Module 3.3 · The Document Skill | AI Strategy Factory

🎁 Why generate documents programmatically

The client doesn't open a .md. It opens a .docx, a .pptx, a spreadsheet .xlsx or one .pdf. Generating with code means formatted, repeatable output with your branding—that’s exactly what makes the package feel like elite consulting, not a chat draft.

The foundation is simple: a virtual environment with the four libraries installed. Claude Code sets it up for you once—then all you have to do is generate.

// setup: venv + the 4 libraries

python3 -m venv venv
source venv/bin/activate
pip install python-docx reportlab openpyxl python-pptx

✗ Raw Markdown

✗Client sees chat text, not a deliverable
✗No branding, no formatted table, no formula
✗Doesn’t open directly in Word/PowerPoint/Excel

✓ Generated document

✓Formatted with your visual identity
✓Repeatable: same code, new client
✓Opens right away—it feels like an elite consulting firm

💡 Practical tip

You don’t type this code by hand. Ask Claude Code “create the venv and install the 4 document libraries” — it runs everything, resolves system Python conflicts, and gets you ready to generate. Your job is to direct the output format, not memorize the API.

Formatted

brand + style

Repeatable

1 codebase, N clients

4 formats

docx/pptx/xlsx/pdf

Professional

what the client opens

📘 `python-docx` — Word reports

This is the report library. You create a Document(), stacks headings (level 0 = title, 1-9 = sections), paragraphs, tables, and runs formatted (bold, color). At the end, doc.save(). It’s what generates the Factory’s final Report and SOW.

// python-docx: title, section, table, and formatted run

from docx import Document
from docx.shared import Pt, RGBColor

doc = Document()
doc.add_heading('Relatório de Estratégia de IA', level=0)
doc.add_heading('Sumário Executivo', level=1)
doc.add_paragraph('Texto do relatório aqui.')

table = doc.add_table(rows=4, cols=3)
table.style = 'Table Grid'

p = doc.add_paragraph()
run = p.add_run('Destaque')
run.bold = True
run.font.color.rgb = RGBColor(0x00, 0x00, 0xFF)

doc.save('relatorio.docx')

Notice three things: the level controls the hierarchy, table.style = 'Table Grid' sets the boundaries, and the run is the smallest unit where you apply bold and color. That same structure becomes the final Report and the proposal document (SOW).

💡 Note

Ready-made styles save work: 'List Bullet' e 'List Number' for lists, 'Heading 1' / 'Heading 2' for sections. You describe the report structure; Claude Code chooses the styles.

Document()

creates the doc

Headings

level 0–9

Tables

Table Grid

Output

Report + SOW

📙 `python-pptx` — presentations (RGBColor, layouts)

The presentation library. You create a Presentation(), adds slides by choosing a layout (0 = Title, 6 = Blank, the most flexible), and draws text boxes with bullets and colors via RGBColor. It’s what generates the executive deck—the material that closes the sale in Track 5.

// python-pptx: blank slide with centered title

from pptx import Presentation
from pptx.util import Inches, Pt
from pptx.dml.color import RGBColor   # NÃO RgbColor
from pptx.enum.text import PP_ALIGN

prs = Presentation()
slide = prs.slides.add_slide(prs.slide_layouts[6])  # branco

box = slide.shapes.add_textbox(Inches(0.5), Inches(2), Inches(9), Inches(1.5))
p = box.text_frame.paragraphs[0]
p.text = "Estratégia de IA"
p.font.size = Pt(44)
p.font.bold = True
p.font.color.rgb = RGBColor(31, 78, 121)  # azul escuro
p.alignment = PP_ALIGN.CENTER

prs.save('deck.pptx')

The layout 6 (Blank) is the most commonly used because it gives you full control: you position each box in inches. The first paragraph already exists in paragraphs[0]; for the following bullets, use add_paragraph().

💡 The gotcha that trips everyone up

É RGBColor (uppercase RGB), not RgbColor. Getting this capitalization wrong causes an ImportError that seems mysterious. Color is specified with RGB integers: RGBColor(31, 78, 121) = professional dark blue.

Presentation()

creates the deck

Layout 6

white, flexible

RGBColor

not RgbColor

Output

executive deck

📊 `openpyxl` — Excel with a color convention

The spreadsheet library—and this is where the ROI calculator lives. Three golden rules: indexing 1-based (A1 = row 1, column 1), formulas instead of fixed values, and the color convention financial. Anyone who delivers Excel without formulas delivers a screenshot, not a model.

// openpyxl: formula + input/formula colors

from openpyxl import Workbook
from openpyxl.styles import Font, PatternFill

wb = Workbook(); ws = wb.active
ws.title = "ROI"

ws['A1'] = 'Premissa'           # 1-based: A1
ws['B5'] = '=SUM(B1:B4)'        # fórmula, nunca valor fixo

input_font   = Font(color='0000FF')  # azul = input do usuário
formula_font = Font(color='000000')  # preto = fórmula
ws['B1'].font = input_font
ws['B5'].font = formula_font

wb.save('roi.xlsx')

The color convention below is standard in financial modeling—any analyst who opens the spreadsheet will immediately understand what’s an input, what’s a calculation, and what comes from outside. Always apply it in the ROI calculator:

🎨 Color convention (required)

Blue 0000FF — user inputs (adjustable assumptions)
Black 000000 — formulas and calculations
Green 008000 — links between tabs (other worksheets)
Red FF0000 — references to external files
Yellow (background) FFFF00 — key assumptions highlighted

💡 Practical tip

Never calculate in Python and paste in the number. Put assumptions in their own cells (blue) and reference them with formulas (black). That way, the client can change an assumption and the entire spreadsheet recalculates—that’s what separates a model from a dead report.

