Excel Automation (create, parse, control)

Build professionally formatted Excel reports with openpyxl, crack open complex xlsm files openpyxl can't handle using stdlib zipfile+XML, and drive Excel on macOS via AppleScript.

Docs & OfficeIntermediate★ 1,323⑂ 212AI score 9/10Last updated: Aug 8, 2026

What it does

Three Excel capabilities bundled into one skill:

Create: openpyxl recipes using investment-banking color conventions (blue = input, black = formula, green = cross-sheet link), number format codes, and red-yellow-green color-scale conditional formatting for sensitivity tables.
Parse: when openpyxl errors or hangs on large .xlsm workbooks (>1MB, VBA-heavy), read the ZIP internals directly with zipfile + xml.etree — resolve sheet names through workbook.xml.rels, pull cell values via sharedStrings, and strip corrupted definedName entries containing "Formula removed".
Control: on macOS, use osascript to activate Excel, set zoom, scroll to a row/column, select ranges, and switch sheets — with a timeout wrapper pattern so a non-responsive Excel never hangs your session.

It also ships a tool-selection decision tree and a common-mistakes table (never trust the extension — run file <path> first).

Who it's for

Financial modelers wrestling with broker/bank xlsm files openpyxl refuses to open
Analysts generating polished Excel reports and dashboards from code
macOS users automating Excel demos, scrolling, and screenshots

Examples

"Turn this revenue table into a formatted Excel report" → styled headers, currency/percent formats, color-coded inputs vs. formulas.
"model.xlsm from the bank won't open" → list sheets, extract just the "DCF" tab, then run --fix to repair corrupted defined names.
"Open Excel, jump to the DCF sheet, scroll to row 45 at 120% zoom" → timeout-guarded AppleScript sequence ready for a screenshot.

· · · Install guide · · ·

Try it now, no install

Paste this into Claude to use the skill without installing anything.

Read the instructions in this file and follow them to help me:
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/daymade/claude-code-skills/HEAD/excel-automation/SKILL.md

What I want: (describe your task here)

If Claude can't open the link, open it yourself and paste the contents instead.

↓ If it works for you, download the ZIP below and install it. Then it runs on its own — no pasting each time.

Install in the Claude app (no terminal)

Download the ZIP with the button below.
In Claude, open Settings → Capabilities and turn on 'Code execution and file creation'. (one time)
Go to Customize → Skills → + → 'Upload a skill' and upload the ZIP.

↓ Download ZIP

Install in Claude Code

Let Claude do it — paste this into Claude Code

Install the skill I found on AI Skill Mart.
Copy the excel-automation folder from the GitHub repo daymade/claude-code-skills into my ~/.claude/skills/excel-automation/.
When it's done, tell me in one line what this skill can do.

Install with a command instead

git clone https://github.com/daymade/claude-code-skills.git /tmp/ccs && mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills && cp -r /tmp/ccs/excel-automation ~/.claude/skills/

⚠ This is a third-party skill. Check the source repository before installing.

Open a terminal (macOS recommended; create/parse features also work on Windows and Linux).
Clone the repo: git clone https://github.com/daymade/claude-code-skills.git
Make the skills folder: mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills
Copy the skill in: cp -r claude-code-skills/excel-automation ~/.claude/skills/
Install the uv Python runner: curl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | sh (skip if already installed).
Restart Claude Code and ask something like "create a formatted Excel report" or "parse this xlsm" — the skill triggers automatically.
For window control, make sure Microsoft Excel is installed on macOS and grant your terminal Automation permission under System Settings → Privacy & Security.

View source on GitHub ↗License: MIT