wordcraft/docs/gaps.md

# Where WordCraft falls short of Word

> **Last reviewed:** 2026-10-10 · **Last updated:** 2026-10-11 · **Change:** trivial (the Font list no longer keeps every previewed font in memory, #848; previously trivial: table column and row markers on the rulers, #700; previously trivial: table borders and the resize handle drag on the page, #217; previously trivial: formatting revisions landed, #41; previously trivial: Draw Table and Eraser landed, #303; previously minor: beta distance restated: ~15 points, ~150–230 h; previously: first version; every known shortfall from the 2026-10-10 re-measure, ranked) · **Target:** Microsoft Word (Microsoft 365) for Mac 16.113.4

> **Printing update:** 2026-10-12 · direct desktop printing through craft-print; details below.

The work list. One entry per shortfall, ranked by how much it stops a Word user from switching
(**B** = blocks beta). Each says what's missing, the evidence, who it hurts, an Opus 5.5 agent
wall-clock estimate, and which parity document tracks it. Agents: pick from the top, check open PRs
first (`gh pr list`), and update this file and the parity doc when a gap closes.

Native save reliability: synthetic cases on macOS reproduced loss through the predictable temporary-file name. Saves now use owned, exclusively created siblings, synchronize before replacement and clean up on failure; originals survive pre-replacement errors. This narrows save-path reliability under gap #3; the listed field failures and broader stability work remain open. See [save-path guarantees](file-format-parity.md#native-save-path-guarantees).

