AcroForm Writer

Turn an existing fillable PDF (application, intake sheet, contract, gov form) into a completed document by writing values straight into its real AcroForm fields — then, optionally, lock the fields read-only so it’s ready to send.

Unlike overlay-based approaches that paste text at fixed coordinates (and break the moment a layout shifts slightly), this skill works from the PDF’s actual form field definitions, so it stays accurate regardless of page layout.

How it works

1. scripts/fill_form.py list <input.pdf> — inspect every real form field (name, type, current value, checkbox/dropdown states) so the agent knows exactly what’s fillable.
2. scripts/fill_form.py fill <input.pdf> <data.json> <output.pdf> --flatten — write the values in and, with --flatten, mark every field read-only so it behaves as non-editable in standard viewers. This is a best-effort lock (sets /NeedAppearances and the widget read-only flag) rather than true flattening — the AcroForm and field definitions remain in the file.

Built and tested against a sample fillable PDF (assets/sample_intake_form.pdf) covering text fields and a checkbox, including the unmatched-field warning path and the “no AcroForm found” error path for non-fillable PDFs.

Bundled files

• scripts/fill_form.py — pure pypdf (already available in the agent sandbox), no external services. Two modes:
  • list <input.pdf> — dumps all AcroForm fields as JSON (name, type, current value, checkbox/radio states, dropdown options). Exits 1 with a clear message if the PDF has no fillable fields at all.
  • fill <input.pdf> <data.json> <output.pdf> [--flatten] — writes the supplied values into the matching fields and, with --flatten, sets /NeedAppearances and marks every field’s widget read-only so the result behaves as non-editable in standard viewers (best-effort lock, not true flattening).
• assets/sample_intake_form.pdf — a tiny fillable sample (name, email, checkbox) for smoke-testing the flow end-to-end before trying it on a real document.

Requirements

pypdf only — already present in the Copilot Studio Python sandbox. No network calls, no external services.