed.

Working with Templates

All three document types support template-based generation:

1. Word Templates: Use existing .docx files and replace placeholders
2. Excel Templates: Use existing .xlsx files and fill in data
3. PDF Templates: Define reusable layouts in the configuration

To use a template, include a template field in your configuration pointing to the template file path.

Configuration Examples

Simple Word Document

{
  "page_setup": {
    "margins": {"top": 1, "bottom": 1, "left": 1, "right": 1}
  },
  "content": [
    {
      "type": "heading",
      "text": "Monthly Report",
      "level": 1
    },
    {
      "type": "paragraph",
      "text": "This is the report content.",
      "font": {"name": "Arial", "size": 11}
    }
  ]
}

Simple Excel Spreadsheet

{
  "sheets": [
    {
      "name": "Sales Data",
      "data": [
        ["Product", "Quantity", "Price", "Total"],
        ["Widget A", 10, 25.50, "=B2*C2"],
        ["Widget B", 5, 30.00, "=B3*C3"]
      ],
      "formatting": {
        "header_row": 0,
        "column_widths": [15, 10, 10, 10]
      }
    }
  ]
}

Simple PDF Document

{
  "page_setup": {
    "size": "A4",
    "margins": {"top": 20, "bottom": 20, "left": 20, "right": 20}
  },
  "content": [
    {
      "type": "text",
      "text": "Invoice #12345",
      "font": {"name": "Helvetica-Bold", "size": 18}
    },
    {
      "type": "paragraph",
      "text": "Thank you for your business.",
      "font": {"name": "Helvetica", "size": 12}
    }
  ]
}

Best Practices

1. Start Simple: Begin with basic formatting and add complexity as needed
2. Use Templates: For recurring document types, create templates to save time
3. Validate Data: Check that data types match expected formats (numbers, dates, etc.)
4. Test Incrementally: Generate documents frequently during development to catch issues early
5. Handle Errors Gracefully: Provide clear error messages if configuration is invalid

Troubleshooting

Missing Dependencies: If scripts fail, ensure required Python packages are installed:

pip install python-docx openpyxl reportlab Pillow

Font Issues: If custom fonts don't work, verify the font name is correct and available on the system.

Image Problems: Ensure image paths are absolute or relative to the script execution directory.

Excel Formulas: Use Excel formula syntax (e.g., =SUM(A1:A10)) as strings in the data array.

Advanced Features

For complex documents, refer to the detailed reference files:

• references/word_schema.md - Complete Word configuration options
• references/excel_schema.md - Complete Excel configuration options
• references/pdf_schema.md - Complete PDF configuration options

These references include examples of:

• Complex table layouts
• Image positioning and sizing
• Advanced styling and themes
• Multi-page layouts
• Template variable substitution
• Conditional formatting