formaldoc

formaldoc Skill

Convert Markdown to .docx using the published formaldoc npm package.

When to use

Use this skill when the user wants a real Word document output rather than only Markdown or plain text.

Common triggers:

• "generate a docx"
• "export this to Word"
• "turn this markdown into a document"
• "save this as a .docx"
• "download a Word file"

Workflow

1. Determine the template

If the user already picked a template or the context makes it obvious, use it directly.

If the template is unclear, ask once and keep it brief.

Default guidance:

• cn-report for Chinese business or work-report content
• cn-gov for Chinese official or government-style content
• en-business for English professional content
• fallback default: cn-gov

Short prompt example:

Which template should I use? Default is cn-report. Available options: cn-gov / cn-general / cn-academic / cn-report / en-standard / en-business / en-academic / en-legal

2. Write Markdown to a file first, then convert from file

IMPORTANT: Always write content to a .md file first, then convert from that file. This is the strongly preferred path because:

• It avoids embedding the entire document as a string literal in code, which wastes tokens
• If the Markdown already exists as a file, you skip writing entirely — just point to it
• The file serves as an artifact the user can inspect, edit, and re-convert later

Decision flow:

Does a .md file already exist on disk?
  ├── YES → use it directly (Step 3a)
  └── NO → write the content to a .md file first, then use it (Step 3a)

Only use in-memory conversion (Step 3b) when writing a temp file is truly impractical (e.g., a sandboxed environment with no filesystem access).

3a. File-based conversion (preferred)

Use the CLI — it's the simplest and most token-efficient approach:

npx formaldoc input.md -t cn-report -o output.docx

Use -l to set the title heading level (when the doc starts with ## instead of #):

npx formaldoc input.md -t cn-report -l 2 -o output.docx

Or use the Node API if you need programmatic control:

import { convertMarkdownToDocxFile } from 'formaldoc';

const result = await convertMarkdownToDocxFile({
  inputPath: '/absolute/path/to/input.md',
  outputPath: '/absolute/path/to/output.docx',
  templateName: 'cn-report',
  titleLevel: 1, // 1-5: which heading level maps to Title (default: 1)
});

console.log(result.outputPath);

3b. In-memory conversion (last resort)

Only use this when no filesystem is available. Do not use this path if you can write a file instead — embedding large Markdown strings in code wastes tokens significantly.

import { writeFile } from 'node:fs/promises';
import { convertMarkdownToDocx } from 'formaldoc';

const result = await convertMarkdownToDocx({
  markdown: '## Title\n\nShort content only.',
  templateName: 'cn-report',
  titleLevel: 2, // ## maps to Title, ### to Heading1, etc.
});

await writeFile('/absolute/path/to/output.docx', result.buffer);

4. Return the generated file

The final output should be the .docx file itself whenever the environment supports returning files.

Important notes

• File-first, always. If content exists as a .md file, convert from file. If it doesn't, write it to a .md file first, then convert. In-memory conversion with inline Markdown strings is the last resort — it wastes tokens on large documents.
• formaldoc is ESM-first. Prefer import, not require().
• Prefer absolute paths in agent environments.
• Choose an output filename that matches the document title when practical.
• Return the real .docx artifact, not just a path or a success message.
• Use titleLevel (API) or -l (CLI) when the Markdown starts at ## or lower instead of #. For example, titleLevel: 2 makes ## map to Title, ### to Heading1, etc. Valid range: 1-5.

Template cheat sheet

Context	Recommended template
Chinese work reports, updates, analysis	cn-report
Government, regulatory, or official Chinese docs	cn-gov
General Chinese documents	cn-general
Chinese academic content	cn-academic
English business content	en-business
English academic content	en-academic
English legal content	en-legal
General English document	en-standard