## Ranked

| # | Gap | B | Evidence | Impact | Hours | Doc |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | **DOCX never tested on real-world files.** No corpus of files from Word, Google Docs, LibreOffice and Pages has been opened, rendered and round-tripped and compared with Word page by page | B | No corpus in the repo; `crates/docx/tests` are synthetic fixtures (including omitted/empty paragraph defaults and imported TOC range preservation); "DOCX fidelity corpus: not started" since 2026-10-06. Field reports fixed one by one: a cover page's theme-coloured shapes (#611), freeforms inside groups and text-box margins and Resize to fit (#743) | Everyone: the files people receive are the files that break | 30–50 | [file-format-parity.md](file-format-parity.md) |
| 2 | **Remaining native ink forms are dropped on open and lost on save, silently**; OLE objects show only their picture | B | Drawing-level native ink is preserved with its optional picture fallback; direct run-level content parts and ink nested in groups/canvases remain unsupported. Drawing canvases are read and written (#344); group shapes (`wpg`) read and written (#267). Charts and SmartArt are drawn (#292) and, with OLE objects, written back with all their parts on save (#319) | Documents with diagrams drawn in Word or pen notes lose content without warning | 4–8 to preserve remaining native ink forms; 45–70 to render and edit charts and SmartArt (#13) | [file-format-parity.md](file-format-parity.md) |
| 3 | **Crashes and freezes in the field**: startup crash on Intel UHD Graphics (#170) (lag on GPUs without a DirectX 12 driver fixed, #316; 32-bit Windows exited at launch because DirectX 12 graphics pipeline creation failed, now OpenGL), freezes (#77, #59 Thai fonts, #31 font selector), no writes without admin on Windows 11 (#218), broken shape tool (#142), images can't be moved (#82); memory growth on every font change fixed (#848: the font list no longer loads each family it previews) | B | 62 open issues, ~15 of them crashes, hangs or data-path failures | Anyone hit loses work or trust; the never-crash standard covers panics, not hangs or GPU driver faults | 20–30 | [target-app-parity.md](target-app-parity.md) (Stability) |
| 4 | **Pagination differs from Word**: Aptos has no metric-matched substitute; legacy compatibility options ignored; no page-by-page comparison harness | B | [layout-parity.md](layout-parity.md); [typing-parity.md](typing-parity.md) Known gaps | Page counts and line breaks differ, which matters for forms, legal and academic work | 30–50 + owner (font) | [layout-parity.md](layout-parity.md) |
| 5 | **Content controls** landed (#381): `w:sdt` kept, shown and edited (Developer tab, Design Mode, Properties). Move tracking landed (#400): `w:moveFrom`/`w:moveTo` with their named ranges round-trip, a tracked cut and paste of a paragraph or sentence records a move, either end accepts/rejects both, green double strike/underline markup and "Moved from/to" balloons; still missing: drag-and-drop moves (no text drag yet) and move options in Track Changes Options. Formatting revisions landed (#41): `w:rPrChange`/`w:pPrChange`/`w:tblPrChange`/`w:trPrChange`/`w:tcPrChange`/`w:sectPrChange`/`w:numberingChange` round-trip, are recorded while tracking, accepted/rejected and shown in balloons; still missing: tracked style-definition changes and table/section changes made in WordCraft. Opaque custom XML backing stores now survive saves; binding evaluation remains absent. | B | Issues #41, #400; source grep | Legal and editorial review workflows; templates with form controls | 5–8 | [file-format-parity.md](file-format-parity.md) |
| 6 | **Print dialog depth**: desktop printer choice, copies, collation, duplex and grayscale submit through craft-print; File › Print retains preview, page ranges and odd/even (#641); driver tray/options and pages per sheet remain; web prints through the browser (#209) | B | `ui.print` → `apps/wordcraft/src/print.rs`; issue #15 | Everyone who prints | 5–8 | [hardware-parity.md](hardware-parity.md) |
| 7 | **Dialog depth**: 54 modal dialogs vs Word's ~100 | B | `Dialog` enum in `crates/ui-egui/src/dialogs.rs` | Power users reach for dialogs the ribbon alone doesn't cover | 11–19 | [ui-parity.md](ui-parity.md) |
| 8 | **Proofing covers English, Polish and Portuguese only**; no dictionaries, grammar or hyphenation for the other ~47 languages Word proofs (text in them is left unmarked) | | `crates/proof`: English, Polish and Portuguese (pt-BR via the installed VERO dictionary, 2026-10-12), a language per run (2026-10-10); Word ships 120 proofing tools; issues #25, #40, #100 | Every writer outside English, Polish and Portuguese | 20–40 | [localization-parity.md](localization-parity.md) |
| 9 | **Password-protected files** can't be opened or saved | | #55; `docbin` detects and refuses RC4/XOR | Corporate and legal users | 6–10 | [file-format-parity.md](file-format-parity.md) |
| 10 | **Objects**: no group (#267 open), text in a freely rotated text box (free rotation and flips landed, #332; text direction, alignment and linked text boxes landed, #369; contour wrap and wrap side landed, #354), shape effects, WordArt 3-D effects and connector routing around shapes (WordArt effects and warps and glued connectors landed, #416), dragging members inside a Drawing Canvas (the canvas landed, #344) | | [parity-checklist.md](parity-checklist.md) (Shape Format 6/6, Layout › Group) | Newsletters, flyers, reports with diagrams | 20–30 | [target-app-parity.md](target-app-parity.md) |
