Click on "Install Server".
Wait a few minutes for the server to deploy. Once ready, it will show a "Started" state.
In the chat, type @ followed by the MCP server name and your instructions, e.g., "@excel-mcp-live Add a comment on cell D5 asking about the tax."
That's it! The server will respond to your query, and you can continue using it as needed.
Here is a step-by-step guide with screenshots.
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.
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+
Related MCP server: mcp-server-xlwings
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.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").
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 every workbook open across all running Excel windows |
| Sheet names, active sheet, and used range per sheet |
| Save in place (Ctrl+S) |
Worksheets | |
| List sheet names in tab order |
| Add a new sheet, optionally named and positioned |
| Delete a sheet |
| Rename a sheet |
| Switch the active tab |
Cells & ranges | |
| Read cell/range values |
| Write a value, a row, or a 2D block of values |
| Read formulas (A1-style) |
| Set a formula or literal on one cell |
| Find and replace text across a sheet or the whole workbook |
| Clear contents, optionally including formatting |
| Insert or delete rows, shifting others up/down |
| Insert or delete columns, shifting others left/right |
| Sort a range by one column, optionally keeping a header row in place |
Formatting | |
| Bold/italic/underline, font, fill color, number format, alignment, wrap |
| Autofit column widths |
Conditional formatting | |
| Highlight cells matching a comparison (greater than, between, etc.) |
| Apply a 2- or 3-color scale across a range |
| List the rules applied to a range |
| Remove all rules from a range |
Named ranges | |
| List user-defined named ranges |
| Read a named range's current value(s) |
| Write a value into a named range's top-left cell |
| Create a new named range |
| Repoint an existing named range to a new address |
| Delete a named range |
Data validation | |
| Restrict a range to a dropdown list of values |
| Restrict a range to numbers matching a comparison |
| Read a cell's validation rule |
| Remove validation from a range |
Merging | |
| Merge a range into one cell, or undo it |
| Check whether a cell is part of a merged range |
Hyperlinks | |
| Add a hyperlink (external URL or internal cell reference) |
| Remove a cell's hyperlink |
| List all hyperlinks on a sheet |
Excel Tables | |
| Create an Excel Table (ListObject) from a range |
| List tables on a sheet |
| Read a table's columns, range, row count, and style |
| Add one or more rows to the end of a table |
| Read a table's data rows as a 2D array |
| Apply a built-in table style |
| Remove a table's definition, keeping the underlying data |
Charts | |
| Create a chart from a range |
| List charts on a sheet |
| Change a chart's type (column, bar, line, pie, area, scatter, doughnut) |
| Set or clear a chart's title |
| Add a data series to a chart |
| Delete a chart |
Comments | |
| Add a cell comment (note) |
| List comments on a sheet |
| 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.
"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."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.
See CLAUDE.md for architecture notes and design constraints — in particular, why this server must never launch or quit Excel itself.
Unclaimed servers have limited discoverability.
If you are the server author, to access and configure the admin panel.
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