docs: def docx_preprocess(docx, batch=False):
      """
      Load docx files from local filepath if not already b64 encoded
      """
      if batch:
          return [docx_preprocess(doc, batch=False) for doc in docx]
  
      if os.path.isfile(docx):
          # a filepath is provided, read and encode
          return b64encode(open(docx, 'rb').read())
      else:
          # assume doc is already b64 encoded
          return docx