| 11 | **Interface languages**: 7 of the 12 key languages missing (hi, ar, fr, id, ko, vi, pt-PT); no mirrored RTL interface; ~5% of strings still English in the translated catalogs | | [localization-parity.md](localization-parity.md) | Most of the world's writers | 50–80 | [localization-parity.md](localization-parity.md) |
| 12 | **Draw tab / ink**: pens, pencil, highlighter, eraser, Select and Hide Ink landed (#307); Lasso Select, Add Pen, Ink to Shape and Ink Replay landed (#395); missing: Ink to Math, arrows in Ink to Shape, pressure, rendering/editing Word's own ink (drawing-level `w14:contentPart`/InkML now preserved on DOCX save) | | [parity-checklist.md](parity-checklist.md) (Draw 9/11) | Pen and tablet users | 4–8 | [hardware-parity.md](hardware-parity.md) |
| 13 | **Charts and SmartArt editing** (editing charts and SmartArt from Word, more chart types and formatting) | | `insert.chart` and Chart Design basics landed (#409): WordCraft's own charts are editable; charts from Word stay read-only (no embedded-workbook editing), no combo/3D/radar/stock charts, axis or series formatting; Insert › SmartArt landed (#497) for graphics WordCraft makes | Reports and business documents | 35–55 | [target-app-parity.md](target-app-parity.md) |
| 14 | **`.doc` can't be written; Word 6/95 files refused** | | `crates/docbin` is read-only | Users exchanging files with old Word or legacy systems | 25–40 | [file-format-parity.md](file-format-parity.md) |
| 15 | **References depth**: sources not saved in DOCX (#169 open); no EndNote/Mendeley desktop integration | | Sources live only in the session (#169 open) | Students and researchers | 6–10 | [target-app-parity.md](target-app-parity.md) |
| 16 | **Right-to-left completeness**: kashida, RTL in HTML/ODT/RTF; eight older RTL bug reports to re-verify after #207 (#215, #211, #199, #66, #63, #48, #19). RTL tables and sections landed (#362) | | [layout-parity.md](layout-parity.md) | Arabic, Persian, Hebrew writers | 7–11 | [layout-parity.md](layout-parity.md) |
| 17 | **East Asian typography**: Asian Typography options (Phonetic Guide landed, #288; Enclose Characters landed, #297; document grid landed, #391; vertical text landed, #491) | | Catalog misses `para.asianTypography` | Chinese, Japanese and Korean documents | 11–19 | [layout-parity.md](layout-parity.md) |
| 18 | **Screen-reader access** to the document canvas: exposed, not yet tried with real screen readers | | The canvas describes paragraphs, headings, lists, tables, links, pictures and the caret to AccessKit (#488), tested headlessly; no NVDA, VoiceOver or Orca run yet | Blind and low-vision users; public-sector procurement | 3–6 | [ui-parity.md](ui-parity.md) |
| 19 | **RTF and ODT depth**: notes, comments, revisions, sections, RTL | | ~1,500 lines each in `crates/formats` | Users exchanging with LibreOffice or older tools | 18–27 | [file-format-parity.md](file-format-parity.md) |
| 20 | **Performance on large real-world documents** unmeasured (500+ pages, many pictures) | | Only the 188-page sample benchmark; scrolling a 1,096-page one-table document went from ~600 ms to ~2–5 ms a frame (#811), but opening it still lays out for seconds | Thesis and book authors | 10–20 | [layout-parity.md](layout-parity.md) |
| 21 | **Mail merge data sources**: no Outlook/Contacts, Access or database sources, no email merge; CSV, typed lists (#247) and Excel/OpenDocument spreadsheets (#334) only | | Select Recipients reads .csv/.tsv, .xlsx/.xlsm and .ods | Office administrators | 4–8 | [target-app-parity.md](target-app-parity.md) |
| 22 | **Ecosystem**: no VBA execution (macros preserved only), no Office add-ins, no cloud storage, no real-time co-authoring | | `.docm` keeps macros (#172) | Enterprise users with macro templates; teams | 40–80 + owner decisions | [target-app-parity.md](target-app-parity.md) |
| 23 | **PDF Reflow** (open a PDF as an editable document, Word for Windows) | | | Users who edit PDFs they receive | 30–50 | [file-format-parity.md](file-format-parity.md) |
| 24 | **Default shortcuts**: ~135 of Word's ~250 (#330, #339, #343; Customize Keyboard #368, Customize Ribbon and the Quick Access Toolbar #379 landed) | | [ui-parity.md](ui-parity.md) | Power users | 4–7 | [ui-parity.md](ui-parity.md) |
| 25 | **In-app AI assistant** (Copilot-style draft, rewrite, summarize) | | Chat PR #178 open | Users expecting Copilot | 15–30 + owner (provider) | [target-app-parity.md](target-app-parity.md) |
| 26 | **Minor formats**: MHT, Works/WordPerfect, saving Word 2003 XML | | Word XML Document (Flat OPC) opens and saves, Word 2003 XML opens (#548) | Rare | 15–28 | [file-format-parity.md](file-format-parity.md) |
| 27 | **View windows**: Side by Side, Synchronous Scrolling, Arrange All, Switch Windows | | [parity-checklist.md](parity-checklist.md) (View 25/29) | Comparing documents | 3–5 | [ui-parity.md](ui-parity.md) |
| 28 | **Dictate** | | `tools.dictate` missing | Dictation users | 8–15 + owner (speech model) | [hardware-parity.md](hardware-parity.md) |
| 29 | **Equations**: ink equations | | #191 notes; long display equations wrap at operators (#326) | Maths-heavy documents | 2–3 | [layout-parity.md](layout-parity.md) |

