Excel automation via xlwings COM. DRM-protected files, live sessions, VBA macros. Windows only.
Connect MCP to Claude, Cursor or any other MCP client and it stops being a tab you switch to. Excel automation via xlwings COM. DRM-protected files, live sessions, VBA macros. Windows only. The mcp mcp server is what makes that connection.
The server ships on PyPI as mcp-server-xlwings, so your MCP client can launch it on demand — there is no separate build step. Add the server block to your client's configuration, restart it, and the tools register themselves.
The toolset is worth reading before you wire it up, because it tells you what the integration is really for:
get_active_workbook — Get active workbook info, sheets, and current selection with datamanage_workbooks — List, open, save, close, or recalculate workbooksread_data — Read a range with merge_info, header_row, sheet="*" batch read, and detail modewrite_data — Write a 2D array (data) or a single-cell formula (formula)manage_sheets — List, add, delete, rename, copy, activate sheets. Insert/delete rows and columnsfind_replace — Search for text, optionally replace itformat_range — Apply formatting (bold, italic, color, borders, alignment, number format, etc.)run_macro — Execute a VBA macro and get its return valueget_formulas — Get all formulas in a range with optional calculated valuesget_cell_styles — Get formatting/style info (bold, colors, borders, etc.) for cells in a rangeget_objects — List charts, images, and shapes on a sheetCursor — The Cursor tool exposed by this serverPlenty of developer tooling servers cover similar ground. The differences that matter in practice are scope of access and how much setup stands between you and a working tool call. MCP's toolset — get_active_workbook, manage_workbooks, read_data and 10 more — is a fair guide to whether it matches your workflow. It is maintained by geniuskey; worth a glance at recent repository activity before you build anything load-bearing on it.
We check each listing at SyncDev against the project's documentation before it goes live — if something here drifts out of date, it is a bug worth reporting.
| Tool | What it does |
|---|---|
| get_active_workbook | Get active workbook info, sheets, and current selection with data |
| manage_workbooks | List, open, save, close, or recalculate workbooks |
| read_data | Read a range with merge_info, header_row, sheet="*" batch read, and detail mode |
| write_data | Write a 2D array (data) or a single-cell formula (formula) |
| manage_sheets | List, add, delete, rename, copy, activate sheets. Insert/delete rows and columns |
| find_replace | Search for text, optionally replace it |
| format_range | Apply formatting (bold, italic, color, borders, alignment, number format, etc.) |
| run_macro | Execute a VBA macro and get its return value |
| get_formulas | Get all formulas in a range with optional calculated values |
| get_cell_styles | Get formatting/style info (bold, colors, borders, etc.) for cells in a range |
| get_objects | List charts, images, and shapes on a sheet |
| Cursor | The Cursor tool exposed by this server. |
| Windsurf | The Windsurf tool exposed by this server. |
{
"mcpServers": {
"xlwings": {
"command": "uvx",
"args": ["mcp-server-xlwings"]
}
}
}Configuration as documented by the project. Restart the client after saving.
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