Office Word MCP Server

What is Office Word MCP Server about?

Office Word MCP Server provides a set of tools and resources that expose Microsoft Word document operations—such as creation, content insertion, formatting, table handling, comment extraction, and protection—via the Model Context Protocol. AI assistants can invoke these functions to work with .docx files without needing direct access to the Word application.

How to use Office Word MCP Server?

1. Install the server (recommended via Smithery):

   npx -y @smithery/cli install @GongRzhe/Office-Word-MCP-Server --client claude
   

2. Configure your MCP client (e.g., Claude for Desktop) to point to the server executable (python word_mcp_server.py or the installed package).
3. Invoke the available functions through your AI assistant by issuing natural‑language commands such as “create a new document called report.docx” or “add a 4x4 table with sales data”.
4. The server returns structured responses and updates the target Word files on your filesystem.

Key Features of Office Word MCP Server

• Document lifecycle: create, copy, merge, convert to PDF, list files.
• Content creation: headings, paragraphs, tables, images, page breaks, footnotes/endnotes.
• Rich text formatting: bold, italic, underline, color, font family/size, style application.
• Advanced table tooling: borders, shading, header rows, cell merging, alignment, padding, column‑width control, auto‑fit, alternating row colors.
• Document protection: password locking, editable sections, digital signatures.
• Comment management: extract all comments, filter by author, retrieve per‑paragraph comments.
• Search & replace, paragraph deletion, custom style definition.
• Detailed troubleshooting flags via MCP_DEBUG.

Use Cases

• Report Generation – Automate creation of structured business reports with styled headings, tables, and footnotes.
• Technical Documentation – Build complex tables, callout boxes, and maintain consistent formatting across large manuals.
• Legal Review – Extract and filter comments, protect documents with passwords, and verify signatures.
• Educational Content – Insert images, page breaks, and formatted text for lesson plans or worksheets.
• Batch Processing – Convert multiple Word files to PDF, merge documents, or apply bulk formatting changes.

FAQ

Q: Do I need Microsoft Word installed? A: No. The server uses the python‑docx library to manipulate .docx files directly.

Q: Which Python version is required? A: Python 3.8 or newer.

Q: How are colors specified for table cells? A: Use hex codes without the ‘#’ (e.g., FF0000 for red) or standard color names.

Q: Can I run the server without installing dependencies manually? A: Yes. Use the provided setup_mcp.py script or the Smithery installation command, which sets up a virtual environment and installs all requirements automatically.

Q: How do I enable detailed logs? A: Set the environment variable MCP_DEBUG=1 before starting the server.

Q: Is there support for Linux/macOS and Windows? A: The server is cross‑platform; configuration files for Claude Desktop differ by OS (see the README for exact paths).

Office-Word-MCP-Server

A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server for creating, reading, and manipulating Microsoft Word documents. This server enables AI assistants to work with Word documents through a standardized interface, providing rich document editing capabilities.

Overview

Office-Word-MCP-Server implements the Model Context Protocol to expose Word document operations as tools and resources. It serves as a bridge between AI assistants and Microsoft Word documents, allowing for document creation, content addition, formatting, and analysis.

The server features a modular architecture that separates concerns into core functionality, tools, and utilities, making it highly maintainable and extensible for future enhancements.

Example

Pormpt

Output

Features

Document Management

• Create new Word documents with metadata
• Extract text and analyze document structure
• View document properties and statistics
• List available documents in a directory
• Create copies of existing documents
• Merge multiple documents into a single document
• Convert Word documents to PDF format

Content Creation

• Add headings with different levels
• Insert paragraphs with optional styling
• Create tables with custom data
• Add images with proportional scaling
• Insert page breaks
• Add footnotes and endnotes to documents
• Convert footnotes to endnotes
• Customize footnote and endnote styling
• Create professional table layouts for technical documentation
• Design callout boxes and formatted content for instructional materials
• Build structured data tables for business reports with consistent styling

