Excel

Read and write Excel workbooks stored in OneDrive or SharePoint

The Excel connector provides full access to Microsoft Excel workbooks via the Microsoft Graph API, enabling AI agents and automations to read, write, and manipulate spreadsheets stored in OneDrive or SharePoint.

Read & Write

Access cell values, formulas, and ranges with full formatting support

Tables & Charts

Create and manipulate Excel tables, charts, and pivot tables

Functions

Execute Excel functions and recalculate workbooks

Prerequisites

• An Azure AD Application registered in your tenant
• Application permissions granted:
  • Files.Read.All - Read-only access to files
  • Files.ReadWrite.All - Read/write access to files
  • Sites.Read.All or Sites.ReadWrite.All - For SharePoint-based files
• Admin consent granted for these permissions

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Usage as App

Installation

1. Go to Apps in your workspace
2. Search for Excel and install it
3. Configure the app instance with your Azure AD credentials

Configuration

Field	Value
Azure Client ID	Application (client) ID from Azure AD
Azure Client Secret	Client secret value
Azure Tenant ID	Directory (tenant) ID
SharePoint Site ID	Optional, for SharePoint-hosted files

File Access

OneDrive files - provide only itemId:

- Excel.getRange:
    itemId: "01ABCDEF..."
    worksheetId: Sheet1
    address: "A1:C10"
    output: data

SharePoint files - provide itemId and siteId:

- Excel.getRange:
    itemId: "01ABCDEF..."
    siteId: "contoso.sharepoint.com,abc-123,def-456"
    worksheetId: Sheet1
    address: "A1:C10"
    output: data

Available Automations

Workbook Operations

Automation	Description
createWorkbook	Create a new Excel workbook
calculateWorkbook	Recalculate all formulas

Worksheet Operations

Automation	Description
listWorksheets	List all worksheets
getWorksheet	Get worksheet details
addWorksheet	Create new worksheet
updateWorksheet	Rename or reposition
deleteWorksheet	Delete worksheet
getUsedRange	Get data-containing range

Range Operations

Automation	Description
getRange	Read cell values and formulas
updateRange	Write values to cells
getCell	Read a single cell
clearRange	Clear contents or formatting
insertRange	Insert cells with shift
deleteRange	Delete cells with shift
sortRange	Sort range data
mergeRange	Merge cells
unmergeRange	Unmerge cells

Formatting

Automation	Description
updateFormat	Set alignment and wrapping
updateFont	Set font properties
updateFill	Set background color
updateBorder	Set border styles
autofitColumns	Auto-fit column widths
autofitRows	Auto-fit row heights

Tables

Automation	Description
listTables	List tables in workbook
getTable	Get table details
createTable	Create table from range
updateTable	Update table properties
deleteTable	Delete table
addTableRow	Add row to table
updateTableRow	Update row values
deleteTableRow	Delete row
addTableColumn	Add column
deleteTableColumn	Delete column
applyTableSort	Sort table
applyTableFilter	Filter table
clearTableFilter	Clear filters
convertTableToRange	Convert to normal range

Charts

Automation	Description
listCharts	List charts in worksheet
getChart	Get chart details
addChart	Create chart
updateChart	Update properties
deleteChart	Delete chart
setChartData	Change data source
setChartPosition	Position chart
getChartImage	Export as image
updateChartTitle	Set title
updateChartLegend	Configure legend

Named Items & Pivot Tables

Automation	Description
listNamedItems	List named ranges
getNamedItem	Get named item value
addNamedItem	Create named range
updateNamedItem	Update named item
listPivotTables	List pivot tables
getPivotTable	Get pivot table details
refreshPivotTable	Refresh pivot table
refreshAllPivotTables	Refresh all

Functions

Automation	Description
executeExcelFunction	Execute Excel function

DSUL Examples

Read a Range

- Excel.getRange:
    itemId: "01ABCDEF..."
    worksheetId: Sheet1
    address: "A1:C10"
    output: data

Write Values

- Excel.updateRange:
    itemId: "01ABCDEF..."
    worksheetId: Sheet1
    address: "A1:C2"
    values:
      - ["Name", "Age", "City"]
      - ["John", 30, "New York"]
    output: result

