Batch generation from a template
A spreadsheet becomes one document per row: each variable field of the template is a tagged content control, filled in the body, header and footer, without Word open.
Deliverable: documents + manifest with sha256Octo for Word documents
Contracts from a template, with no empty field. The one who signs is still you.
A .docx is a package of XML. Filling a template, merging data, counting revisions, checking alt text, removing the name of whoever edited and generating PDF can all be done by script, without opening Word, and Word through COM is kept for comparing versions and exporting PDF/A on a workstation. Octo generates in batch with a manifest, audits before converting and validates every PDF. Text, signature, accepting revisions and publishing stay with the document owner.
Word and Office 2016 and 2019Oct 14, 2025end of support, no security updates; 2021 and LTSC 2021 left on Oct 13, 2026
PDF conversion through Graph2 MBlimit per file in
?format=pdfWord through COM in a serviceunsupportedMicrosoft neither recommends nor supports it
Sources16listed at the end of the page
01
What Octo does with Word documents.
Six possible deliverables, drawn from the research. All of them work on copies, leave a manifest or report, and end up on the document owner's desk.
Blocking what is missing
A row without a required field, a control still holding the placeholder text or a column without a control in the template stops the document before it exists.
Deliverable: list of blocks for whoever maintains the spreadsheetVersion comparison
CompareDocuments generates a third file with what the other party changed, attributed to a name, without touching either version; the script counts insertions, deletions, moves and formatting changes.
Validated PDF/A
Export with UseISO19005_1 and structure tags on a workstation, or conversion through Graph up to 2 MB, and always veraPDF afterward, with a report per file.
Accessibility pre-screening
Images without alt text, tables without headers, controls without titles and documents without heading styles, following the published Accessibility Checker rules.
Deliverable: open issues per file; final check in WordMetadata before publishing
Personal author, last saved by, template on a network path, custom properties, comments, pending revisions, hidden text and macros, without opening Word.
Deliverable: audit in CSV, nothing deleted blindly
02
Eight arms, one checked batch.
The same Octo cycle, applied to documents. Each arm has a narrow role; the ones who write the clause, accept the revision, sign and publish are people.
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Discovery
Surveys what already exists
Templates in use, the Office version on each workstation (2016, 2019 and 2021/LTSC 2021 out of support), where the documents live and who generates them.
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Data
Pins down where each field comes from
Source spreadsheet, required columns and the column → content control tag mapping.
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Security
Looks after access and leaks
Graph token outside the code, minimum permission, macros disabled in the automation, people's names out of the metadata; personal data flagged (LGPD).
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Architecture
Chooses the path
Files directly on a server, Graph for conversion up to 2 MB, COM only on a workstation with a user, Power Automate when the flow is already there.
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Development
Writes the script
Generators, auditors and converters with a manifest, sha256 and the source of each syntax noted in the file.
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Review
Checks by content
No empty field, no pending revision, veraPDF passed and a sample opened in Word. "The file was generated" is not a check.
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Release
Delivers the batch
Documents, PDFs and reports ready. Publishing, filing and sending are done by a person.
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Documentation
Records what was done
Template and spreadsheet used, manifest, validation report, who approved and where each file ended up.
Octo works on copies and delivers for review. It does not write clauses on its own, does not sign, does not accept revisions, does not send email and does not publish documents.
03
Every task, its own path.
The criteria Octo uses to choose, with the official reference for each path.
| Task | Path | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Generate hundreds of documents from a template | Content controls + python-docx or Open XML SDK | Runs on a server, without Word |
| Template with loops and conditions | docxtpl (Jinja2) | LGPL-2.1 license |
| Fill a template inside a flow | Power Automate, "Populate a Microsoft Word template" | Premium; 10 MB; no rich text, date or checkbox |
| Classic mail merge | MailMerge.Execute(False) through COM | Workstation with a user |
| Compare versions | CompareDocuments, new destination | Both versions stay intact |
| Count revisions and comments | Reading w:ins, w:del, w:moveFrom, w:moveTo, w:rPrChange and the like, comments.xml | In batch, without Word: insertions, deletions, moves and formatting changes |
| PDF for preview | Graph GET .../content?format=pdf | Up to 2 MB; 302 to a URL valid for a few minutes |
| PDF/A for archiving | ExportAsFixedFormat with UseISO19005_1 | Always validate with veraPDF |
| Accessibility pre-screening | Reading the XML by the Checker's rules | Final check in Word |
| Clean metadata | core_properties or RemoveDocumentInformation | Do not remove revisions blindly |
| Read controls of the open document | Office.js, Word.ContentControl (WordApi 1.1) | Add-in, not batch |
04
From copy and paste to a batch with proof.
