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sbroenne/excel-mcp

v0.0.0MIT

Windows-only Excel automation plugin that bootstraps the latest ExcelMcp MCP runtime on first use.

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Excel MCP Plugin

Model Context Protocol server for natural language Excel automation

This plugin provides the excel-mcp skill and a plugin-local MCP bootstrap for GitHub Copilot. Use natural language to automate Power Query, DAX measures, PivotTables, Tables, Charts, VBA macros, and more through Windows Excel COM API.

Best for: Conversational AI workflows (GitHub Copilot Chat, Claude Desktop, Cursor) where rich tool schemas and persistent connections matter more than token efficiency.

Prerequisites

  • Windows with Microsoft Excel 2016 or later (COM interop required)
  • GitHub Copilot extension or other MCP-compatible client

Installation

Option 1: VS Code Extension (Recommended)

Install the Excel MCP VS Code extension for one-click setup with GitHub Copilot.

Option 2: Plugin Marketplace

copilot plugin marketplace add sbroenne/mcp-server-excel-plugins
copilot plugin install excel-mcp@mcp-server-excel-plugins

Option 3: Manual Installation

  1. Install the plugin
  2. Let the plugin bootstrap the latest self-contained mcp-excel.exe on first use
  3. Or add the standalone binary to your MCP client configuration manually (see MCP Server Installation Guide)

Runtime Bootstrap

The plugin does not rely on a bundled mcp-excel.exe. Its Agent Plugins 1.0 mcp.json launches a PowerShell wrapper that:

  • checks GitHub Releases for the newest ExcelMcp-MCP-Server-*-windows.zip
  • downloads and caches the latest self-contained Windows server on first invocation
  • re-checks freshness at most once per Copilot chat session

If you want the server registered globally in ~/.copilot/mcp-config.json, run:

pwsh -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File `
  "$env:USERPROFILE\.copilot\installed-plugins\mcp-server-excel-plugins\excel-mcp\com.github.copilot\bin\install-global.ps1"

What You Can Do

31 specialized tools with 325 operations for comprehensive Excel automation:

Core Operations

  • Power Query (12 ops) — Create, update, refresh; M code formatting via powerqueryformatter.com
  • Data Model/DAX (20 ops) — Measures, relationships, source metadata, EVALUATE queries
  • PivotTables (35 ops) — Fields, grouping, cache options, drill-through, calculations
  • Excel Tables (27 ops) — Lifecycle, filtering, sorting, DAX-backed tables
  • Charts (33 ops) — Combo series, plotting, placement, formatting, labels, trendlines
  • Ranges (51 ops) — Values, formulas, hyperlinks, threaded comments, formatting, validation
  • Worksheets (33 ops) — Lifecycle, outlines, protection, notes, images, shapes, page setup
  • Workbooks (15 ops) — Metadata, properties, Save As/copy, PDF/XPS, external links

Advanced Features

  • VBA (6 ops) — Module import/export, run procedures, version control
  • Connections (11 ops) — OLEDB/ODBC connections with refresh status and cancellation
  • QueryTables (9 ops) — Text/CSV and legacy HTML imports
  • Drawing Objects (14 ops) — Shapes, Forms controls, and sparklines
  • What-If Analysis (8 ops) — Goal Seek, scenarios, summaries, data tables
  • XML Maps (6 ops) — Schemas, XPath mapping, secure import/export
  • Slicers (8 ops) — Interactive filtering for PivotTables and Tables
  • Conditional Formatting (2 ops) — Add rules (cell value, expression), clear
  • Named Ranges (6 ops) — Create, update, delete named ranges
  • Calculation Mode (3 ops) — Get/set mode, trigger recalculation (performance optimization)
  • Python in Excel (2 ops) — Set/get =PY() formulas and results
  • Screenshot (2 ops) — Capture ranges/sheets as PNG for visual verification
  • Window Management (15 ops) — Show/hide, panes, zoom, display options, positioning

File Operations

  • Session Management (6 ops) — Create, open, close, list sessions
  • IRM/AIP Support — Auto-detects protected files, opens with Excel visible for authentication

Complete documentation: Full Feature Reference

Why MCP Server?

InterfaceBest ForKey Benefit
MCP ServerConversational AI (Claude, Copilot Chat)Rich tool discovery, persistent sessions
CLI (excelcli)Coding agents64% fewer tokens

Use MCP Server when: You're having a conversation with an AI about Excel, and you want it to discover available operations through tool schemas instead of reading skill documentation.

Example Use Cases

"Create a sales tracker with Date, Product, Quantity, Unit Price, and Total columns"
→ AI creates the workbook, adds headers, enters sample data, and builds formulas

"Create a PivotTable from this data showing total sales by Product, then add a chart"
→ AI creates PivotTable, configures fields, and adds a linked visualization

"Import products.csv with Power Query, load to Data Model, create a Total Revenue measure"
→ AI imports data, adds to Power Pivot, and creates DAX measures for analysis

"Create a slicer for the Region field so I can filter interactively"
→ AI adds slicers connected to PivotTables or Tables for point-and-click filtering

"Put this data in A1: Name, Age / Alice, 30 / Bob, 25"
→ AI writes data directly to cells using natural delimiters you provide

"Show me Excel while you work"
→ AI makes Excel visible so you can watch changes happen in real-time

Key Features

Powered by the Real Excel Engine

ExcelMcp drives the actual Excel application through its official COM API — not a file parser. That means it can:

  • ✅ Run live operations — refresh Power Query, recalculate, refresh PivotTables and the Data Model, evaluate DAX, run VBA and Python =PY()
  • ✅ Edit existing workbooks safely — formulas, PivotTables, charts, macros and formatting stay intact
  • ✅ Show changes live in Excel as the AI works
  • ✅ Use native Excel validation and error handling

AI-Powered Workflows

  • 💬 Natural language Excel commands through AI assistants
  • 🔄 Optimize Power Query M code for performance and readability
  • 📊 Build complex DAX measures with AI guidance
  • 📋 Automate repetitive data transformations and formatting
  • 👀 Show Excel Mode — Watch changes live as AI works
  • 🚀 First-Run Bootstrap — Auto-download the newest self-contained MCP runtime when the plugin is first invoked

Automatic Code Formatting

  • M Code — Formatted via powerqueryformatter.com (mogularGmbH, MIT License)
  • DAX — Formatted via SQLBI Dax.Formatter library
  • Adds ~100-500ms per operation for dramatically improved readability
  • Graceful fallback if formatting unavailable

Supported AI Assistants

  • ✅ GitHub Copilot (VS Code, Visual Studio)
  • ✅ Claude Desktop
  • ✅ Cursor
  • ✅ Cline (VS Code Extension)
  • ✅ Windsurf
  • ✅ Any MCP-compatible client

Resources