Create a Table

- Excel.createTable:
    itemId: "01ABCDEF..."
    worksheetId: Sheet1
    address: "A1:C10"
    hasHeaders: true
    output: table

Usage as MCP

MCP Setup

1. Open your AI Knowledge project
2. Go to Advanced > Tools
3. Click Add and select the MCP tab
4. Enter the MCP endpoint URL
5. In the Headers field, add your credentials:

{
  "mcp-api-key": "your-mcp-api-key",
  "azure-client-id": "your-client-id",
  "azure-client-secret": "your-client-secret",
  "azure-tenant": "your-tenant-id",
  "azure-site-id": "your-sharepoint-site-id"
}

Authentication

Configure workspace secrets for Azure AD Client Credentials Flow:

Secret	Description
azureClientId	Azure AD client ID
azureClientSecret	Azure AD client secret
azureTenant	Azure AD tenant ID
azureSiteId	Optional SharePoint site ID

File Access

OneDrive files - provide only itemId:

{ "itemId": "01ABCDEF..." }

SharePoint files - provide itemId and siteId:

{
  "itemId": "01ABCDEF...",
  "siteId": "contoso.sharepoint.com,abc-123,def-456"
}

SharePoint with specific drive - add driveId:

{
  "itemId": "01ABCDEF...",
  "siteId": "contoso.sharepoint.com,abc-123,def-456",
  "driveId": "b!xyz..."
}

Available Tools

All 50+ automations listed in the App tab are available as MCP tools with the same names and parameters.

Tool Categories

• Workbook: createWorkbook, calculateWorkbook
• Worksheets: listWorksheets, getWorksheet, addWorksheet, updateWorksheet, deleteWorksheet, getUsedRange
• Ranges: getRange, updateRange, getCell, clearRange, insertRange, deleteRange, sortRange, mergeRange, unmergeRange
• Formatting: updateFormat, updateFont, updateFill, updateBorder, autofitColumns, autofitRows
• Tables: listTables, getTable, createTable, updateTable, deleteTable, addTableRow, updateTableRow, deleteTableRow, addTableColumn, deleteTableColumn, applyTableSort, applyTableFilter, clearTableFilter, convertTableToRange
• Charts: listCharts, getChart, addChart, updateChart, deleteChart, setChartData, setChartPosition, getChartImage, updateChartTitle, updateChartLegend
• Named Items: listNamedItems, getNamedItem, addNamedItem, updateNamedItem
• Pivot Tables: listPivotTables, getPivotTable, refreshPivotTable, refreshAllPivotTables
• Functions: executeExcelFunction

JSON-RPC Examples

Read a Range

{
  "name": "getRange",
  "arguments": {
    "itemId": "01ABCDEF...",
    "worksheetId": "Sheet1",
    "address": "A1:C10"
  }
}

Write Values

{
  "name": "updateRange",
  "arguments": {
    "itemId": "01ABCDEF...",
    "worksheetId": "Sheet1",
    "address": "A1:C2",
    "values": [
      ["Name", "Age", "City"],
      ["John", 30, "New York"]
    ]
  }
}

Output Formats

All tools support an outputFormat parameter:

• verbose (default) - Human-readable text for LLM consumption
• structured - Machine-readable JSON in structuredContent
• both - Both text and structured content

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Error Handling

HTTP Status	Error	Solution
401	Unauthorized	Reconfigure credentials
403	Forbidden	Check app permissions
404	Not Found	Verify item ID exists
423	Locked	Close file in Office app
429	Rate Limited	Wait and retry

Common Issues

“File is locked” - The Excel file is open in the desktop application. Close it or wait for auto-save.

“Invalid range address” - Use A1 notation (e.g., “A1:C10”, not row/column numbers).

“Range too large” - Excel API limits requests to 5 million cells. Split into smaller ranges.

“.xls not supported” - Only .xlsx files are supported. Convert legacy files first.

Rate Limits

Limit	Value
Per-app (all tenants)	5,000 requests/10 seconds
Per-app per-tenant	1,500 requests/10 seconds
Max cells per request	5,000,000
Max file size	25 MB

When rate limited, the API returns HTTP 429 with a Retry-After header.

External Resources

Microsoft Graph Excel API

Official API documentation

Excel API Best Practices

Performance optimization tips

Graph Explorer

Test API calls interactively

MCP Specification

Model Context Protocol specification