LibreOffice Writer

Use the bundled

writer

scripts/

PYTHONPATH=<skill_base_dir>/scripts

references/troubleshooting.md

API Surface

# Non-session utilities
create_document(path)
export_document(path, output_path, format)   # formats: "pdf", "docx"
snapshot_page(doc_path, output_path, page=1, dpi=150)

# Session (primary editing API)
open_writer_session(path) -> WriterSession

WriterSession methods:
  read_text(target: WriterTarget | None = None) -> str
  insert_text(text, target: WriterTarget | None = None)
  replace_text(target: WriterTarget, new_text)
  delete_text(target: WriterTarget)
  format_text(target: WriterTarget, formatting: TextFormatting)
  insert_table(rows, cols, data=None, name=None, target: WriterTarget | None = None)
  update_table(target: WriterTarget, data)
  delete_table(target: WriterTarget)
  insert_image(image_path, width=None, height=None, name=None, target: WriterTarget | None = None)
  update_image(target: WriterTarget, image_path=None, width=None, height=None)
  delete_image(target: WriterTarget)
  insert_list(items: list[ListItem], ordered: bool, target: WriterTarget | None = None)
  replace_list(target: WriterTarget, items: list[ListItem], ordered: bool | None = None)
  delete_list(target: WriterTarget)
  patch(patch_text, mode="atomic") -> PatchApplyResult
  export(output_path, format)
  reset()
  close(save=True)

# Standalone patch utility
patch(path, patch_text, mode="atomic") -> PatchApplyResult

Structured Targets:

WriterTarget

from writer import WriterTarget

WriterTarget(
    kind="text" | "insertion" | "table" | "image" | "list",
    text=None,
    after=None,
    before=None,
    occurrence=None,
    name=None,
    index=None,
)

Target kinds

text

text

after

before

occurrence

insertion

text

after

before

occurrence

table

name

index

image

name

index

list

text

after

before

occurrence

Resolution rules

• Omit

  target

  to read the full document or append inserted content at the end.
• Use

  after

  and

  before

  to constrain a search window.
• Use

  occurrence

  when repeated text is expected; otherwise matching must be unique.
• Prefer full sentences or distinctive paragraph-sized phrases for

  text

  ,

  after

  , and

  before

  anchors; single-word anchors are often too brittle for realistic prose edits.
• For table/image targets, prefer

  name

  ; use

  index

  only when order is stable.
• For insertion after inline text, Writer inserts at the boundary after the matched span; paragraph breaks must come from the inserted text or the session helper.

Formatting Payload

from writer import TextFormatting

TextFormatting(
    bold=None,
    italic=None,
    underline=None,
    font_name=None,
    font_size=None,
    color=None,          # named color or integer
    align=None,          # "left" | "center" | "right" | "justify"
    line_spacing=None,
    spacing_before=None,
    spacing_after=None,
)

Notes:

• Character and paragraph formatting can be combined in one call.
• Paragraph properties such as

  align

  apply to the full paragraph containing the match, not just the exact matched span.
• At least one formatting field must be set.

List Items

from writer import ListItem

ListItem(text="Confirm scope", level=0)

• level

  is zero-based nesting.
• Nesting cannot skip levels.

• ordered=True

  uses a numbering style;

  ordered=False

  uses bullets.

Patch DSL

Use

patch()

session.patch()

[operation]
type = format_text
target.kind = text
target.text = Quarterly revenue grew 18%.
target.after = Financial Summary
target.before = Action Items
format.bold = true
format.align = center

[operation]
type = insert_list
target.kind = insertion
target.after = Action Items
list.ordered = false
items <<JSON
[
  {"text": "Confirm scope", "level": 0},
  {"text": "Review output", "level": 0},
  {"text": "Update packaging", "level": 1}
]
JSON

Supported operation types

• insert_text

• replace_text

• delete_text

• format_text

• insert_table

• update_table

• delete_table

• insert_image

• update_image

• delete_image

• insert_list

• replace_list

• delete_list

Patch value rules

• Use

  target.*

  fields for target definition.
• Use

  format.*

  fields for formatting payloads.
• Use

  list.ordered

  plus JSON

  items

  for list operations.

• items

  and

  data

  must be valid JSON.
• Heredoc blocks are supported with

  <<TAG ... TAG

  for multiline text or JSON.

Modes

• atomic

  stops on first failure, resets the session, and persists nothing.

• best_effort

  keeps successful earlier operations and records failures.

PatchApplyResult

• mode

• overall_status

  =

  "ok" | "partial" | "failed"

• operations

  = list of

  PatchOperationResult

• document_persisted

For standalone

patch(path, ...)

document_persisted

session.patch(...)

Example: Edit a Report in Session

from pathlib import Path

from writer import ListItem, TextFormatting, WriterTarget, open_writer_session
from writer.core import create_document

output = str(Path("test-output/report.odt").resolve())
create_document(output)

with open_writer_session(output) as session:
    session.insert_text(
        "Executive Summary\n\n"
        "Financial Summary\n\n"
        "Quarterly revenue grew 18%.\n\n"
        "Action Items"
    )
    session.format_text(
        WriterTarget(
            kind="text",
            text="Quarterly revenue grew 18%.",
            after="Financial Summary",
            before="Action Items",
        ),
        TextFormatting(bold=True, align="center"),
    )
    session.insert_list(
        [
            ListItem(text="Confirm scope", level=0),
            ListItem(text="Review output", level=0),
            ListItem(text="Update packaging", level=1),
        ],
        ordered=False,
        target=WriterTarget(kind="insertion", after="Action Items"),
    )

Example: Patch an Existing Document

from writer import patch

result = patch(
    "/abs/path/report.odt",
    """
[operation]
type = replace_text
target.kind = text
target.text = Draft
new_text = Final

[operation]
type = update_table
target.kind = table
target.name = Summary
data = [["Metric", "Value"], ["Revenue", "$2M"]]

[operation]
type = replace_list
target.kind = list
target.text = Confirm scope
items = [{"text": "Approve release", "level": 0}, {"text": "Notify team", "level": 1}]
list.ordered = true
""",
    mode="best_effort",
)

print(result.overall_status)

Snapshots

from pathlib import Path
from writer import snapshot_page

result = snapshot_page(doc_path, "/tmp/page1.png", page=1, dpi=150)
print(result.file_path, result.width, result.height)
Path(result.file_path).unlink(missing_ok=True)

Use snapshots to verify layout after formatting, list edits, image placement, or table changes.

Common Mistakes

• Passing a relative path; UNO-facing Writer APIs expect absolute file paths.
• Omitting

  occurrence

  for repeated text and then getting an ambiguity error.
• Using anchors that are too short or too common; prefer full-sentence or paragraph-level anchor text plus

  after

  /

  before

  bounds when possible.
• Expecting

  align

  to apply only to a phrase; Writer applies paragraph alignment to the containing paragraph.
• Supplying malformed JSON in

  items

  or

  data

  patch fields.
• Calling

  session.export()

  or other methods after

  session.close()

  .