**Beta needs #1–#7** (~150–230 h with the stability and layout work they imply): they are the
blocking gaps, and closing them lifts file formats, layout, stability and UI enough to take the
full number from ~60% to ~75%. Everything else is depth on the way to full parity.

## By kind

The same gaps grouped the way the parity documents are, for agents working in one area.

- **Feature gaps:** #2 (preserve), #5, #10, #12, #13, #15, #17, #21, #25, #27, #28, #29; Clipboard
  pane, Manage Styles, Group (open PRs exist for the first three — review and merge before
  re-implementing). Paste Special, Advanced Find, Column Selection, Style Inspector, custom table
  styles, and Draw Table and Eraser (#303) landed on 2026-10-10. Paste from other programs keeps
  their formatting (system clipboard HTML/RTF), Merge Formatting keeps emphasis, Paste Special lists
  what the system clipboard holds, and Linux/Wayland clipboard pictures paste (#687, #833);
  still missing: the Paste Options button after a paste, and RTF on macOS and X11.
- **UI/UX gaps:** #7, #18, #24; crop handles on the canvas (rotation handle landed, #332); context menus for objects (the table's landed; it still lacks Border Styles); Linux title bar theming (#78); File ›
  Options › Animation effects › Use system setting reads macOS (Reduce motion) and the Linux/BSD
  desktops (`apps/wordcraft/src/animations.rs`) but hasn't been tried on a Mac or in a real
  GNOME or KDE session yet.
- **File-format gaps:** #1, #2, #5, #9, #14, #19, #23, #26; embedded fonts; glossary/building blocks.
- **Hardware gaps:** #6, #12, #28; scanner/Continuity Camera insert; KDE soft text (#140).
- **Localization gaps:** #8, #11, #16, #17; native-speaker review of every catalog (human).
- **Stability and performance gaps:** #3, #20.

