Office MCP Server: Add APIs for Scientific Writing and Research Paper Editing

Overview

The current Office MCP server provides basic document manipulation APIs, but lacks essential features needed for scientific writing and professional research paper editing. This issue tracks the APIs that should be added to make the server suitable for academic and research work.

Current APIs

• LoadDocument - Load and get metadata
• GetParagraphs - Get text content with styles
• InsertParagraph - Insert text at position
• ReplaceText - Find and replace text
• AddTable - Add basic tables
• CreateDocument - Create new documents
• UploadDocument - Upload documents

Proposed API Enhancements

1. Citation & Reference Management

• InsertCitation - Insert in-text citations (APA, MLA, Chicago, IEEE, etc.)
• ManageReferences - Add/update/delete bibliography entries
• FormatBibliography - Auto-format reference list by citation style

2. Advanced Formatting

• ApplyStyle - Apply heading styles (H1-H6), body text, quotes, abstract
• InsertFootnote/InsertEndnote - Add footnotes and endnotes
• InsertCaption - Add figure/table captions with auto-numbering
• CreateTableOfContents - Generate/update TOC
• CreateListOfFigures/CreateListOfTables - Generate lists with auto-numbering

3. Track Changes & Comments

• TrackChanges - Enable/disable revision tracking
• GetRevisions - List all changes with authors and timestamps
• AcceptRevision/RejectRevision - Accept or reject tracked changes
• AddComment/GetComments/ResolveComment - Comment management

4. Scientific Content

• InsertEquation - Add mathematical equations (LaTeX/MathML support)
• InsertChart - Add data visualizations
• InsertCrossReference - Reference figures/tables/sections/equations
• UpdateFields - Update all dynamic fields (page numbers, references, etc.)

5. Document Analysis

• GetStatistics - Word count, readability scores, citation count, etc.
• CheckConsistency - Verify citation/reference matching
• FindAcronyms - Extract undefined acronyms
• GetDocumentStructure - Outline with heading hierarchy

6. Collaboration Features

• CompareDocuments - Show differences between document versions
• MergeDocuments - Combine multiple documents
• ExportToFormat - Export to PDF/LaTeX/Markdown/HTML
• ImportFromFormat - Import from various academic formats

7. Metadata & Properties

• SetDocumentProperties - Set author, title, keywords, abstract
• GetDocumentProperties - Retrieve document metadata
• SetCustomProperties - Custom metadata fields for research

8. Advanced Search

• SearchWithRegex - Complex pattern matching
• SearchByStyle - Find text by formatting/style
• SearchInComments - Search within comments/revisions

Implementation Priority

1. First implement the basic APIs (current work)
2. Then add citation/reference management (most critical for research)
3. Follow with track changes and comments
4. Add advanced formatting features
5. Implement remaining features based on user feedback

Technical Considerations

• Use OpenXML SDK for advanced document manipulation
• Consider adding LaTeX equation rendering support
• Implement citation style formatting (CSL processor)
• Ensure compatibility with common reference managers (Zotero, Mendeley, etc.)

This enhancement would make the Office MCP server a powerful tool for researchers, academics, and anyone working with scientific documents.