xlsx_skill

Overview

This skill provides comprehensive spreadsheet creation, editing, and analysis for .xlsx/.xlsm/.csv/.tsv files. It supports formula insertion, formatting, sheet management, and data analysis workflows so you can produce reproducible, calculation-driven workbooks. The skill emphasizes keeping calculations as Excel formulas rather than hardcoded results.

How this skill works

The skill reads spreadsheets into dataframes for analysis and previews, and uses a workbook API to create or modify sheets, cells, and formatting. It preserves and inserts Excel formulas so calculations are live inside the workbook, handles large files with read_only/write_only modes, and can export results back to .xlsx/.csv. It can also read calculated values when needed (data_only mode).

When to use it

• Create new workbooks with structured inputs, formulas, and visual formatting.
• Analyze tabular data from .xlsx, .csv, or .tsv and generate summary statistics.
• Modify existing workbooks: edit cells, insert/delete rows/columns, or add sheets.
• Build financial or analytical models that must keep formulas rather than hardcoded numbers.
• Prepare export-ready reports with formatted headers, column widths, and color-coded cells.

Best practices

• Always insert formulas into cells (e.g., =SUM(...)) instead of writing computed values.
• Use data_only=True when you only need evaluated results; use default to preserve formulas.
• For very large files, enable read_only or write_only modes to reduce memory usage.
• Color-code inputs, assumptions, and links consistently (e.g., blue for inputs, yellow background for assumptions).
• Keep sheets modular: separate raw data, calculations, and presentation/report sheets.

Example use cases

• Read multiple sheets into dataframes, compute summary stats, and write a consolidated report workbook.
• Programmatically insert financial-model formulas and apply standard formatting and column widths.
• Open an existing workbook to update monthly figures, insert new rows, and preserve formulas across sheets.
• Convert CSV exports into a formatted .xlsx with formulas that compute KPIs dynamically.
• Create dashboards with formatted headers and color-coded assumptions for stakeholder reviews.