## Revision history

| Date | Change | Summary |
|---|---|---|
| 2026-10-11 | trivial | Table column and row markers on the rulers landed (#700): the ruler's column markers are off the UI/UX gaps |
| 2026-10-11 | trivial | UI/UX gaps: the table context menu landed, its items following the selection as in Word (Delete Cells, Rows, Columns or Table, Merge and Split Cells, Distribute, AutoFit, Text Direction, Insert Caption…, Table Properties…); objects' menus and Border Styles remain |
| 2026-10-11 | trivial | Tables: ordinary drags, Shift+arrows and Shift+click over cells select a rectangle of whole cells (into or out of a table, whole rows); removed from the UI/UX gaps |
| 2026-10-11 | trivial | Tables: selection areas, insert buttons, move handle and double-click AutoFit on the page landed; ordinary drags over cells of several rows (a run of text, not a rectangle) added to the UI/UX gaps |
| 2026-10-12 | trivial | #1: Word 365 cover page (#743): freeforms in groups keep their outline; text boxes keep their own margins and Resize shape to fit text, so no line is cut |
| 2026-10-12 | trivial | #3: 32-bit Windows no longer exits at launch; DirectX 12 graphics pipelines fail to create, so that build starts on OpenGL |
| 2026-10-12 | trivial | Gap #3: browsing the Font list no longer keeps every previewed family in memory (#848); each applied family still loads once |
| 2026-10-12 | trivial | Custom dictionary persists across sessions (`custom-dictionary.txt` in the settings folder; #40) |
| 2026-10-11 | trivial | #8 narrowed: runs in a proofing language without a dictionary are skipped instead of flagged against the English dictionary (#100); dictionaries still English-only |
| 2026-10-11 | trivial | #16: DOCX open/save preserves independent complex-script formatting inheritance; RTL sections, tables and typography remain open |
| 2026-10-11 | trivial | `.doc` pictures, shapes and text boxes read (#551); gap #14 narrowed to the writer and Word 6/95 files |
| 2026-10-11 | trivial | Table column and row borders and the resize handle drag on the page (#217); UI/UX gap narrowed to the ruler's column markers |
| 2026-10-11 | trivial | UI/UX gaps list: the system's animation setting is now read on macOS and the Linux/BSD desktops; trying it on real machines remains |
| 2026-10-11 | trivial | Animation effects setting landed (File › Options › Accessibility); UI/UX gaps list: the system's animation setting isn't read on macOS or Linux/BSD yet |
| 2026-10-11 | trivial | Word XML Document (Flat OPC) and Word 2003 XML opening landed (#548); gap #26 narrowed to 15–28 h |
| 2026-10-12 | minor | Desktop File > Print now discovers printers and submits PDF jobs through pinned craft-print with printer choice, copies, collation, duplex and grayscale; the upstream preview, ranges, parity and Print Markup remain available, along with browser printing and PDF export. Remaining print parity includes driver-specific tray/options and pages-per-sheet UI; physical printer fidelity needs hardware validation. |
| 2026-10-11 | trivial | #13 narrowed: Insert › SmartArt with eight layouts, Text Pane and SmartArt Design landed (#497); 25–40 h left for charts |
| 2026-10-11 | trivial | File › Options panes landed (#485); removed from the dialog-depth list |
| 2026-10-11 | trivial | #18: the document canvas describes its text, structure and caret to screen readers through AccessKit (#488); real screen-reader testing remains |
| 2026-10-11 | trivial | Compare / Combine Documents and AutoCorrect Options dialogs and the Restrict Editing pane landed (#412); removed from the dialog-depth list; duplicate #7 rows merged |
| 2026-10-11 | trivial | #10: WordArt text effects and Transform warps, connectors glued to shapes (#416) |
| 2026-10-11 | trivial | #5 narrowed: content controls kept, shown and edited (#381); move tracking remains |
| 2026-10-11 | trivial | Insert › Chart landed (#409); gap #13 narrowed to editing Word's charts, more types and SmartArt, 35–55 h |
| 2026-10-11 | trivial | Line Numbers, Hyphenation, Language, Envelopes and Labels dialogs landed (#407); gap #7 at 30 dialogs, 16–24 h; duplicated #7 rows merged |
| 2026-10-11 | trivial | Caption, Index, Mark Index Entry, Custom Table of Contents, Source Manager and Create/Edit Source dialogs landed (#402); removed from the dialog-depth list |
| 2026-10-12 | minor | #8: Portuguese proofing (spelling, suggestions, grammar, hyphenation) landed; the gap is now the other languages (20–40 h) |
| 2026-10-11 | trivial | Document grid landed (#391); removed from the East Asian gap |
| 2026-10-11 | trivial | Move tracking landed (#400); gap #5 narrowed to content controls, 5–8 h |
| 2026-10-11 | trivial | #4: note options per section (below text, end of section, restart each section/page) and the Footnote and Endnote dialog (#385) |
| 2026-10-11 | trivial | #10: Shape Format › Text: text direction, align text and linked text boxes (#369) |