Three steps. Each one only makes sense after the previous one has shown results on your team.
A proposal, not a promise
Audit of what goes out
Octo reads the documents that are already published and shows what goes along with them, without changing anything.
- Forgotten revisions and comments
- People's names in the metadata
- Accessibility issues
Templates with controls and batch generation
The most used templates get content controls with tags and titles, and the spreadsheet becomes documents.
- Empty fields blocked
- Manifest with sha256
- Institutional properties
PDF/A and archiving with a log
Batch conversion and validation, with a report per file and approval logged before archiving or publishing.
- PDF/A profile per recipient
- veraPDF report kept
- Who approved each batch
05
Confirmed by a source.
Every point below has a source published by Microsoft (Learn and Support), by the package's official repository (PyPI, NuGet, PowerShell Gallery) or in Brazilian federal law. The examples are scripts to follow, not runs. The sources are in the next section.
4
points with a published source, each with its reference shown alongside.
- ConfirmedOffice 2016, 2019 and 2021 out of support
- Word 2016, Word 2019, Office 2016 and Office 2019 reached end of support on Oct 14, 2025; Word 2021, Word LTSC 2021, Office 2021 and Office LTSC 2021 left support on Oct 13, 2026; Office LTSC 2024 has standard support until Oct 9, 2029.Source: Microsoft Lifecycle
- ConfirmedCOM without a user is not supported
- "Microsoft does not currently recommend, and does not support, Automation of Microsoft Office applications from any unattended, non-interactive client application or component"; the alternatives indicated are Graph and Open XML.Source: learn.microsoft.com, unattended automation of Office
- ConfirmedGraph conversion is limited
?format=pdfaccepts files up to 2 MB and responds with a 302 to a pre-authenticated URL valid for a few minutes; minimum delegated permissionFiles.Read.Source: Graph v1.0, driveItem get content format- ConfirmedAccessibility Checker rules
- In Word, these are errors: non-text content without alt text, tables without headers, programmatically restricted access and content controls without titles.Source: support.microsoft.com, Rules for the Accessibility Checker
06
What Octo does, and what stays with you.
Octo prepares everything, but it does not sign. The document of record stays with whoever is accountable for it.
Octo prepares
Surveys, organizes and produces the files: documents, spreadsheets, presentations, schedules, inventories and check reports, on file and through the APIs, without sending or publishing anything.
Deliverable: material ready to checkYour team checks
Whoever is accountable for the document, the spreadsheet or the schedule checks what Octo delivered before approving. If something doesn't add up, it goes back to Octo with the correction.
Step: checked by the person accountableWho signs and approves
Octo does not sign, approve or send. The document owner reviews and signs; the project manager approves the baseline; the Microsoft 365 administrator grants consent for permissions; the data protection officer approves anything that goes out with personal data.
Approval: document owner and 365 administrator
07
Sources.
Microsoft documentation (lifecycle, Word VBA reference, Graph, Office.js, connectors and support), library and veraPDF pages and Law 14.063/2020, consulted on Oct 31, 2026.
- Ending Support in 2025Word and Office 2016 and 2019
- Ending Support in 2026Word and Office 2021 and LTSC 2021, ending on Oct 13, 2026
- Office LTSC 2024, lifecycleSupport until Oct 9, 2029
- Office automation without a userUnsupported; Graph and Open XML
- Structure of a WordprocessingML documentParts of a .docx
- Open XML SDK, DataBindingControl bound to Custom XML
- Word, ExportAsFixedFormatUseISO19005_1, DocStructureTags
- Word, CompareDocumentsVersion comparison
- Word, WdRemoveDocInfoTypeMetadata cleanup
- Graph, format conversion?format=pdf, 2 MB
- Word JavaScript API, requirement setsWordApi 1.9, WordApiDesktop 1.5
- Word Online (Business) connectorActions, limits and throttling
- Rules for the Accessibility CheckerErrors and warnings in Word
- python-docx on PyPI1.2.0, MIT
- veraPDF, command line validationPDF/A and PDF/UA profiles
- Law 14.063/2020Electronic signatures (Brazil)
Your documents, generated and checked.
The assessment starts with a read-only audit of the documents your team already publishes. You get the list of what is going out along with them, the templates that could be batched and the questions only your team can answer, and you decide with that in hand.