wolfdocx

Edit .docx files in Python. wolfdocx is a python-docx alternative that opens an existing Word document, applies your edits in place, and saves a new package where every part you did not touch is copied byte-for-byte from the original.

• Pure Python, no runtime dependencies.
• Python 3.11 or newer.
• MIT licensed.

Install

pip install wolfdocx

Quickstart

Open an existing .docx, read its paragraphs and tables, make a few edits, and save the result to a new file.

from wolfdocx import Document

with Document("contract.docx") as doc:
    # The first story under doc.node is the main document body.
    body = doc.node.children[0]

    for paragraph in body.paragraphs:
        print(paragraph.to_string("txt").rstrip("\n"))

    for table in body.tables:
        print(table.to_string("txt"))

    # Replace the text of one run. Paragraph and run indices are zero-based and
    # count the direct paragraphs of the body and the direct runs of that paragraph.
    first_run = body.paragraphs[0].runs[0]
    doc.set_run_text(0, 0, "Master Services Agreement", expected_old_text=first_run.text)

    # Regular-expression find and replace across runs.
    replaced = doc.find_replace(r"ACME Corp\.?", "Acme Corporation")
    print(replaced.status, replaced.replacement_count)

    # Add a plain paragraph after the last body paragraph.
    added = doc.append_paragraph("Signed electronically.")
    print(added.status)

    report = doc.save("contract-edited.docx")
    print(report.status, report.changed_parts, report.raw_copied_parts)

Edits are held in memory until save(path) writes a new file, and doc.node is a snapshot: read it again after an edit to see the updated tree.

When to use WolfDocx instead of python-docx

Use WolfDocx when you need targeted edits to an existing document and want every untouched package part to remain byte-for-byte identical.

• In-place edits. Each edit rewrites only the XML part it targets. Run properties, attributes, and neighboring markup stay where they were.
• Byte-for-byte preservation. On save, every package part you did not change is copied from the source archive unchanged. report.changed_parts lists the parts that were rewritten and report.raw_copied_parts counts the parts copied as-is.
• Verified, no-clobber saves. The output is staged and checked before it is published. save refuses to replace an existing file and reports status == "refused" with a code explaining why.
• Explicit refusals. An edit that cannot be applied safely, such as a find_replace pattern with no match, returns a report with status == "refused" and leaves the document unchanged. set_run_text raises RunTextEditError for bad indices or an expected_old_text mismatch.

wolfdocx works on .docx packages. It does not render pages, convert to PDF, or read legacy binary .doc files.

Commercial capabilities

Commercial capabilities are available at https://wolfdocx.com.

Contributing

python -m pip install -e ".[dev]"
ruff check .
python -m pytest

Report bugs at https://github.com/wolfiesch/wolfdocx-oss/issues. For security issues, see SECURITY.md.

License

MIT. See LICENSE.