What is Excel Mcp Server

excel-mcp-server is a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server designed to read and write data from Microsoft Excel files, enabling seamless interaction with Excel documents.

Use cases

Common use cases include automating data entry into Excel, extracting data for analysis, generating reports directly from Excel files, and integrating Excel functionalities into web applications.

How to use

To use excel-mcp-server, install it via NPM by adding the appropriate configuration to your MCP server settings. You can choose between stdio or SSE transport methods depending on your platform.

Key features

Key features include reading and writing text values and formulas from/to Excel files, and capturing screen images from Excel files (Windows only). It supports various Excel file formats such as xlsx, xlsm, xltx, and xltm.

Where to use

excel-mcp-server is useful in fields such as data analysis, reporting, and automation where interaction with Excel files is required, particularly in software development and data processing environments.

Excel MCP Server

A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that reads and writes MS Excel data.

Features

• Read text values from MS Excel file
• Write text values to MS Excel file
• Read formulas from MS Excel file
• Write formulas to MS Excel file
• Capture screen image from MS Excel file (Windows only)

For more details, see the tools section.

Requirements

• Node.js 20.x or later

Supported file formats

• xlsx (Excel book)
• xlsm (Excel macro-enabled book)
• xltx (Excel template)
• xltm (Excel macro-enabled template)

Installation

Installing via NPM

excel-mcp-server is automatically installed by adding the following configuration to the MCP servers configuration.

Using stdio transport (default)

For Windows:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "excel": {
      "command": "cmd",
      "args": [
        "/c",
        "npx",
        "--yes",
        "@fbeawels/excel-mcp-server"
      ],
      "env": {
        "EXCEL_MCP_PAGING_CELLS_LIMIT": "4000"
      }
    }
  }
}

For other platforms:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "excel": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "--yes",
        "@fbeawels/excel-mcp-server"
      ],
      "env": {
        "EXCEL_MCP_PAGING_CELLS_LIMIT": "4000"
      }
    }
  }
}

Using SSE transport

For Windows:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "excel": {
      "command": "cmd",
      "args": [
        "/c",
        "npx",
        "--yes",
        "@fbeawels/excel-mcp-server"
      ],
      "env": {
        "EXCEL_MCP_PAGING_CELLS_LIMIT": "4000",
        "EXCEL_MCP_TRANSPORT": "sse",
        "EXCEL_MCP_HOST": "0.0.0.0",
        "EXCEL_MCP_PORT": "8000"
      }
    }
  }
}

For other platforms:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "excel": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "--yes",
        "@fbeawels/excel-mcp-server"
      ],
      "env": {
        "EXCEL_MCP_PAGING_CELLS_LIMIT": "4000",
        "EXCEL_MCP_TRANSPORT": "sse",
        "EXCEL_MCP_HOST": "0.0.0.0",
        "EXCEL_MCP_PORT": "8000"
      }
    }
  }
}

When using SSE transport, the server will start an HTTP server with the following endpoints:

• /sse - SSE endpoint for receiving events from the server
• /command - POST endpoint for sending commands to the server
• /status - GET endpoint for checking server status

Installing via Smithery

To install Excel MCP Server for Claude Desktop automatically via Smithery:

npx -y @smithery/cli install @fbeawels/excel-mcp-server --client claude

Tools

read_sheet_names

List all sheet names in an Excel file.

Arguments:

• fileAbsolutePath
  • Absolute path to the Excel file

read_sheet_data

Read data from Excel sheet with pagination.

Arguments:

• fileAbsolutePath
  • Absolute path to the Excel file
• sheetName
  • Sheet name in the Excel file
• range
  • Range of cells to read in the Excel sheet (e.g., “A1:C10”). [default: first paging range]
• knownPagingRanges
  • List of already read paging ranges

read_sheet_formula

Read formulas from Excel sheet with pagination.

Arguments:

• fileAbsolutePath
  • Absolute path to the Excel file
• sheetName
  • Sheet name in the Excel file
• range
  • Range of cells to read in the Excel sheet (e.g., “A1:C10”). [default: first paging range]
• knownPagingRanges
  • List of already read paging ranges

read_sheet_image

[Windows only] Read data as an image from the Excel sheet with pagination.

Arguments:

• fileAbsolutePath
  • Absolute path to the Excel file
• sheetName
  • Sheet name in the Excel file
• range
  • Range of cells to read in the Excel sheet (e.g., “A1:C10”). [default: first paging range]
• knownPagingRanges
  • List of already read paging ranges

write_sheet_data

Write data to the Excel sheet.

Arguments:

• fileAbsolutePath
  • Absolute path to the Excel file
• sheetName
  • Sheet name in the Excel file
• range
  • Range of cells to read in the Excel sheet (e.g., “A1:C10”).
• data
  • Data to write to the Excel sheet

write_sheet_formula

Write formulas to the Excel sheet.

Arguments:

• fileAbsolutePath
  • Absolute path to the Excel file
• sheetName
  • Sheet name in the Excel file
• range
  • Range of cells to read in the Excel sheet (e.g., “A1:C10”).
• formulas
  • Formulas to write to the Excel sheet (e.g., “=A1+B1”)

Configuration

Command-line Arguments

The following command-line arguments are available:

--transport <type>   Transport type (stdio or sse)
--host <address>     Host address to listen on for SSE transport (default: all interfaces)
--port <number>      Port for SSE transport (default: 8000)

Example usage:

npx @fbeawels/excel-mcp-server --transport sse --host 0.0.0.0 --port 8000

Environment Variables

You can also change the MCP Server behaviors by the following environment variables:

EXCEL_MCP_PAGING_CELLS_LIMIT

The maximum number of cells to read in a single paging operation.
[default: 4000]

EXCEL_MCP_TRANSPORT

The transport mechanism to use for communication.
Possible values: stdio, sse
[default: stdio]

EXCEL_MCP_HOST

The host address to bind to when using SSE transport.
[default: “”] (all interfaces)

EXCEL_MCP_PORT

The port to use for the HTTP server when using SSE transport.
[default: 8000]

License

Copyright © 2025 Franck Besnard

excel-mcp-server is released under the MIT License