Excel CLI automation skill for Windows workbooks. Use when a coding agent needs token-efficient, scriptable, or unattended Excel automation via excelcli commands. Best for CI/CD, scheduled jobs, batch processing, PowerShell workflows, and bulk workbook edits. Supports Power Query, DAX, PivotTables,

Excel Automation with excelcli Preconditions Windows host with Microsoft Excel installed (2016+) Uses COM interop — does NOT work on macOS or Linux Every command below invokes excelcli directly, so it must resolve on PATH. Installing the excel cli plugin does not put it there — the global shim is opt in. Run com.github.copilot\bin\install global.ps1 from the installed plugin folder once (it writes excelcli.cmd / excelcli.ps1 into ~\.copilot\bin and adds that to your user PATH), or install the runtime independently via the standalone release zip or dotnet tool install global Sbroenne.ExcelMcp.CLI . If excelcli is not found, report that and stop — do not guess at a path. In an Agent Plugins host, the runtime is downloaded and cached under PLUGIN DATA\runtime ; release freshness is checked once per Copilot session. The optional global shim falls back to ~\.copilot\plugin runtime\mcp server excel\excel cli and checks for updates at most once every 24 hours. Workflow Checklist Step Command When 1. Session session create/open Always first 2. Sheets sheet create/rename If needed 3. Write data See below If writing values 4. Save & close session close save Always last 10+ commands? Use excelcli q batch input commands.json — sends all commands in one process with automatic session management. See Rule 8. Writing Data (Step 3): values takes a JSON 2D array string: values '[["Header1","Header2"],[1,2]]' Write one row at a time for reliability: range A1:B1 values '[["Name","Age"]]' Strings MUST be double quoted in JSON: "text" . Numbers are bare: 42 Always wrap the entire JSON value in single quotes to protect special characters CRITICAL RULES (MUST FOLLOW) ⚡ Building dashboards or bulk operations? Skip to Rule 8: Batch Mode — it eliminates per command process overhead and auto manages session IDs. Rule 1: NEVER Ask Clarifying Questions Execute commands to discover the answer instead: DON'T ASK DO THIS INSTEAD "Which file should I use?" excelcli q session list "What table should I use?" excelcli q table list session <id "Which sheet has the data?" excelcli q sheet list session <id You have commands to answer your own questions. USE THEM. Rule 2: Always End With a Text Summary NEVER end your turn with only a command execution. After completing all operations, always provide a brief text message confirming what was done. Silent command only responses are incomplete. Rule 3: Session Lifecycle Creating vs Opening Files: CRITICAL: Use session create for new files. session open on non existent files will fail! CRITICAL: ALWAYS use the session ID returned by session create or session open in subsequent commands. NEVER guess or hardcode session IDs. The session ID is in the JSON output (e.g., {"sessionId":"abc123"} ). Parse it and use it. Unclosed sessions leave Excel processes running, locking files. Rule 4: Data Model Prerequisites DAX operations require tables in the Data Model: Rule 5: Power Query Development Lifecycle BEST PRACTICE: Test M code before creating permanent queries Rule 6: Report File Errors Immediately If you see "File not found" or "Path not found" STOP and report to user. Don't retry. Rule 7: Use Calculation Mode for Bulk Writes When writing many values/formulas (10+ cells), disable auto recalc for performance: Rule 8: Use Batch Mode for Bulk Operations (10+ commands) When executing 10+ commands on the same file, use excelcli batch to send all commands in a single process launch. This avoids per process startup overhead and terminal buffer saturation. Key features: Session auto capture : session.open / create result sessionId auto injected into subsequent commands — no need to parse and pass session IDs NDJSON output : One JSON result per line: {"index": 0, "command": "...", "success": true, "result": {...}} stop on error : Exit on first failure (default: continue all) session <id : Pre set session ID for all commands (skip session.open) Input formats: JSON array from file: excelcli q batch input commands.json NDJSON from stdin: Get Content commands.ndjson excelcli q batch CLI Command Reference Full reference: See [CLI command reference and common pitfalls](./references/cli commands.md), or run excelcli <command help for live help from the installed runtime. Syntax rule: CLI commands use excelcli q <command <action session <id kebab case flags ... . Do not use MCP call syntax such as range(action: ...) , snake case parameters, or underscore tool names. The CLI command names remove MCP underscores: calculation mode becomes calculationmode , range format becomes rangeformat , chart config becomes chartconfig , and data model becomes datamodel . Available command groups: session , batch , service , analysis , calculationmode , chart , chartconfig , conditionalformat , connection , datamodel , datamodelrelationship , drawing , namedrange , pivottable , pivottablecalc , pivottablefield , powerquery , pythoninexcel , querytable , range , rangeedit , rangeformat , rangelink , screenshot , sheet , worksheetstyle , slicer , table , tablecolumn , vba , window , workbook , xmlmap Common Pitfalls See [CLI command reference and common pitfalls](./references/cli commands.md common pitfalls) for examples. Key issues: values file expects a path to an existing file; use values for inline JSON. timeout ranges are action specific: session open/create accepts 10 3600; Power Query refresh/refresh all accepts 0 2147483 (0 keeps the default); other generated timeout actions accept 1 2147483. values takes a 2D JSON array such as '[["Name","Age"],["Alice",30]]' . List parameters such as selected items require JSON arrays. Power Query operations can take 30+ seconds; use a deliberate data operation timeout or 0 for the default. Reference Documentation [CLI command reference and common pitfalls](./references/cli commands.md) [Behavioral rules](./references/behavioral rules.md) [Anti patterns](./references/anti patterns.md) [Common workflows](./references/workflows.md) [Ranges](./references/range.md) [Worksheets](./references/worksheet.md) [Charts](./references/chart.md) [Power Query](./references/powerquery.md) [Data Model and DAX](./references/datamodel.md) [PivotTables](./references/pivottable.md) [Tables](./references/table.md) [Screenshots](./references/screenshot.md) [Window management](./references/window.md)

excel-cli