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KitchenSink4Word is an MCP server that lets Claude Code, the Codex CLI, Copilot CLI, Claude Desktop and other local MCP clients read and edit .docx files. It can also work on a document while it is open in Microsoft Word, so you watch the changes arrive. This is the free Community edition, licensed under the AGPL-3.0.

Product page · llms.txt · Changelog

Platform: Windows. Editing files works without Word installed. Live editing and the Word-powered features (PDF import and export, document compare, proofing, field refresh) need Microsoft Word.

Install

The package needs Python 3.12 or newer. Run the commands below in PowerShell or a terminal, not in an AI chat.

Claude Code or Codex CLI. Install uv, run the line for your app, and start a new session:

claude mcp add word -s user -- uvx kitchensink4word

codex mcp add word -- uvx kitchensink4word

Claude Desktop. Install uv and restart Claude Desktop. Download the .mcpb file from the latest release, then open Settings > Extensions > Advanced settings > Install extension and choose the file. The first launch downloads the Python package, so it needs a network connection.

Any other local MCP client. Use uvx as the command and kitchensink4word as its argument, or install the package and run kitchensink4word as the server command:

pip install kitchensink4word

Installing the package by itself does not connect it to an AI app; add it as a local MCP server in your client's settings.

What it can do

• Revise a report while it stays open in Word, with each edit visible as it lands.
• Read, accept and reject tracked changes, write edits as tracked changes, and work through reviewer comments.
• Fill templates, assemble chapter files into one document, and run mail merges.
• Build and format tables, lists, headings, sections and page layouts.
• Insert citations, bibliographies, footnotes, endnotes, captions and cross-references, including Zotero library citations.
• Check formatting, accessibility and document structure before you hand a file over.
• Compare two versions of a document, redact selected text, and import or export PDF through Word.

In total the server offers 110 document tools covering 222 operations, plus two tools that switch capability packs on and off.

Highlights

• Table columns through merged cells. Inserting or deleting a column works correctly when the table has horizontally or vertically merged cells.
• Bulk edits in one call. Twenty cell edits are one set_cells call, not twenty round trips.
• Real tracked changes. Edit tools accept track=True and an author name and produce Word revisions the recipient can accept or reject.
• Word-native compare. com_multi_document(action="compare") produces a redline between two versions.
• Built not to corrupt. Saves are atomic and validated, the previous version is backed up before every change, and anything the call does not touch (equations, text boxes, content controls) passes through byte for byte. A file that is open in Word is refused with a clear message instead of a hang.
• Find and replace across split runs. Matches work even when Word has broken the text into many runs, and per-character formatting is preserved. User regular expressions run with a timeout.

Tool packs and context cost

A session starts with a small core of everyday tools and loads larger capability packs only when a task needs them, which keeps the tool list your AI carries short. All figures count the full tools/list entry the client receives and come from scripts/measure_surface.py.

Your AI turns a pack on by name when it needs one:

enable_tools(["references"])
enable_tools(["academic", "review"])

A lite tool that cannot do something names the pack and the exact enable_tools call to use, and the get_workflows recipes list the packs each workflow needs. Clients that load tool schemas on first use, such as Claude Code, pay close to nothing until a tool is called.

To load everything from the start, set KS4W_MODE=full. In the Claude Desktop extension, the settings Load every tool at startup and Lock the tool set at startup do the same through KS4W_ALL_TOOLS and KS4W_LOCK_TOOLS (true or false; any other value stops startup with a clear message). KS4W_MODE and KS4W_PACK_POLICY take precedence when set, and the server prints one line at startup saying what decided the tool set.

Fewer permission prompts: in Claude Desktop's tool permissions for this server, set the read-only tools to Always Allow. They cannot change anything. Leave the editing tools on Ask.

If a re-enabled tool reports "no such tool": some clients drop a tool's schema when its pack is turned off and do not reload it when the pack comes back, even though the server announces the change. Refresh the client's tool list (in Claude Code, a ToolSearch call for the tool reloads it).

Safety model

• Before every change to a closed file, the current version is copied into a hidden .ks4w-backups/ folder next to the document. Each document keeps two copies: prev.docx (the state before the most recent change) and anchor.docx (the state at the start of the session, refreshed after an hour of inactivity). Storage stays at about two copies per document no matter how many edits you make. manage_backups lists, restores and purges them, and a restore can itself be undone.
• Edits to a document that is open in Word are not part of this backup system. Word's own AutoRecover and undo cover the open document.
• Saves are atomic and validated. If an operation fails, the original file is left exactly as it was.
• Changes to the same file are serialized, within one server and across server processes, so parallel calls cannot overwrite each other.
• Deleting content that holds footnote references removes the orphaned notes, and validate checks integrity in both directions. Paragraph deletion refuses ranges that would cut a field such as a TOC in half or remove a section break by accident.
• Exclude .ks4w-backups/ from cloud sync (OneDrive, Dropbox, Google Drive). The backup files change with every edit, and sync clients can hold locks that slow saves down.

