
Excel File Manipulation
Manipulates Excel files without requiring Microsoft Excel installation, enabling creation and modification of workbooks, worksheets, formulas, charts, and pivot tables.
Enables Excel file manipulation without Microsoft Excel installation using openpyxl, providing workbook operations, data validation detection, formatting, formulas, charts, pivot tables, and native Excel table support for automating spreadsheet workflows and report generation.
What it does
- Read and write Excel file data
- Apply and validate Excel formulas
- Create charts and pivot tables
- Format cells and ranges
- Create native Excel tables
- Manage worksheets and workbooks
Best for
About Excel File Manipulation
Excel File Manipulation is a community-built MCP server published by haris-musa that provides AI assistants with tools and capabilities via the Model Context Protocol. Automate Excel file tasks without Microsoft Excel using openpyxl and xlsxwriter for formatting, formulas, charts, and ad It is categorized under productivity, analytics data. This server exposes 25 tools that AI clients can invoke during conversations and coding sessions.
How to install
You can install Excel File Manipulation in your AI client of choice. Use the install panel on this page to get one-click setup for Cursor, Claude Desktop, VS Code, and other MCP-compatible clients. This server runs locally on your machine via the stdio transport.
License
Excel File Manipulation is released under the MIT license. This is a permissive open-source license, meaning you can freely use, modify, and distribute the software.
Tools (25)
Apply Excel formula to cell. Excel formula will write to cell with verification.
Validate Excel formula syntax without applying it.
Apply formatting to a range of cells.
Read data from Excel worksheet with cell metadata including validation rules. Args: filepath: Path to Excel file sheet_name: Name of worksheet start_cell: Starting cell (default A1) end_cell: Ending cell (optional, auto-expands if not provided) preview_only: Whether to return preview only Returns: JSON string containing structured cell data with validation metadata. Each cell includes: address, value, row, column, and validation info (if any).
Write data to Excel worksheet. Excel formula will write to cell without any verification. PARAMETERS: filepath: Path to Excel file sheet_name: Name of worksheet to write to data: List of lists containing data to write to the worksheet, sublists are assumed to be rows start_cell: Cell to start writing to, default is "A1"
A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that lets you manipulate Excel files without needing Microsoft Excel installed. Create, read, and modify Excel workbooks with your AI agent.
Features
- 📊 Excel Operations: Create, read, update workbooks and worksheets
- 📈 Data Manipulation: Formulas, formatting, charts, pivot tables, and Excel tables
- 🔍 Data Validation: Built-in validation for ranges, formulas, and data integrity
- 🎨 Formatting: Font styling, colors, borders, alignment, and conditional formatting
- 📋 Table Operations: Create and manage Excel tables with custom styling
- 📊 Chart Creation: Generate various chart types (line, bar, pie, scatter, etc.)
- 🔄 Pivot Tables: Create dynamic pivot tables for data analysis
- 🔧 Sheet Management: Copy, rename, delete worksheets with ease
- 🔌 Triple transport support: stdio, SSE (deprecated), and streamable HTTP
- 🌐 Remote & Local: Works both locally and as a remote service
Usage
The server supports three transport methods:
1. Stdio Transport (for local use)
uvx excel-mcp-server stdio
{
"mcpServers": {
"excel": {
"command": "uvx",
"args": ["excel-mcp-server", "stdio"]
}
}
}
2. SSE Transport (Server-Sent Events - Deprecated)
uvx excel-mcp-server sse
SSE transport connection:
{
"mcpServers": {
"excel": {
"url": "http://localhost:8000/sse",
}
}
}
3. Streamable HTTP Transport (Recommended for remote connections)
uvx excel-mcp-server streamable-http
Streamable HTTP transport connection:
{
"mcpServers": {
"excel": {
"url": "http://localhost:8000/mcp",
}
}
}
Environment Variables & File Path Handling
SSE and Streamable HTTP Transports
When running the server with the SSE or Streamable HTTP protocols, you must set the EXCEL_FILES_PATH environment variable on the server side. This variable tells the server where to read and write Excel files.
- If not set, it defaults to
./excel_files.
You can also set the FASTMCP_PORT environment variable to control the port the server listens on (default is 8017 if not set).
- Example (Windows PowerShell):
$env:EXCEL_FILES_PATH="E:\MyExcelFiles" $env:FASTMCP_PORT="8007" uvx excel-mcp-server streamable-http - Example (Linux/macOS):
EXCEL_FILES_PATH=/path/to/excel_files FASTMCP_PORT=8007 uvx excel-mcp-server streamable-http
Stdio Transport
When using the stdio protocol, the file path is provided with each tool call, so you do not need to set EXCEL_FILES_PATH on the server. The server will use the path sent by the client for each operation.
Available Tools
The server provides a comprehensive set of Excel manipulation tools. See TOOLS.md for complete documentation of all available tools.
Star History
License
MIT License - see LICENSE for details.
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