excel-mcp-live

Edit a Microsoft Excel workbook while it's open — the AI attaches to the window you already have, it doesn't start its own.

Live editing · Windows (COM) · 19 tools

---

Most Excel MCP servers (including this workspace's own mcp-server-excel) work by starting a fresh, invisible Excel process, opening your file in it, and closing it again when done. That's great for scripted automation, but it means the AI is never looking at the same window you are.

excel-mcp-live does the opposite: it attaches to whatever Excel window(s) you already have open via COM, using the same "find the running application" approach as word-mcp-live's live editing tools. It never launches Excel and never closes it — it only touches workbooks you opened yourself.

Requirements

• Windows (COM automation is Windows-only — there is no macOS/Linux mode for this project)
• Microsoft Excel installed and already running with a workbook open
• Python 3.11+

Installation

git clone <this-repo-url>
cd excel-mcp-live
pip install -e .

Or run straight from source with uv — no install step needed:

uv run excel_mcp_server.py

Client setup (.mcp.json)

Point your MCP client at the project directory. For Claude Code, add this to .mcp.json in your project (or ~/.claude.json for a user-wide config):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "excel-live": {
      "command": "uv",
      "args": [
        "--directory",
        "G:/Ai/MCP/excel-mcp-live",
        "run",
        "excel_mcp_server.py"
      ],
      "env": {
        "MCP_AUTHOR": "Your Name"
      }
    }
  }
}

If you installed it with pip install -e . instead, you can use the console script directly:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "excel-live": {
      "command": "excel-mcp-live",
      "env": {
        "MCP_AUTHOR": "Your Name"
      }
    }
  }
}

MCP_AUTHOR sets the author name attached to new cell comments (default: "Author").

Supported functions

Every tool operates on a workbook that's already open in Excel. workbook and sheet arguments are optional almost everywhere — omit them to target the active workbook / active sheet.

Tool	Description
Workbook
list_open_workbooks	List every workbook open across all running Excel windows
get_workbook_info	Sheet names, active sheet, and used range per sheet
save_workbook	Save in place (Ctrl+S)
Worksheets
list_worksheets	List sheet names in tab order
add_worksheet	Add a new sheet, optionally named and positioned
delete_worksheet	Delete a sheet
rename_worksheet	Rename a sheet
activate_worksheet	Switch the active tab
Cells & ranges
get_range_values	Read cell/range values
set_range_values	Write a value, a row, or a 2D block of values
get_range_formulas	Read formulas (A1-style)
set_cell_formula	Set a formula or literal on one cell
find_replace	Find and replace text across a sheet or the whole workbook
clear_range	Clear contents, optionally including formatting
insert_rows / delete_rows	Insert or delete rows, shifting others up/down
insert_columns / delete_columns	Insert or delete columns, shifting others left/right
sort_range	Sort a range by one column, optionally keeping a header row in place
Formatting
format_range	Bold/italic/underline, font, fill color, number format, alignment, wrap
autofit_columns	Autofit column widths
Conditional formatting
add_conditional_format_rule	Highlight cells matching a comparison (greater than, between, etc.)
add_color_scale	Apply a 2- or 3-color scale across a range
list_conditional_format_rules	List the rules applied to a range
clear_conditional_format_rules	Remove all rules from a range
Named ranges
list_named_ranges	List user-defined named ranges
read_named_range	Read a named range's current value(s)
write_named_range	Write a value into a named range's top-left cell
create_named_range	Create a new named range
update_named_range	Repoint an existing named range to a new address
delete_named_range	Delete a named range
Data validation
add_dropdown_validation	Restrict a range to a dropdown list of values
add_number_validation	Restrict a range to numbers matching a comparison
get_validation	Read a cell's validation rule
remove_validation	Remove validation from a range
Merging
merge_cells / unmerge_cells	Merge a range into one cell, or undo it
get_merge_info	Check whether a cell is part of a merged range
Hyperlinks
add_hyperlink	Add a hyperlink (external URL or internal cell reference)
remove_hyperlink	Remove a cell's hyperlink
list_hyperlinks	List all hyperlinks on a sheet
Excel Tables
create_table	Create an Excel Table (ListObject) from a range
list_tables	List tables on a sheet
get_table_info	Read a table's columns, range, row count, and style
append_table_rows	Add one or more rows to the end of a table
get_table_data	Read a table's data rows as a 2D array
apply_table_style	Apply a built-in table style
delete_table	Remove a table's definition, keeping the underlying data
Charts
create_chart	Create a chart from a range
list_charts	List charts on a sheet
set_chart_type	Change a chart's type (column, bar, line, pie, area, scatter, doughnut)
set_chart_title	Set or clear a chart's title
add_series	Add a data series to a chart
delete_chart	Delete a chart
Comments
add_comment	Add a cell comment (note)
get_comments	List comments on a sheet
delete_comment	Remove a cell's comment

Not yet covered: PivotTables, Power Query, DAX, VBA — for those, use mcp-server-excel, which starts its own Excel instance and has much broader operation coverage.

Example prompts

"I have this budget open in Excel — read A1:F20 and tell me if any totals look wrong."
"Add a new sheet called 'Summary' before the current one."
"Bold row 1 in the sheet I have open and give it a light gray fill."
"Find every 'Q3' in this workbook and replace it with 'Q4'."
"Set B2 to =SUM(B3:B20) and tell me what it calculates to."
"Add a comment on cell D5 asking whether this figure includes tax."

Known limitations

• Windows only. Excel COM automation doesn't exist on macOS/Linux.
• The workbook must already be open in Excel. This server doesn't create or open files — see mcp-server-excel for that.
• No single-undo grouping. Word's COM API can wrap several edits into one Ctrl+Z; Excel's cannot. A tool call that performs multiple writes (e.g. writing several cells) may need several Ctrl+Z's to fully undo.
• Multiple Excel windows: if you have more than one workbook open (possibly across separate Excel processes), pass workbook explicitly to target the right one — otherwise tools default to the active workbook of whichever Excel instance is found first.

Development

See CLAUDE.md for architecture notes and design constraints — in particular, why this server must never launch or quit Excel itself.