Privacy

The server runs on your computer. KitchenSink4AI never receives your files or usage data. Your AI app may send prompts, file contents and tool results to its own provider under that app's settings and terms. The optional update check described below contacts PyPI and sends nothing beyond the request itself. The Privacy Policy covers the product, purchases and support.

Configuration

Update check. The server checks PyPI for a newer release only when you call get_server_info: never at startup or on a timer, at most once every seven days, with a two-second limit. It never downloads or installs anything. Set KS4W_UPDATE_CHECK=off to turn it off completely (the older KS4W_NO_UPDATE_CHECK=1 also works).

Sandboxing (optional). Set KS4W_ALLOWED_ROOTS to a list of folders separated by ; on Windows (: elsewhere), for example %USERPROFILE%\Documents;D:\Work. Every path the server reads or writes must then resolve inside one of them. The check runs on canonical paths, so ..\ traversal, symbolic links and junctions, 8.3 short names, extended-length prefixes, case tricks and lookalike folder names (Documents2 next to an allowed Documents) are all caught. Network (UNC) paths are refused unless an allowed root is itself a UNC path that contains them. A blocked call returns a typed error naming the path and the allowed roots before any file is opened. We recommend it whenever the server handles requests you do not fully trust.

Live editing in Word

Which tools work on a document that is OPEN in Word. Dual-mode tools auto-route (live='auto'); everything else refuses with DOCUMENT_LOCKED until the file is closed. Word COM calls within one server process are serialized. Live calls and passwordless save or close also use a machine-local cross-process lock; a concurrent caller receives APP_BUSY before touching Word and nothing is queued. Live edits stay unsaved until com_save_document; get_workflows(task='live-editing') explains the model.

Live-only tools (need the document open): live_insert_at_cursor, live_repair, live_scroll_to, live_set_track_changes.
COM tier (drive the Word application, open or closed): com_export_pdf, com_import_pdf, com_multi_document, com_proofing_errors, com_readability_statistics, com_refresh_fields, com_save_document, com_validate_opens_clean, com_word_status.
Open-document reader: get_document_view (reads the last SAVED state and says so).

The remaining 63 writers and 14 readers are file-only: they refuse while the document is open (close it, or com_save_document with close=true).

Known limits

• Live regular-expression replacements skip matches that sit after complex fields in the same story, because Word's character offsets drift there. The number skipped is reported, and a plain-text find still works.
• Live set_cells refuses tables with vertically merged cells. The file-based tool handles them; close the document first.
• Live tracked-change attribution follows Word: if Word is signed in to an Office account, revisions are attributed to that account. Results report the author Word actually used.
• Table of contents and caption-list page numbers need a field update. Word does it the next time the file opens, or call com_refresh_fields.
• Some tools find styles by their displayed name, so Word installs in other languages may need the localized style names. English and Korean are handled.

Beta tools. convert_citation_style, anonymize_for_review, validate(checks=["defined_terms"]) and the text-reference scan in validate(checks=["cross_references"]) are heuristic. Each returns a list of what it could not handle with confidence, so review that list rather than trusting the result blindly.

Upgrading from 1.x

Every 1.x tool name changed in 2.0, when 189 tools were consolidated into 110 that cover every earlier capability. Read the migration guide first; it maps each old name to its new home, and get_workflows("migrate-from-v1") returns the same map inside a session.

Testing

The suite has more than 2,000 tests. About 95 of them drive a real Word instance and run only on Windows with Word installed. Tests that need sample documents generate structurally equivalent synthetic files with tests/make_corpus.py, so the full suite runs on any machine and on every pull request. tests/word_validator.py opens each output in an invisible Word and fails on any repair prompt.

To run the suite without Word:

pytest tests -m "not live"

Reporting problems

Please open an issue with the tool name, the call you made, what happened and what you expected. Ask your AI to run get_server_info and paste the output; it is designed to be safe to share. Please do not attach documents that contain anything private. For security issues, follow SECURITY.md instead.

Business edition

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, and nothing installs on its own. See pricing. The Community edition stays free under the AGPL, including business use that meets its terms.

Contributing

Bug reports, fixes, tests and documentation are welcome. See CONTRIBUTING.md; first-time contributors agree to the Contributor License Agreement.

License

KitchenSink4Word is dual-licensed.

• AGPL-3.0. Free for anyone, including businesses, for any use that complies with the AGPL. Its terms include sharing your source code, with your modifications, when you distribute the software or make it available over a network.
• Commercial license. For organizations that want to build KitchenSink4Word into their own products or services without the AGPL's source-sharing obligations. Contact [email protected].

Copyright (c) 2026 Alvut Consulting, LLC. KitchenSink4AI is a product line of Alvut Consulting, LLC. KitchenSink4AI tools are built with the help of AI coding assistants, and every release goes through the full test suite before it ships.

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

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