# Excel MCP Server review

> Excel MCP Server is an open-source MCP server that lets AI clients create, read and edit Excel files without Microsoft Excel.

Devtoolwatch Board, the week of Oct 25–31, 2026. Canonical page: https://index.devtoolwatch.com/tools/haris-musa-excel-mcp-server/

## TL;DR

Excel MCP Server is a Python Model Context Protocol server built on openpyxl. Claude, Cursor, VS Code Copilot, Codex and other AI clients can use it to work with Excel files. It is for developers who want agents to build charts, PivotTables and calculated formulas without Microsoft Excel, on Windows, macOS or Linux.

## Excel MCP Server at a glance

- **Category:** [MCP and agent tools](https://index.devtoolwatch.com/categories/mcp-servers/)
- **Maintained by:** Haris (individual, [@haris-musa](https://github.com/haris-musa) on GitHub)
- **License:** MIT
- **Language:** Python, Dockerfile
- **Repository:** [github.com/haris-musa/excel-mcp-server](https://github.com/haris-musa/excel-mcp-server)
- **Website:** [excelmcpserver.com](https://excelmcpserver.com)
- **PyPI package:** [excel-mcp-server](https://pypi.org/project/excel-mcp-server/) 2.2.2
- **Latest release:** [v2.2.2](https://github.com/haris-musa/excel-mcp-server/releases/tag/v2.2.2) on GitHub, Oct 21, 2026
- **First published:** Feb 12, 2025

## What Excel MCP Server does

- Excel MCP Server creates Excel charts, including combos, secondary axes, trendlines and the Excel 2016 types such as waterfall, treemap and funnel.
- Excel MCP Server builds real PivotTables that Excel refreshes, plus slicers and timelines for PivotTables and tables.
- Excel MCP Server calculates formulas with a built-in engine of about 260 functions, so reads return values for files never opened in Excel.
- Excel MCP Server traces formula precedents and dependents, evaluates formulas step by step, and runs Goal Seek.
- Excel MCP Server handles conditional formatting, data validation, sorting, filtering, find and replace, tables and print setup.
- Excel MCP Server imports and exports CSV and TSV files, typing fields as Excel's import does and never storing fields as formulas.
- Excel MCP Server streams reads in pages and parses only touched rows on large sheets, so edits finish in seconds on 200,000-row sheets.

### How it works

Excel MCP Server runs locally through uvx over stdio, and each MCP client launches it with the same command. A Streamable HTTP transport serves remote clients at http://127.0.0.1:8017/mcp and listens on localhost only by default. A bearer token is needed to accept other machines. The --allow-dir flag confines it to chosen folders, and a Docker image is also available.

## How to install Excel MCP Server

**With Claude Code**

```
claude mcp add excel --scope user -- uvx excel-mcp-server stdio --allow-dir /path/to/workbooks
```

**With OpenAI Codex**

```
codex mcp add excel -- uvx excel-mcp-server stdio --allow-dir /path/to/workbooks
```

**As an HTTP server**

```
uvx excel-mcp-server streamable-http --allow-dir /srv/workbooks
```

### Requirements

- uv, to run uvx excel-mcp-server
- Python 3.11 or later
- No Microsoft Excel needed. It runs on Windows, macOS and Linux.

### First steps

1. Install uv, which the uvx command needs. The Claude Desktop bundle does not need it.
2. Add the server to your client and replace /path/to/workbooks with the folder the server may use.
3. In VS Code, add the servers entry to .vscode/mcp.json, then use the tools in Copilot Chat in agent mode.
4. If a desktop app cannot find uvx, use the full path that which uvx prints.

## Who Excel MCP Server is for

- Developers who want AI agents in Claude, Cursor, Copilot or Codex to generate Excel reports with charts and PivotTables
- Automating spreadsheet work on servers or machines without Microsoft Excel installed
- Working with large workbooks of hundreds of thousands of rows
- Auditing spreadsheets by tracing why a formula gives an unexpected number

### Limitations

- Excel MCP Server never runs VBA macros, and writing VBA is off unless you start it with --allow-vba-write.
- Excel MCP Server works only with .xlsx, .xlsm, .xltx and .xltm files, and it refuses digitally signed VBA projects.
- Excel MCP Server keeps threaded comments, shapes and form controls as they are but cannot edit them.
- Excel MCP Server limits calls by file size, cell count and loaded cells, and large PivotTables can take a minute and about 2 GB of memory.

