programmatically redline a contract: tracked changes in ooxml and python-docx limitations

Steps

1. Understand that python-docx does not natively support inserting OOXML tracked-change revision marks (w:ins, w:del); to produce true redlines you must manipulate the underlying XML directly via python-docx's element access or use a library like docx2python or a DOCX manipulation API.
2. For deletions, wrap the run XML in a w:del element with w:id, w:author, and w:date attributes; the run content moves inside a w:delText element.
3. For insertions, wrap new run XML in a w:ins element with the same required attributes; this signals to Word and compatible viewers that the text is an addition.
4. Set the w:author attribute to a meaningful name (e.g., the AI reviewer or the user) and w:date to an ISO 8601 datetime so the change is attributed correctly in the revision pane.
5. Validate the output by opening the file in Microsoft Word or LibreOffice and confirming that Track Changes shows the expected insertions and deletions before delivering to end users.