document-editing

Edit documents in place

Use this workflow when editing documents in Google Docs, Microsoft Word, Apple Pages, or other native and web document editors. It is task-specific guidance, not an instruction to edit any document merely because its app is open. Preserve the user's document, tab, and editing mode. A request to revise or format a passage normally means editing that passage in the existing document, not creating a replacement document or copying the whole document into another chat. Whole-document rewriting is appropriate only when requested.

Locate and select

Choose the control layer appropriate to the actual app. Prefer declared document-range APIs or AppleScript operations when available; otherwise inspect native snapshot/act for native editors, and web_snapshot/web_act for browser editors. Read the live menus, outline, toolbar, and dialogs. Do not assume a Word, Pages, or other editor exposes Google's controls or shortcuts.

For browser editors, read web_snapshot for document tabs, outline headings, menus, toolbar controls, and dialogs. Click the relevant tab or heading by its current ref to navigate. Canvas text may be absent from the tree: use web_screenshot to see it and position the caret with web_act click_xy. On Safari, coordinates include browser chrome and must come from a fresh screenshot before every click or drag. Native act coordinates/keys are a different transport; use web_act for browser editing. Safari's window-routed input is not a generic native-app input backend. For native apps, use supported AX selection/actions or document APIs; if a needed operation requires gated foreground input, respect that restriction. Do not replace an entire native text field just to change a range.

For a distant passage, use the editor's Find command and enter a distinctive phrase from the requested passage. Inspect the match count and surrounding text; repeated phrases need more context. Close Find, then inspect the actual document selection/caret. A highlighted search match does not by itself prove the editor has a text selection. Do not type replacement text until the selection or insertion point is confirmed.