KitchenSink4Word

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<!-- mcp-name: io.github.KitchenSink4AI/kitchensink4word -->

# 🚰 KitchenSink4Word Community Edition

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[Landing page](https://kitchensink4.ai/KitchenSink4Word/) · [llms.txt](https://kitchensink4.ai/KitchenSink4Word/llms.txt) (machine-readable capability manifest for agents and LLM crawlers)

**Edit Word documents with your AI assistant: tracked changes, citations, templates and live edits in Word.**

Edit real Word documents from Claude Code, Codex CLI, Copilot CLI or any other MCP client that runs local tools. KitchenSink4Word connects your assistant to .docx files on Windows, and can edit a document while it is open in Microsoft Word so you see the changes land. Files are processed on your computer; the only thing that leaves it is what your AI app sends to its own provider. The Community edition is free under the AGPL. The Business edition adds a Windows installer, a signed update channel, a license your company can approve and support.

**Works on:** Windows. File editing works without Microsoft Word; live editing and the Word-powered features need Word installed.

## Install

Pick the route for your AI app. The commands go in PowerShell on Windows or a terminal on macOS and Linux, not into an AI chat. The package routes need Python 3.12 or newer.

**Claude Desktop**

Install [uv](https://docs.astral.sh/uv/getting-started/installation/), then quit and reopen Claude Desktop. Download the `.mcpb` file from [KitchenSink4Word releases](https://github.com/KitchenSink4AI/KitchenSink4Word/releases/latest). In Claude Desktop open Settings, then Extensions, then Advanced settings, then Install extension, and choose the file. The bundle fetches the Python package the first time it starts, so the first launch needs a network connection. Restart your session and check that the tools show as connected.

**Claude Code or Codex CLI**

Install uv, then run the line for your app and restart your session:

```sh
claude mcp add word -s user -- uvx kitchensink4word
```

```sh
codex mcp add word -- uvx kitchensink4word
```

**Any other local MCP client**

Use `uvx` as the command and `kitchensink4word` as its argument, or install the package and use `kitchensink4word` as the server command:

```sh
pip install kitchensink4word
```

Then follow your client's guide for adding a local MCP server. Installing the package on its own does not connect it to an AI app.

**Business edition**

Compare the editions on the [pricing page](https://kitchensink4.ai/pricing/). Already purchased? Your Windows installer and download link are in your [license portal](https://get.kitchensink4.ai/my-license/).

## What it can do

110 document tools, plus the pack on/off controls.

- Revise a report while it stays open in Word, with edits you can watch.
- Read, accept and reject tracked changes, and work through reviewer comments.
- Fill a template or assemble chapters into one manuscript.
- Build and format tables, lists, headings and page layouts.
- Insert citations, bibliographies, footnotes and cross-references.
- Find formatting, accessibility and structure problems before handoff.
- Compare documents, prepare mail merges and redact selected text.
- Import or export PDF through Word when it is installed.

What is available depends on the packs you enable and the applications installed. The full tool reference is below.

## Business edition

Need a license your company can approve and a setup someone supports? The Business edition pairs these tools with a Windows installer, a signed update channel and support under the Business terms. Update checks tell you when a covered release is available; nothing installs on its own. Compare the options on the [pricing page](https://kitchensink4.ai/pricing/). The Community edition stays free under the AGPL, including business use that meets its terms.

## Privacy Policy

The tools run on your computer, and KitchenSink4AI receives no documents and no usage data from them. Your AI app may send prompts, file contents and tool results to its own provider under that app's settings and terms. Installing downloads packages, and the Community version check contacts PyPI unless you disable it; those requests carry connection details such as your network address and never your documents. Cloud folders and backups follow their own settings. The [Privacy Policy](https://kitchensink4.ai/privacy/) covers the product, purchases and support records.

Not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Microsoft Corporation.
Microsoft and Word are trademarks of the Microsoft group of companies.

