Excel MCP Server README

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.
• With these transports, tool filepath values must be relative to that directory (e.g. reports/q1.xlsx); absolute paths and directory traversal are rejected.

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):
  powershell

  Copy

  $env:EXCEL_FILES_PATH="E:\MyExcelFiles"
  $env:FASTMCP_PORT="8007"
  uvx excel-mcp-server streamable-http
  

• Example (Linux/macOS):
  bash

  Copy

  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.