Word parity milestones

Status reviewed against the current model, shared editor and regression tests on 2026-10-03. Microsoft Word equivalence is the target, not a capability claim for this release. Import, visual layout, editing, export, preservation and accessibility must each be demonstrated independently. Keeping XML does not prove that it renders or recalculates correctly.

Current foundation

One <docx-editor> implements the UI for six lifecycle adapters: React, Vue, Angular, Svelte, Solid and Vanilla. All document logic belongs in ooxml-core/docx and its layout/load subpaths; docx-core is a thin re-export. Shared drawing, diagram, maths and collaboration logic belongs in the corresponding core areas. ole2 owns the legacy binary codecs. Fix a behavior once in the shared editor, then exercise it through each adapter.

The current implemented subset includes:

Area	Available behavior	Evidence and remaining boundary
Text and formatting	Editing, undo/redo, paragraph and character styles, theme fonts/colors, direct formatting, direction/language metadata, font scale/spacing/position/kerning and ligatures	editor.spec.ts, advanced-font-preservation.spec.ts, font-advanced-controls.spec.ts, core style/theme/toggle tests. Browser shaping and Word glyph metrics can differ.
Lists	Bullets, numbering, multilevel definitions, heading-linked outlines, restart rules and marker alignment	numbering-restart.spec.ts, heading-numbering.spec.ts, multilevel-list-dialog.spec.ts, core numbering tests. Picture bullets and some style-linked/custom numbering remain limited.
Tables	Rectangular row/column commands, row height/repeat/split properties, default and selected-cell margins, cell borders and Cell/Table solid shading	table-properties.spec.ts, table-borders.spec.ts, table-shading.spec.ts, table-cell-margins.spec.ts, core table preservation tests. Merged/nested/complex structural edits stay protected. No per-side border pens or pattern-fill editor.
Sections and stories	Per-section page setup and breaks, editable headers/footers/notes, first/even/default variants, Link to Previous, page-number fields	Header/footer context, variants, link and history browser contracts, core story creation/editing tests. Decorative galleries and full Word story layout remain missing.
References and review	Editable field results, TOC/table of figures, captions/cross-references, explicit Update Fields, comments and tracked-change commands	fields.spec.ts and shared-editor/core field, caption, comment and revision tests. Unsupported field switches and automatic recalculation remain limited.
Pictures and objects	Pictures, supported floating-picture layout, hyperlinks/bookmarks, simple inline text boxes, display of saved SmartArt drawings	Picture/text-box/diagram core and viewer tests. SmartArt editing, chart rendering/editing and general shape editing remain missing.
File and preferences	File Home, Info/properties, New/Open/Save/Save As/Export/Print; display language, theme, review author, spelling/ruler/marks/thumbnails preferences	file-tab.spec.ts, document-properties.spec.ts, backstage/chrome tests. Preferences apply to this editor session; recent files, account/cloud sharing and protection are missing.
Search and coauthoring	Literal Unicode-aware find/replace, authority-based step synchronization and peer cursors	Search/controller and collaboration tests plus the local coauthoring demo. Networking, permissions, persistence and shared-save coordination belong to the host.

Five display locales are available: English, French, German, Spanish and Simplified Chinese. This is interface localization, separate from document language and spelling. Spelling uses the browser service; there is no bundled Word-equivalent grammar or proofing engine.

Imported inline and display equations now render through native MathML using ooxml-core/math. They remain display-only: the original OMML is preserved when surrounding text is edited and saved. Unsupported equation previews show a visible notice. Print Layout uses an [Equation] placeholder with an approximation warning; it does not typeset the equation or reproduce Word's equation layout.

Print Layout already paginates through ooxml-core/docx/layout, including sections/columns, keep rules, table row fragmentation, repeating table headers, footnotes, headers/footers, page fields and supported floating pictures. The main editing surface remains continuous. Print Layout is a read-only paginated render; clicks use fragment source ranges and measured glyph boundaries to move the cursor back into the editing surface (print-cursor.spec.ts). It is not a second Word-like editable page surface, and its pagination is approximate.

Selected-cell vertical alignment is editable with save/reopen and undo coverage (table-cell-alignment.spec.ts). Toolbar/context-menu clipboard commands retain supported HTML formatting and tables in the body and stories (formatted-clipboard.spec.ts); plain-text-only browser APIs still work. External HTML does not guarantee preservation of unsupported OOXML properties or objects.

Next implementation priorities

1. Editable pages and reliable layout. Establish stable page/line/run mappings for caret placement, selections, scrolling, keyboard movement and IME before adding editing directly to pages. Improve footnote continuation, per-column notes, text-box layout, complex scripts and font substitution against references.
2. Document preservation under richer edits. Add merged-cell/table commands, remaining table/cell geometry controls only with imported-package surgery, identity-aware undo and save/reopen tests. Extend formatted clipboard coverage across paragraphs, cells and document stories.
3. Drawing and embedded objects. Reuse the format-neutral core for SmartArt, shapes, charts and equations. Add insertion/editing only after model, parser, layout and serializer contracts preserve the source package. Keep UI controls and framework adapters in the viewer.
4. Word authoring breadth. Extend style-definition editing, object positioning and wrapping, citations/bibliography/index, field recalculation and accessibility inspection. Unsupported imported content must remain visible or explicitly identified and preserved.
5. Production review and integration. Add proofing services, compare/protection and application persistence as explicit contracts. Complete cross-browser, keyboard/screen-reader, large-document and concurrent-editing coverage before advertising replacement-level reliability.

Acceptance for Word equivalence

Build a checked-in corpus of Word-authored DOCX files with Word-rendered reference pages and semantic expectations. Include ordinary business documents and difficult cases: multiple sections, complex tables, linked stories, tracked changes, fields, floating drawings, SmartArt/charts/equations, RTL/CJK, font substitutions and large files. Cross-check with another renderer where helpful, but Word is the primary reference for the stated target.

For each supported feature, require:

• Import diagnostics and expected model/text, including unsupported content.
• UI edit, undo/redo, selection and keyboard behavior in all six bindings.
• Export validation, reopening in Word and this editor, and checks that unrelated parts/relationships/content types and opaque source XML stay intact.
• Page counts, line/shape positions and visual comparisons with recorded tolerances. A passing serializer test does not establish visual parity.
• Accessibility, clipboard and IME coverage; browser and font versions recorded with visual references so differences can be investigated.

The existing Word COM checks documented in outstanding work validate specific exported properties. They are useful evidence for those cases, not a complete rendered-document comparison corpus or proof of full parity.

Release gates

Run the repository CI checks, framework browser contracts and independent packed consumer checks. Consume a published core release, restore any temporary file: dependencies before committing, and reject copied core/binary logic. No unsupported feature may disappear silently. Record known approximations in the UI/docs and require evidence for each capability claim.

Outstanding work records detailed implemented behavior and its limits. Editing text and collaboration describe the current integration contracts.