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Automate Excel with AI - A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server for comprehensive Excel automation through conversational AI.

MCP Server for Excel enables AI assistants (GitHub Copilot, Claude, ChatGPT) to automate Excel through natural language commands. Automate Power Query, DAX measures, VBA macros, PivotTables, Charts, formatting, and data transformations (12 tools with 180 operations).

🛡️ 100% Safe - Uses Excel's Native COM API - Zero risk of file corruption. Unlike third-party libraries that manipulate.xlsx files directly, this project uses Excel's official API ensuring complete safety and compatibility.

💡 Interactive Development - See results instantly in Excel. Create a query, run it, inspect the output, refine and repeat. Excel becomes your AI-powered workspace for rapid development and testing.

Optional CLI Tool: For advanced users who prefer command-line scripting, ExcelMcp includes a CLI interface for RPA workflows, CI/CD pipelines, and batch automation.

Requirements: Windows OS + Microsoft Excel 2016+

Fastest way to get started - everything configured automatically:Install from Marketplace

The extension opens automatically after installation with a quick start guide!

📖Complete Installation Guide → - Step-by-step setup for all AI assistants with ready-to-use config files

⚠️ Important: Close all Excel files before using ExcelMcp. The server requiresexclusive access to workbooks during automation (Excel COM limitation).

12 specialized tools with 180 operations:

• 🔄Power Query (9 ops) - Atomic workflows, M code management, load destinations
• 📊Data Model/DAX (16 ops) - Measures, relationships, model structure
• 🎨Excel Tables (24 ops) - Lifecycle, filtering, sorting, structured references
• 📈PivotTables (30 ops) - Creation, fields, aggregations, calculated members/fields
• 📉Charts (14 ops) - Create, configure, manage series and formatting
• 📝VBA (6 ops) - Modules, execution, version control
• 📋Ranges (42 ops) - Values, formulas, formatting, validation, protection
• 📄Worksheets (16 ops) - Lifecycle, colors, visibility, cross-workbook moves
• 🔌Connections (9 ops) - OLEDB/ODBC management and refresh
• 🏷️Named Ranges (6 ops) - Parameters and configuration
• 📁Files (6 ops) - Session management and workbook creation
• 🎨Conditional Formatting (2 ops) - Rules and clearing

📚Complete Feature Reference → - Detailed documentation of all 180 operations

Data Transformation & Analysis:

• "Optimize all my Power Queries in this workbook for better performance"
• "Create a PivotTable from SalesData table showing top 10 products by region with sum and average"
• "Create a data model from the following tables ... "
• "Build a DAX measure calculating year-over-year growth with proper time intelligence"
• "Filter this table by Column Product = Sushi"
• *"Create a treemap chart from this table".

Formatting & Styling (No Programming Required):

• "Format the revenue columns as currency, make headers bold with blue background, and add borders to the table"
• "Apply conditional formatting to highlight values above $10,000 in red and below $5,000 in yellow"
• "Convert this data range to an Excel Table with style TableStyleMedium2, add auto-filters, and create a totals row"

Workflow Automation:

• "Find all cells containing 'Q1 2024' and replace with 'Q1 2025', then sort the table by Date descending"
• "Add data validation dropdowns to the Status column with options: Active, Pending, Completed"
• "Merge the header cells, center-align them, and auto-fit all column widths to content"

Perfect for:

• ✅Data analysts automating repetitive Excel workflows
• ✅Developers building Excel-based data solutions
• ✅Business users managing complex Excel workbooks
• ✅Teams maintaining Power Query/VBA/DAX code in Git

Not suitable for:

• ❌ Server-side data processing (use libraries like ClosedXML, EPPlus instead)
• ❌ Linux/macOS users (Windows + Excel installation required)
• ❌ High-volume batch operations (consider Excel-free alternatives)

xcelMcp includes a CLI interface for Excel automation without AI assistance. This is useful for RPA workflows, CI/CD pipelines, or batch processing scripts. Runexcelcli --help for a categorized list of commands, orexcelcli sheet --help (replacesheet) to view action-specific options.Always follow the session pattern:excelcli session open <file> → run commands with--session <id> →excelcli session save/close <id>. SeeCLI Guide for complete documentation.

ExcelMcp uses Windows COM automation to control the actual Excel application (not just .xlsx files).

This means you get:

• ✅Full Excel Feature Access - Power Query engine, VBA runtime, Data Model, calculation engine, pivot tables
• ✅True Compatibility - Works exactly like Excel UI, no feature limitations
• ✅Live Data Operations - Refresh Power Query, connections, Data Model in real workbooks
• ✅Interactive Development - Immediate Excel feedback as AI makes changes
• ✅All File Formats - .xlsx, .xlsm, .xlsb, even legacy formats

💡 Tip: Watch Excel While AI WorksBy default, Excel runs hidden for faster automation. To see changes in real-time, just ask:

• "Show me Excel while you work"
• "Let me watch what you're doing"
• "Open Excel so I can see the changes"

The AI will display the Excel window so you can watch every operation happen live - great for learning or verifying changes!

Technical Requirements:

• ⚠️Windows Only - COM interop is Windows-specific
• ⚠️Excel Required - Microsoft Excel 2016 or later must be installed
• ⚠️Desktop Environment - Controls actual Excel process (not for server-side processing)

📚Complete MCP Server Guide → - Detailed tool documentation and examples

License: MIT License - seeLICENSE file

Contributing: SeeCONTRIBUTING.md for guidelines

Built With: This entire project was developed using GitHub Copilot AI assistance - mainly with Claude but lately with Auto-mode.

Acknowledgments:

• Microsoft Excel Team - For comprehensive COM automation APIs
• Model Context Protocol community - For the AI integration standard
• Open Source Community - For inspiration and best practices

Excel Automation •Automate Excel with AI •MCP Server •Model Context Protocol •GitHub Copilot Excel •AI Excel Assistant •Power Query Automation •Power Query M Code •Power Pivot Automation •DAX Measures •DAX Automation •Data Model Automation •PivotTable Automation •VBA Automation •Excel Tables Automation •Excel AI Integration •COM Interop •Windows Excel Automation •Excel Development Tools •Excel Productivity •Excel Scripting •Conversational Excel •Natural Language Excel