Excel Processor

Excel Processor

Read, write, analyze, and format Excel spreadsheets (.xlsx) using Python.

When to use this skill

• User asks to create an Excel spreadsheet
• User wants to read or extract data from an .xlsx file
• User needs to add formulas, formatting, or charts to a spreadsheet
• User wants to convert CSV/JSON data into a formatted Excel file
• User needs Excel report generation with multiple sheets

Scripts overview

Steps

1. Install dependencies (first time only)

pip install openpyxl

CRITICAL — Dependency Error Recovery: If the script fails with an ImportError, install the missing dependency using the command above, then re-run the EXACT SAME script command that failed.

2. Read an Excel file

python scripts/excel_tool.py read "INPUT.xlsx"

Options:

• --sheet SHEET_NAME — Read a specific sheet (default: active sheet)
• --format json — Output as JSON instead of table
• --format csv — Output as CSV
• --save OUTPUT_PATH — Save output to file

3. Create a new Excel file from CSV

python scripts/excel_tool.py create "OUTPUT.xlsx" --from-csv "DATA.csv"

Options:

• --from-csv PATH — Import data from CSV file
• --from-json PATH — Import data from JSON file
• --sheet SHEET_NAME — Set the sheet name (default: Sheet1)
• --title TITLE — Add a title row with merged cells
• --auto-width — Auto-adjust column widths to fit content
• --header-style — Apply bold + colored header row

4. Add a sheet to existing workbook

python scripts/excel_tool.py add-sheet "EXISTING.xlsx" --sheet "NewSheet" --from-csv "DATA.csv"

5. Apply formatting

python scripts/excel_tool.py format "FILE.xlsx" --auto-width --header-style --freeze-header

Options:

• --auto-width — Auto-fit column widths
• --header-style — Bold white text on blue background for header
• --freeze-header — Freeze the first row
• --number-format COLS FORMAT — Apply number format (e.g., --number-format "C,D" "#,##0.00")

6. Analyze / summarize

python scripts/excel_tool.py analyze "FILE.xlsx"

Shows: sheet names, row/column counts, column types, basic stats for numeric columns.

7. Add formulas

python scripts/excel_tool.py formula "FILE.xlsx" --cell "E2" --formula "=SUM(B2:D2)"
python scripts/excel_tool.py formula "FILE.xlsx" --column "E" --formula "=SUM(B{row}:D{row})" --start-row 2 --end-row 100

Common workflows

CSV to formatted Excel report

1. excel_tool.py create "report.xlsx" --from-csv "data.csv" --title "Monthly Report" --auto-width --header-style --freeze-header

Multi-sheet workbook

1. excel_tool.py create "workbook.xlsx" --from-csv "sales.csv" --sheet "Sales"
2. excel_tool.py add-sheet "workbook.xlsx" --sheet "Expenses" --from-csv "expenses.csv"

Quick data inspection

1. excel_tool.py analyze "data.xlsx" — overview
2. excel_tool.py read "data.xlsx" --sheet "Sheet1" — view contents

Edge cases

• Large files (100MB+): openpyxl loads into memory. Use --read-only mode for very large files.
• Formulas: When reading, formulas show the formula text, not computed values (unless cached).
• Macros (.xlsm): Not supported. Use .xlsx format only.
• Password-protected files: Not supported by openpyxl.
• Date formats: Dates are auto-detected. Use explicit format if ambiguous.

Scripts

• excel_tool.py — Read, write, format, and analyze Excel files

Source: AIDotNet/OpenCowork — distributed by TomeVault.