Adeu: Native Track Changes for AI

Adeu bridges the gap between LLM text generation and Microsoft Word.

LLMs speak Markdown; Lawyers speak "Track Changes." Adeu allows AI agents to propose edits to .docx files without breaking formatting, numbering, or complex layouts.

It treats the DOCX file as a Virtual DOM:

1. Ingest: Extracts a lightweight, token-efficient text representation for the AI.
2. Diff: Calculates changes based on the AI's edits.
3. Reconcile: Surgically injects native XML w:ins (insertions) and w:del (deletions) back into the original document.

Adeu Open Source Software is developed by Adeu.

Prerequisite: Adeu uses uv for fast, isolated execution. Install it via your terminal:

macOS

curl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | sh

If you have Homebrew installed, macOS may warn you to use it for system-wide installations. In that case, use:

brew install uv

Windows

powershell -ExecutionPolicy ByPass -c "irm https://astral.sh/uv/install.ps1 | iex"

(Alternatively, on any platform you can use pip install uv)

To instantly add Adeu to Claude Desktop, run:

uvx adeu init

Once Claude Desktop has restarted, you can confirm Adeu is connected by typing the following message directly into Claude:

"Can you read a DOCX file using the Adeu tool?"

If everything is set up correctly, Claude will confirm it has access to the Adeu tools and describe what it can do. If it doesn't mention Adeu or says it doesn't have file tools, double-check that you restarted Claude Desktop after running uvx adeu init.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "adeu": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["--from", "adeu", "adeu-server"]
    }
  }
}

Adeu runs as a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server. It provides agents with specific tools to read, review, and edit documents safely.

✨ MCP Apps UI: The read_docx tool now supports the latest MCP Apps UI protocol. When an agent reads a document, Adeu dynamically renders a custom, interactive Markdown UI view directly inside your Claude chat window—allowing you to visually review the extracted text and formatting alongside the AI's reasoning!

The "Document Specialist" Prompt: To maximize the AI's effectiveness, paste this context into Claude's Project Instructions or your agent's System Prompt:

Role: Document Specialist Tools:

• read_docx(clean_view=True): Read the final "clean" version of the text to understand context.
• process_document_batch: Commit & Negotiate Mode. Apply a unified list of changes. Use type: "modify" for specific search-and-replace text edits, and type: "accept", "reject", or "reply" to manage existing Track Changes and Comments by ID.
• sanitize_docx: Pre-Send Scrub. Strip dangerous metadata, author names, and internal tracking IDs before sharing. Can preserve existing markup (keep_markup=True) or generate a clean delta against a baseline.

If you are running on Windows with Microsoft Word installed, Adeu can act as a real-time copilot, editing the active document right in front of you.

• read_active_word_document: Extracts text, tracked changes, and comments directly from the live, open Word window.
• process_active_word_batch: Translates the LLM's edits into native COM macros, watching Word type, delete, and add comments on the canvas automatically.

If you are building a legal-tech application or an automated pipeline, use the RedlineEngine directly. It handles the heavy lifting of XML manipulation.

from adeu import RedlineEngine, ModifyText
from io import BytesIO

# 1. Load the contract
with open("MSA.docx", "rb") as f:
    stream = BytesIO(f.read())

# 2. Define the edit (e.g., from an LLM response)
# Adeu uses fuzzy matching to locate the target text, even if whitespace varies.
edit = ModifyText(
    target_text="State of New York",
    new_text="State of Delaware",
    comment="Standardizing governing law."
)

# 3. Apply changes
engine = RedlineEngine(stream, author="AI Copilot")
engine.apply_edits([edit])

# 4. Save the result
with open("MSA_Redlined.docx", "wb") as f:
    f.write(engine.save_to_stream().getvalue())

Quickly inspect documents or apply batches of edits from your terminal.

# Extract clean text for RAG or prompting
adeu extract contract.docx -o contract.md

# Generate a visual diff between two versions
adeu diff v1.docx v2.docx

# Preview what an edit list (JSON) would look like
adeu markup contract.docx edits.json --output preview.md

# Apply edits to the DOCX
adeu apply contract.docx edits.json --author "Review Bot"

# Sanitize a document (strip metadata) before sharing with a counterparty
adeu sanitize redline.docx -o clean.docx --keep-markup --author "My Firm" --report

Adeu does not "rewrite" the document. It patches it.

• Images & Layouts: Untouched.
• Numbering & Headers: Preserved.
• Complex XML: It only modifies the text runs targeted by the edit.

Intermediate representations matter. Adeu uses CriticMarkup to visualize changes.

Word documents are messy. A word like "Contract" might be split into XML runs like ["Con", "tract"] due to spellcheck or formatting history.

• Run Coalescing: Adeu normalizes these splits so the AI sees "Contract".
• Fuzzy Matching: It handles minor whitespace discrepancies between the LLM's memory and the actual document content.

Existing metadata scrubbers break redlines or silently strip data. Adeu's sanitize command surgically removes dangerous trackers (rsids, templates, internal paths, timestamps) and orphaned content while preserving valid track changes. Crucially, it generates a transparent audit report proving exactly what was stripped and what will be visible to the recipient.

MIT License. Open source and free to use in commercial applications.