Office Documents

Every Office file you produce is an artifact: a tracked file with immutable revisions and provenance. You describe content as a structured spec; CaberOS writes the file. This keeps every version recoverable and every edit attributable — so each create and edit goes through the artifact_* tools.

Before writing any spec or edit ops, read the exact shapes with skills_read_resource (skill office-documents, resource references/specs.md).

Pick the branch that matches the request.

Create

1. Plan the structure — the headings (Word), sheets and columns (Excel), or slide titles (PowerPoint) — and confirm it with the user when the brief leaves it open.
2. Call artifact_create with path (relative to artifacts/, e.g. q3-report.docx), the spec, and a change_summary. Images come from workspace files — attachments/… inputs or files you saved earlier.
3. Call artifact_inspect on the returned id.

Done when inspect reports the file valid and every planned heading, sheet, or slide appears in its structure. Report the path to the user.

Edit

1. Find the artifact. If the file is already tracked, use its id. If it's a user-supplied or downloaded file, call artifact_adopt on its workspace path first — its current bytes become revision 1.
2. Call artifact_inspect to get the structure and the current revision id.
3. Call artifact_revise with that id as base_revision_id, the edit ops, and a change_summary.
4. On a conflict (the file changed outside CaberOS since that revision), inspect again, re-base your ops on the new structure, and retry. The conflict protects someone else's edit.

Done when a fresh artifact_inspect shows every requested change. To undo a change, artifact_history lists the revisions and artifact_restore writes an old one back as a new revision.

Read

For a document the user attached or names, use read_file — Word, Excel, and PowerPoint come back as text, and PDFs page by page (start_page / end_page for long ones). Use artifact_inspect when you need the outline of a tracked artifact.

Done when your answer cites where each fact came from (heading, sheet and cell, slide number, or page).

PDF

• Produce a PDF directly: call artifact_create with format: "pdf", a .pdf path, and a document-style spec containing title and blocks. Inspect the returned artifact before reporting success. PDFs are write-once: create a new PDF for changed content rather than calling artifact_revise.
• Convert an existing Office file: Office-to-PDF conversion is not available in CaberOS. Explain the limitation and offer the original Office file or, with the user's agreement, a new PDF based on its content. A newly created PDF does not preserve the Office file's original layout.
• Read a PDF: see Read above.

Done when the user has the validated PDF path, or an honest explanation of the unavailable conversion.

Reference

• Formulas: write spreadsheet formulas as strings ("=SUM(B2:B9)") so the sheet recalculates when inputs change. CaberOS stores formulas without evaluating them — inspect reports formulas_recalculated: false — so state that recalculated values require a spreadsheet application that evaluates formulas.
• Unsupported formats: legacy .doc/.xls/.ppt and macro-enabled .docm/.xlsm/.pptm have no read or edit path. Ask the user to save a .docx/.xlsx/.pptx copy, then continue from it.
• Styling: Word pages are US Letter with 1" margins and decks are 16:9 on the default Office theme. Specs control content and structure; spreadsheet cells also take bold, italic, color, and number formats. When the user asks for a specific font, theme, or template file, tell them the artifact uses the default styling and offer to deliver the content now.