Excel MCP
Create, read and edit Excel workbooks (sheets, formulas, charts) without Excel installed.
Wrote a fresh code into cell A1 of a new .xlsx and read it back in both Claude Code and Cursor, and the file checked out on disk, with nothing beyond the published snippet. Filesystem also passed both and used fewer calls, but in Claude Code only after adding the folder to permissions.additionalDirectories. Draw.io passed both too, but only with its editor open in a browser. On Oct 14 Excel, Filesystem and Draw.io also passed in Claude Desktop and ChatGPT (Codex).
Test results
Last passed 2026-10-14Install
claude mcp add excel -e EXCEL_FILES_PATH=/path/to/dir -- uvx excel-mcp-server stdioRun in your terminal. This exact command is what our harness runs in Claude Code; see the results above.
{
"mcpServers": {
"excel": {
"command": "uvx",
"args": [
"excel-mcp-server",
"stdio"
],
"env": {
"EXCEL_FILES_PATH": "/path/to/dir"
}
}
}
}Save as .cursor/mcp.json. This exact config is what our harness runs in Cursor; see the results above.
{
"mcpServers": {
"excel": {
"command": "uvx",
"args": [
"excel-mcp-server",
"stdio"
],
"env": {
"EXCEL_FILES_PATH": "/path/to/dir"
}
}
}
}Add to claude_desktop_config.json and restart Claude Desktop. Tested on the Linux beta; see the results above.
[mcp_servers.excel]
command = "uvx"
args = ["excel-mcp-server", "stdio"]
env = { EXCEL_FILES_PATH = "/path/to/dir" }Add to ~/.codex/config.toml (shared by the ChatGPT (Codex) CLI and the ChatGPT desktop app; Codex runs inside the ChatGPT desktop app). Tested with the ChatGPT (Codex) CLI bundled in the ChatGPT desktop app; see the results above.
Not connecting? Troubleshooting: Claude Code · Cursor · Claude Desktop · ChatGPT (Codex)
Test history
| Date | Check | Result | Version |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-10-13 | Protocol (direct stdio) | Protocol: starts, 42 tools listed | 2.0.0 |
| 2026-10-13 | Claude Code | Passed install, connect, tools, agent task | 2.1.296 (Claude Code) |
| 2026-10-13 | Cursor | Passed install, connect, tools, agent task | 2026.10.12-d47ca18 |
| 2026-10-14 | Claude Desktop | Passed install, connect, tools, agent task | Claude Desktop 2.37337.1 (Linu |
| 2026-10-14 | ChatGPT (Codex) | Passed install, connect, tools, agent task | codex-cli 0.162.0-alpha.17.2 |
Tools seen by our harness (42)
create_workbookdescribe_workbookset_workbook_settingslist_workbooksexport_workbookimport_workbookdescribe_sheetcreate_sheetrename_sheetcopy_sheetdelete_sheetinsert_rows_or_columnsdelete_rows_or_columnsread_rangewrite_rangeclear_rangecopy_rangesort_rangetransform_rangefind_cellsreplace_cellsformat_rangemerge_cellsset_sheet_layoutadd_conditional_formatadd_data_validationset_tablecreate_chartdelete_chartadd_sparklinesdelete_sparklinescreate_pivot_tabledelete_pivot_tableadd_slicerdelete_slicerset_defined_namedelete_defined_nameset_notedelete_noteinsert_imagedelete_imageread_vba