Rich Text Formatting

• Format specific text sections (bold, italic, underline)
• Change text color and font properties
• Apply custom styles to text elements
• Search and replace text throughout documents
• Individual cell text formatting within tables
• Multiple formatting combinations for enhanced visual appeal
• Font customization with family and size control

Table Formatting

• Format tables with borders and styles
• Create header rows with distinct formatting
• Apply cell shading and custom borders
• Structure tables for better readability
• Individual cell background shading with color support
• Alternating row colors for improved readability
• Enhanced header row highlighting with custom colors
• Cell text formatting with bold, italic, underline, color, font size, and font family
• Comprehensive color support with named colors and hex color codes
• Cell padding management with independent control of all sides
• Cell alignment (horizontal and vertical positioning)
• Cell merging (horizontal, vertical, and rectangular areas)
• Column width management with multiple units (points, percentage, auto-fit)
• Auto-fit capabilities for dynamic column sizing
• Professional callout table support with icon cells and styled content

Advanced Document Manipulation

• Delete paragraphs
• Create custom document styles
• Apply consistent formatting throughout documents
• Format specific ranges of text with detailed control
• Flexible padding units with support for points and percentage-based measurements
• Clear, readable table presentation with proper alignment and spacing

Document Protection

• Add password protection to documents
• Implement restricted editing with editable sections
• Add digital signatures to documents
• Verify document authenticity and integrity

Comment Extraction

• Extract all comments from a document
• Filter comments by author
• Get comments for specific paragraphs
• Access comment metadata (author, date, text)

Installation

Installing via Smithery

To install Office Word Document Server for Claude Desktop automatically via Smithery:

npx -y @smithery/cli install @GongRzhe/Office-Word-MCP-Server --client claude

Prerequisites

• Python 3.8 or higher
• pip package manager

Basic Installation

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/GongRzhe/Office-Word-MCP-Server.git
cd Office-Word-MCP-Server

# Install dependencies
pip install -r requirements.txt

Using the Setup Script

Alternatively, you can use the provided setup script which handles:

• Checking prerequisites
• Setting up a virtual environment
• Installing dependencies
• Generating MCP configuration

python setup_mcp.py

Usage with Claude for Desktop

Configuration

Method 1: After Local Installation

1. After installation, add the server to your Claude for Desktop configuration file:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "word-document-server": {
      "command": "python",
      "args": ["/path/to/word_mcp_server.py"]
    }
  }
}

Method 2: Without Installation (Using uvx)

1. You can also configure Claude for Desktop to use the server without local installation by using the uvx package manager:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "word-document-server": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["--from", "office-word-mcp-server", "word_mcp_server"]
    }
  }
}

2. Configuration file locations:

   • macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
   • Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

3. Restart Claude for Desktop to load the configuration.

Example Operations

Once configured, you can ask Claude to perform operations like:

• "Create a new document called 'report.docx' with a title page"
• "Add a heading and three paragraphs to my document"
• "Insert a 4x4 table with sales data"
• "Format the word 'important' in paragraph 2 to be bold and red"
• "Search and replace all instances of 'old term' with 'new term'"
• "Create a custom style for section headings"
• "Apply formatting to the table in my document"
• "Extract all comments from my document"
• "Show me all comments by John Doe"
• "Get comments for paragraph 3"
• "Make the text in table cell (1,2) bold and blue with 14pt font"
• "Add 10 points of padding to all sides of the header cells"
• "Create a callout table with a blue checkmark icon and white text"
• "Set the first column width to 50 points and auto-fit the remaining columns"
• "Apply alternating row colors to make the table more readable"

API Reference

Document Creation and Properties

create_document(filename, title=None, author=None)
get_document_info(filename)
get_document_text(filename)
get_document_outline(filename)
list_available_documents(directory=".")
copy_document(source_filename, destination_filename=None)
convert_to_pdf(filename, output_filename=None)

Content Addition

add_heading(filename, text, level=1)
add_paragraph(filename, text, style=None)
add_table(filename, rows, cols, data=None)
add_picture(filename, image_path, width=None)
add_page_break(filename)