| 2026-10-11 | trivial | #16: right-to-left tables (`w:bidiVisual`) and sections (`w:bidi`) laid out mirrored, with `table.rtl` and `layout.sectionRtl` (#362) |
| 2026-10-11 | trivial | #4: columns balance before a continuous section break (#350) |
| 2026-10-11 | trivial | #21: Excel (.xlsx/.xlsm) and OpenDocument (.ods) spreadsheets as recipient lists (#334); hours 6–10 → 4–8 |
| 2026-10-11 | trivial | Insert › Icons landed (#309); removed from the objects gap |
| 2026-10-12 | minor | Preserve opaque custom XML data/properties through saves; gap #5 and readiness remain unchanged |
| 2026-10-11 | minor | Imported TOC boundaries preserved in synthetic checks; real-world corpus gap and readiness unchanged |
| 2026-10-11 | trivial | #24 narrowed: Customize Ribbon and Quick Access Toolbar customization landed (#379); the default shortcuts remain |
| 2026-10-11 | trivial | #24 narrowed: Customize Keyboard landed (#368); Customize Ribbon and the Quick Access Toolbar remain |
| 2026-10-11 | trivial | Native saves protect existing temporary-name entries and originals on pre-replacement failure; synthetic macOS evidence, explicit durability/platform limits; readiness unchanged |
| 2026-10-11 | trivial | #24: Word's field keys (Alt+F9, Shift+F9, Ctrl+Shift+F9, Ctrl+F11, Ctrl+Shift+F11, F11, Shift+F11) (#339) |
| 2026-10-10 | trivial | #24: 125 of ~250 keyboard shortcuts after #330 |
| 2026-10-11 | trivial | Collapsed duplicate rows left by parallel merges |
| 2026-10-11 | minor | Native drawing-level ink and its picture fallback survive DOCX edits and repeated saves; rendering and editing InkML remain missing |
| 2026-10-11 | trivial | All 12 bibliography styles landed (#383); removed from References depth |
| 2026-10-11 | trivial | Formatting revisions landed (#41); gap #5 narrowed to move tracking and content controls, 8–12 h |
| 2026-10-11 | trivial | Omitted `w:pPrDefault` stays omitted across saves; explicit empty/default properties and later spacing edits remain writable. Synthetic preservation checks only; readiness estimates unchanged |
| 2026-10-11 | trivial | #12 narrowed: Lasso Select, Add Pen, Ink to Shape and Ink Replay landed (#395) |
| 2026-10-10 | trivial | Draw Table and Eraser landed (#303); removed from the feature-gap list |
| 2026-10-10 | trivial | Tabs and Borders and Shading dialogs landed (#320); removed from the dialog-depth list |
| 2026-10-10 | trivial | Columns, Symbol and Field dialogs landed (#321); removed from the dialog-depth list |
| 2026-10-10 | trivial | #2 narrowed: charts and SmartArt drawn (#292), and with OLE objects kept on save (#319); group shapes landed (#267); ink and drawing canvases remain |
| 2026-10-10 | trivial | #4: a document's own footnote separators and continuation notice are drawn and kept on save (#352) |
| 2026-10-10 | trivial | #4: long footnotes continue onto the next page (#352) |
| 2026-10-10 | trivial | Define New Multilevel List and Track Changes Options dialogs landed (#328); removed from the dialog-depth list |
| 2026-10-11 | trivial | Enclose Characters landed (#297); removed from the East Asian typography gap |
| 2026-10-11 | trivial | Phonetic Guide (ruby) landed (#288): gap 17 narrowed |
| 2026-10-10 | trivial | #10: wrap side (both sides, left, right, largest) for Square, Tight and Through objects (#354) |
| 2026-10-10 | trivial | #10: Tight and Through wrapping follow the object's outline (#354) |
| 2026-10-10 | trivial | #10: free rotation and flips for pictures, shapes and text boxes, with a rotation handle (#332); text boxes rotate their frame; their text stays upright |
| 2026-10-10 | trivial | #10: Drawing Canvas landed (#344); in-canvas dragging of members remains |
| 2026-10-10 | trivial | #29: long display equations wrap across lines (#326) |
| 2026-10-10 | trivial | #3: Windows lag on GPUs without a DirectX 12 driver fixed with an OpenGL fallback (#316) |
| 2026-10-10 | minor | #8: Polish proofing (spelling, grammar, hyphenation) and a proofing language per run landed; the gap is now the other languages (20–40 h) |
| 2026-10-10 | trivial | #6: desktop File › Print opens the system PDF viewer (#286) |
| 2026-10-10 | trivial | Table Properties dialog landed (#44); removed from the dialog-depth list |
| 2026-10-10 | trivial | Merged main: landed features removed from the feature-gap list |
| 2026-10-10 | minor | Beta note restated: full number back to the additive ~60% (method aligned with the standard, no new evidence) |
| 2026-10-11 | trivial | #491: vertical sections landed; vertical text removed from the East Asian gap |
| 2026-10-10 | major | First version, from the full re-measure: 29 ranked gaps with evidence, impact and hours |
| 2026-10-10 | trivial | #307: Draw tab pens, eraser and Hide Ink landed; ink gap narrowed |
| 2026-10-12 | trivial | #811: large-table scrolling fixed; performance gap (#20) narrowed |