Table of Contents and Table of Authorities Builder

Part of The Annex: free AI tools from SentryHall.

A table of contents lists a document's headings with their page numbers. A table of authorities lists the cases, statutes, rules, and other sources a document cites, grouped by type, with the pages where each one appears. This tool reads a Word document you already wrote and builds both tables from your own headings and citations, copied exactly as you wrote them. It is for anyone preparing a written memorandum or brief.

Version 0.1.0.

By Alex (J.D. candidate, not a lawyer)

Downloads

Before you use it:

The tables copy your headings and citations exactly as written. The tool does not check or correct them.
It may miss or mis-sort a citation. Anything it cannot sort goes on a separate review list for you to decide.
It does not collect citations in footnotes, text boxes, comments, or headings.
The new file contains hidden Word field codes that mark each entry. Update the fields in Word to fill in the page numbers.
Check the finished tables against your document before you file it.
The tables need Word for Windows to fill in. Word for Mac, Word for the web, Google Docs, and LibreOffice may not build them.

No sign-up and no email address are needed. To format the paper itself, see the California Pleading Paper Formatter.

When California rules call for these tables

These are the rules as checked on October 11, 2026.

For a memorandum supporting a motion, rule 3.1113(f) says: "A memorandum that exceeds 10 pages must include a table of contents and a table of authorities. A memorandum that exceeds 15 pages must also include an opening summary of argument." Rule 3.1113(d) says the memorandum page limits do not include "the table of contents, the table of authorities."

For a brief in the Court of Appeal, rule 8.204(a)(1)(A) says each brief must "Begin with a table of contents and a table of authorities separately listing cases, constitutions, statutes, court rules, and other authorities cited". Rule 8.204(b) also sets a separate page format for those briefs.

Rule 1.200 says citations must follow the California Style Manual or The Bluebook, "at the option of the party filing the document," and that "The same style must be used consistently throughout the document." The tool keeps whatever style you used.

What the builder does

Headings

It reads the paragraphs you formatted with Word's built-in heading styles, or another style you name, and lists them in order, with their wording unchanged.

Citations

It looks for citations using a published list of patterns and copies each one exactly as written, including your spelling, spacing, and italics. It sorts them under these labels: Cases, Constitutional Provisions, Statutes, and Rules. It sorts nothing into Other Authorities; you can mark entries for that group in Word. Groups with no entries are left out.

Only identical citations are combined into one entry. The review list shows three kinds of items: citations it could not sort ("not sorted"), entries that may refer to the same source ("possible same authority"), and short forms such as "Id." or "supra" ("short form"). You decide what to do with each one.

Page numbers

The builder marks each entry with a Word field. Word fills in the page numbers when you update the fields, so the numbers come from your own document's layout. Update the fields again after any edit that moves text.

Microsoft's help pages say tables of authorities are not supported in Word for Mac or Word for the web. The output is checked against the Word file format standard. It has not been tested in every version of Word.

What "passim" means

"Passim" is a Latin word meaning "here and there." Some tables print it in place of a long list of page numbers for a source cited many times. The builder leaves it off, so every page is listed.

Use it with an AI assistant

AI assistants that support Agent Skills

Download skill.zip and add it as a skill in your AI assistant, following the assistant's help pages for adding skills. Then ask it to build a table of contents and a table of authorities for your Word file.

Other AI assistants that can run Python

Give the assistant SKILL.md and the script from skill.zip, and ask it to follow SKILL.md.

What to give it and what you get

Give it your finished .docx file. It needs a document with a caption box, such as one made on pleading paper. A file without a table is refused. You get a new file with a table of contents and then a table of authorities added after the caption box (the first table in your document), each starting on a new page, plus a separate review list. Your original file stays as it was.

Use it without an AI assistant

The script in skill.zip also runs on its own with Python. The command is in SKILL.md.

Build the tables by hand in Word

Microsoft's help page gives these steps for Word for Windows, as checked on October 11, 2026.

Format each heading with a Word heading style. Then click References, then Table of Contents, to insert the table of contents.
Select a citation. Click References, then Mark Citation (or press Alt+Shift+I). Choose a category, then click Mark, or Mark All to mark every match.
Repeat for each citation.
Click where the table should go. Click References, then Insert Table of Authorities, choose the categories, and click OK.
After any edit that moves text, update both tables.

What this tool does not do

It does not write, edit, reword, complete, or correct headings or citations.
It does not check whether a source exists, is still good law, or says what the document says it does.
It does not apply or convert any citation style.
It does not decide whether a document needs these tables, and it does not count pages against any rule.
It does not resolve short forms such as "Id." or "supra."
It does not add sections, such as a summary of argument, or any wording beyond the table titles, group labels, and page numbers.
It does not change the document's layout or format a brief for the Court of Appeal.

Where your text goes

This site has no upload box and receives none of your text. The skill runs in your AI assistant or on your computer, and its script makes no network calls. If you use an online AI assistant, that service's own terms cover what happens to the text you give it.

Versions and changes

0.1.0, October 11, 2026: first release.