Content Extraction

get_document_text(filename)
get_paragraph_text_from_document(filename, paragraph_index)
find_text_in_document(filename, text_to_find, match_case=True, whole_word=False)

Text Formatting

format_text(filename, paragraph_index, start_pos, end_pos, bold=None,
            italic=None, underline=None, color=None, font_size=None, font_name=None)
search_and_replace(filename, find_text, replace_text)
delete_paragraph(filename, paragraph_index)
create_custom_style(filename, style_name, bold=None, italic=None,
                    font_size=None, font_name=None, color=None, base_style=None)

Table Formatting

format_table(filename, table_index, has_header_row=None,
             border_style=None, shading=None)
set_table_cell_shading(filename, table_index, row_index, col_index, 
                      fill_color, pattern="clear")
apply_table_alternating_rows(filename, table_index, 
                            color1="FFFFFF", color2="F2F2F2")
highlight_table_header(filename, table_index, 
                      header_color="4472C4", text_color="FFFFFF")

# Cell merging tools
merge_table_cells(filename, table_index, start_row, start_col, end_row, end_col)
merge_table_cells_horizontal(filename, table_index, row_index, start_col, end_col)
merge_table_cells_vertical(filename, table_index, col_index, start_row, end_row)

# Cell alignment tools
set_table_cell_alignment(filename, table_index, row_index, col_index,
                        horizontal="left", vertical="top")
set_table_alignment_all(filename, table_index, 
                       horizontal="left", vertical="top")

# Cell text formatting tools
format_table_cell_text(filename, table_index, row_index, col_index,
                      text_content=None, bold=None, italic=None, underline=None,
                      color=None, font_size=None, font_name=None)

# Cell padding tools
set_table_cell_padding(filename, table_index, row_index, col_index,
                      top=None, bottom=None, left=None, right=None, unit="points")

# Column width management
set_table_column_width(filename, table_index, col_index, width, width_type="points")
set_table_column_widths(filename, table_index, widths, width_type="points")
set_table_width(filename, table_index, width, width_type="points")
auto_fit_table_columns(filename, table_index)

Comment Extraction

get_all_comments(filename)
get_comments_by_author(filename, author)
get_comments_for_paragraph(filename, paragraph_index)

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

1. Missing Styles

   • Some documents may lack required styles for heading and table operations
   • The server will attempt to create missing styles or use direct formatting
   • For best results, use templates with standard Word styles

2. Permission Issues

   • Ensure the server has permission to read/write to the document paths
   • Use the copy_document function to create editable copies of locked documents
   • Check file ownership and permissions if operations fail

3. Image Insertion Problems

   • Use absolute paths for image files
   • Verify image format compatibility (JPEG, PNG recommended)
   • Check image file size and permissions

4. Table Formatting Issues

   • Cell index errors: Ensure row and column indices are within table bounds (0-based indexing)
   • Color format problems: Use hex colors without '#' prefix (e.g., "FF0000" for red) or standard color names
   • Padding unit confusion: Specify "points" or "percent" explicitly when setting cell padding
   • Column width conflicts: Auto-fit may override manual column width settings
   • Text formatting persistence: Apply cell text formatting after setting cell content for best results

Debugging

Enable detailed logging by setting the environment variable:

export MCP_DEBUG=1  # Linux/macOS
set MCP_DEBUG=1     # Windows

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request.

1. Fork the repository
2. Create your feature branch (git checkout -b feature/amazing-feature)
3. Commit your changes (git commit -m 'Add some amazing feature')
4. Push to the branch (git push origin feature/amazing-feature)
5. Open a Pull Request

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

Acknowledgments

• Model Context Protocol for the protocol specification
• python-docx for Word document manipulation
• FastMCP for the Python MCP implementation

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Note: This server interacts with document files on your system. Always verify that requested operations are appropriate before confirming them in Claude for Desktop or other MCP clients.