Agent skill · software engineering · claude-office-skills
excel-automation
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Why this skill is useful
Adds executable scripts for advanced Excel automation using xlwings, enabling real-time interaction and complex workflows.
What it needs
Requires xlwings installed locally. About 5k tokens when loaded. Last updated 2026-01-31. 363 stars on the source repository.
What this skill does
Excel Automation Skill Overview This skill enables advanced Excel automation using xlwings - a library that can interact with live Excel instances. Unlike openpyxl (file-only), xlwings can control Excel in real-time, execute VBA, update dashboards, and automate complex workflows. How to Use 1. Describe the Excel automation task you need 2. Specify if you need live Excel interaction or file processing 3. I'll generate xlwings code and execute it Example prompts: "Update this live Excel dashboard with new data" "Run this VBA macro and get the results" "Create an Excel add-in for data validation" "Automate monthly report generation with live charts" Domain Knowledge xlwings vs openpyxl Feature xlwings openpyxl --------- --------- ---------- Requires Excel Yes No Live interaction Yes No VBA execution Yes No Speed (large files) Fast Slow Server deployment Limited Easy xlwings Fundamentals Working with Ranges Reading and Writing Dynamic Ranges Formatting Excel Features Charts Tables Pictures VBA Integration User Defined Functions (UDFs) Application Control Best Practices 1. Disable Screen Updating: For batch operations 2. Use Arrays: Read/write entire ranges, not cell-by-cell 3. Manual Calculation: Turn off auto-calc during data loading 4. Close Connections: Properly close workbooks when done 5. Error Handling: Handle Excel not being installed Common Patterns Performance Optimization Dashboard Update Report Generator Examples Example 1: Live Dashboard Update Example 2: Batch Processing Multiple Files Example 3: Excel Add-in with UDFs Limitations Requires Excel to be installed Limited support on macOS for some features Not suitable for server-side processing VBA features require trust settings Performance varies with Excel version Installation Resources xlwings Documentation GitHub Repository UDF Tutorial Excel VBA Reference
How to use it
Reference it in AdaL, Claude Code, Cursor or any coding agent — nothing to install:
@skills claude-office-skills/excel-automation