Workbook()

creates the spreadsheet

1-based

A1 = (1,1)

Formulas

never a fixed value

Colors

ROI calculator

📕 `reportlab` — PDF (Platypus)

The PDF library. The recommended method is Platypus: you build a story (list of elements—paragraphs, spacers, tables) and calls doc.build(story) at the end. The PDF only exists after the build.

// reportlab: assembles the story and builds at the end

from reportlab.lib.pagesizes import letter
from reportlab.lib.styles import getSampleStyleSheet
from reportlab.platypus import SimpleDocTemplate, Paragraph, Spacer
from reportlab.lib.units import inch

doc = SimpleDocTemplate('saida.pdf', pagesize=letter)
styles = getSampleStyleSheet()
story = []
story.append(Paragraph('Estratégia de IA', styles['Heading1']))
story.append(Spacer(1, 0.5 * inch))
story.append(Paragraph('Corpo do documento.', styles['Normal']))
doc.build(story)   # constrói no fim

💡 Practical tip

O build comes in the END. Everything you want in the PDF needs to be in the story before of calling doc.build(). Forgot to append something? It won’t show up in the file.

Notice that the pattern is always the same across the four libs—and you can diagram the skill flow gerar-entregavel as four linear steps:

Input Markdown

The skill receives the deliverable in Markdown and the desired target format.

Choose the format

docx / pptx / xlsx / pdf → selects the right library.

Build the elements

Headings, tables, formulas, colors—according to each format's conventions.

Save the file

.save() in all three; .build(story) in the PDF. It goes in the client’s folder.

Platypus

element story

append

move it into the story

build()

at the end, always

Output

Client PDF

📦 Package as a Skill `gerar-entregavel`

You don’t want to remember four APIs every time. Wrap the four libraries in a single skill: "given a Markdown file, generate the .docx/.pptx/.xlsx/.pdf". The skill provides the knowledge; you just specify the format. It's the Factory's output engine.

// SKILL.md — gerar-entregavel

---
name: gerar-entregavel
description: Use para transformar um entregável em Markdown
  num arquivo final — .docx, .pptx, .xlsx ou .pdf — usando
  python-docx, python-pptx, openpyxl ou reportlab.
---

# Gerar Entregável

## Passos
1. Ler o Markdown e o formato-alvo.
2. Escolher a biblioteca (docx / pptx / xlsx / pdf).
3. Montar o documento (headings, tabelas, cores).
4. Salvar na pasta de saída do cliente.

A description well-written is what makes Claude Code trigger the skill at the right time. The steps are the playbook it follows. From now on, “turn this diagnosis into a PowerPoint” is a command—not a project.

✓ Good docs skill

✓Choose the right format for the deliverable
✓Uses formulas in Excel, with a color-coding convention
✓Import RGBColor correct in the pptx

✗ Common mistakes

✗Deliver raw Markdown without generating a file
✗Fixed values in Excel instead of formulas
✗Write RgbColor and breaks the import

1 skill

4 libraries

description

triggers right away

Steps

fixed script

Reuse

output engine

✅ Module summary

✓

Documents are generated with Python — formatted and repeatable, not raw Markdown.

✓

Each library covers one format — docx (Word), pptx (deck), xlsx (Excel), pdf (reportlab).

✓

Excel uses formulas + color conventions — blue for input, black for formulas, and the rest of the palette.

✓

Everything wrapped in gerar-entregavel — one skill, any output format.

🎯 Mission 3.3 — Markdown becomes a package

Turn a single Markdown file into two client files:

Get 1 deliverable in Markdown (e.g., a mini-diagnosis from 3.2).
Generate 1 .docx with python-docx.
Generate 1 .pptx with python-pptx (watch out: RGBColor).
Wrap it in the gerar-entregavel skill.

Success: 1 .docx + 1 .pptx generated from the same Markdown. What you gained: the Factory's output engine—any prompt becomes a client file.

Next module:

3.4 — Build your subagent (researcher & writer)

← Back to Track Next Module →

🎁 Why generate documents programmatically

✗ Raw Markdown

✓ Generated document

💡 Practical tip

📘 python-docx — Word reports

💡 Note

📙 python-pptx — presentations (RGBColor, layouts)

💡 The gotcha that trips everyone up

📊 openpyxl — Excel with a color convention

🎨 Color convention (required)

💡 Practical tip

📕 reportlab — PDF (Platypus)

💡 Practical tip

Input Markdown

Choose the format

Build the elements

Save the file

📦 Package as a Skill gerar-entregavel

✓ Good docs skill

✗ Common mistakes

✅ Module summary

🎯 Mission 3.3 — Markdown becomes a package

Next module:

📘 `python-docx` — Word reports

📙 `python-pptx` — presentations (RGBColor, layouts)

📊 `openpyxl` — Excel with a color convention

📕 `reportlab` — PDF (Platypus)

📦 Package as a Skill `gerar-entregavel`