## Usage data (the week of Oct 25–31, 2026)

- Not ranked this week
- New GitHub stars per week (last 12 weeks): Aug 9: 18; Aug 16: 19; Aug 23: 21; Aug 30: 15; Sep 6: 21; Sep 13: 11; Sep 20: 12; Sep 27: 14; Oct 4: 20; Oct 11: 28; Oct 18: 18; Oct 25: 15

## Excel MCP Server alternatives

| Rank | Tool | Stars | Downloads/wk |
|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | [REA](https://index.devtoolwatch.com/tools/morluto-rea/) | 415.5k | 760.6k |
| #2 | [ha-mcp](https://index.devtoolwatch.com/tools/homeassistant-ai-ha-mcp/) | 5.4k | 118.1k |
| #3 | [Treg](https://index.devtoolwatch.com/tools/superdesigndev-treg/) | 6.9k | 6.7k |
| #4 | [Chrome DevTools MCP](https://index.devtoolwatch.com/tools/chrome-devtools-mcp/) | 54.6k | 2.7M |
| #5 | [codebase-memory-mcp](https://index.devtoolwatch.com/tools/deusdata-codebase-memory-mcp/) | 47.9k | – |
| #6 | [open-computer-use](https://index.devtoolwatch.com/tools/ifuryst-open-computer-use/) | 2.8k | – |

## Excel MCP Server FAQ

### Is Excel MCP Server free and open source?

Yes. Excel MCP Server's source code is on GitHub (haris-musa/excel-mcp-server) under the MIT license, so you can use it for free.

### How do I install Excel MCP Server?

Run `claude mcp add excel --scope user -- uvx excel-mcp-server stdio --allow-dir /path/to/workbooks`. The excel-mcp-server package needs Python 3.11 or newer. The install section above has the other options from the project's README.

### Is Excel MCP Server still maintained?

Yes. The haris-musa/excel-mcp-server repository was last updated on Oct 21, 2026, and the latest release, v2.2.2 on GitHub, came out on Oct 21, 2026.

### How popular is Excel MCP Server?

Excel MCP Server has 4.3k GitHub stars as of Nov 1, 2026. It gained 15 new stars in the week of Oct 25–31, 2026, against a 12-week average of 18 a week.

### What are the best alternatives to Excel MCP Server?

Other MCP servers and agent tools on the Devtoolwatch Board in the week of Oct 25–31, 2026, by momentum: REA (#1), ha-mcp (#2), Treg (#3), Chrome DevTools MCP (#4), codebase-memory-mcp (#5). The alternatives table above has their numbers.

### Is there an Excel MCP server?

Yes. Excel MCP Server is an open-source MCP server. It lets Claude, Cursor, VS Code Copilot, Codex and other AI clients create, read and edit Excel files, including charts, PivotTables and formulas.

### Does Excel MCP Server need Microsoft Excel installed?

No. Excel MCP Server is built on openpyxl and calculates formulas with its own engine. It runs on Windows, macOS and Linux without Microsoft Excel.

### How do I use Excel MCP Server in VS Code?

Add an entry under the servers key in .vscode/mcp.json. The entry runs uvx with excel-mcp-server stdio and --allow-dir ${workspaceFolder}. Then use the tools in Copilot Chat in agent mode.

### Can Excel MCP Server access any file on my machine?

Excel MCP Server only opens workbooks inside the --allow-dir folders when that flag is set. Without the flag, any absolute path to an Excel file works. In every mode, it touches only Excel files and never silently overwrites an existing workbook.

### Can I reduce how much context the Excel MCP Server tools use?

Yes. Use --tools with a list of areas, for example --tools data,charts. Excel MCP Server then offers only the core tools plus the areas you list.

### Can Excel MCP Server run remotely?

Yes. Run the streamable-http transport. Excel MCP Server listens on localhost by default. To accept other machines, set EXCEL_MCP_AUTH_TOKEN and a host, and put a TLS reverse proxy in front of it.

## Sources

1. [haris-musa/excel-mcp-server on GitHub](https://github.com/haris-musa/excel-mcp-server)
2. [Excel MCP Server README](https://github.com/haris-musa/excel-mcp-server/blob/main/README.md)
3. [excel-mcp-server on PyPI](https://pypi.org/project/excel-mcp-server/)
4. [Excel MCP Server website](https://excelmcpserver.com)
5. [Release v2.2.2 (Oct 21, 2026)](https://github.com/haris-musa/excel-mcp-server/releases/tag/v2.2.2)
6. [Release v2.2.1 (Oct 18, 2026)](https://github.com/haris-musa/excel-mcp-server/releases/tag/v2.2.1)
7. [Release v2.2.0 (Oct 18, 2026)](https://github.com/haris-musa/excel-mcp-server/releases/tag/v2.2.0)
8. [Devtoolwatch Board, the week of Oct 25–31, 2026](https://index.devtoolwatch.com/)