## What the 221 operations cover

The everyday core covers text and formatting, tables (including merge-aware
column insert/delete and one-call bulk cell edits), footnotes and endnotes
(full lifecycle plus footnote and endnote conversion), TOC and caption lists,
headers, footers, and sections, images, bulleted and numbered lists, content
controls and fields, threaded comments, and tracked changes (read, accept and
reject by author, and writing edits as tracked changes). Beyond that the
surface spans equations (LaTeX to Word math), native charts, document assembly
(chapter files into one manuscript), Zotero library citations, publication
style conversion (8 styles, beta), review-cycle analytics, workflow suites
(mail merge, batch operations, redaction, compliance and accessibility audits
and fixes, submission prep, front matter, diagnostics), and Word-COM-backed
document compare, field refresh, PDF export and import, and open-clean
validation on Windows.

## What makes it different

- **Merge-aware table column operations.** `modify_table_structure` inserts
  and deletes columns correctly through horizontally and vertically merged
  cells (gridSpan shrinks, vMerge chains re-root). At the time of writing, no
  other public Word MCP has this.
- **Bulk-first API.** Editing 20 cells is ONE `set_cells` call with a payload,
  not 20 round-trips.
- **Tracked-change writing.** `track=True, author="Jane"` on edit tools
  produces real Word revisions the recipient can accept or reject, proven
  round-trip against the server's own revision engine.
- **Document compare.** `com_multi_document(action="compare")` produces a
  Word-native redline between two versions of a document.
- **Never corrupts.** Atomic saves (temp file, structural validation, replace),
  automatic slot backups before every mutation, byte-identical passthrough of
  anything not being edited (equations, textboxes, content controls survive
  untouched), and clean typed errors: a file open in Word is refused with a
  message, not a hang.
- **Fragmented-run safe.** Find and replace works across Word's arbitrarily
  split runs while preserving per-character formatting, with a ReDoS timeout
  guard on user regex and an optional blast-radius limit.

## Why this one (the capability comparison)

Every public Word MCP server was surveyed before building this. The honest
comparison is about what each one can do, not how many names it has:

| Capability | KitchenSink4Word | GongRzhe Office-Word (2.1k★, archived) | word-mcp-live (195★) | SecurityRonin docx-mcp (43★) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tiered context loading (lite core, packs on demand) | ✅ from ~9.9k tokens | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
| Live editing while the doc is open in Word | ✅ cursor-safe, one Ctrl+Z per call | ❌ | ✅ | ❌ |
| Table column insert/delete | ✅ merge-aware | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
| Bulk cell edits (one call) | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
| Cell merge/unmerge | ✅ | merge only | ❌ | ❌ |
| Footnotes AND endnotes CRUD | ✅ + conversion | add only | ❌ | ✅ |
| TOC insert + refresh | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
| Native citations/bibliography | ✅ 12 styles | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
| Index generation | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
| Tracked-change WRITING | ✅ | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Accept/reject by author | ✅ | ❌ | partial | ✅ |
| Document compare + combine | ✅ Word-native | ❌ | ❌ | buggy |
| Watermarks / protection / line numbers | ✅ | protect only | ❌ | ❌ |
| Section moving / template transfer | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
| Atomic saves + auto-backup | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |

Capability survey compiled from public repositories, documentation, and issue
trackers. Corrections welcome: [open an issue](https://github.com/KitchenSink4AI/KitchenSink4Word/issues).

## The packs

Numbers below come straight from `scripts/measure_surface.py`, never
hand-counted, and every one counts the whole `tools/list` entry a client
receives rather than the description and schema alone. The lite core loads at
startup; the seven packs load on demand.

| Pack | Tools | Approx tokens | What it carries |
|---|---:|---:|---|
| **lite** (startup) | 29 | ~9.9k | Everyday reading and editing: text, paragraphs, tables, cells, lists, find and replace, outline, document view, backups, workflow guide, server info, pack toggles |
| references | 8 | ~2.9k | Word-native citations and bibliography, Zotero search and cite, parity checks, style conversion and detection |
| review | 9 | ~2.4k | Tracked changes (read, accept/reject, reports), threaded comments, structured diff, anonymize and deanonymize |
| academic | 24 | ~7.6k | Footnotes and endnotes, TOC, index, captions, cross-references, front matter, chapter headers, sections, styles, list numbering, word counts, valid