Excel Reader MCP

A Model Context Protocol server for reading Excel files. Supports .xlsx and .xls formats with automatic chunking, pagination, and image extraction.

Features

• Read Excel files with automatic chunking for large datasets
• List all sheets in a workbook
• Extract embedded images with position information
• Proper date handling
• Row pagination support

Usage

Run directly via npx:

npx excel-reader-mcp

MCP Configuration

Add to your MCP settings:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "excel-reader-mcp": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "excel-reader-mcp"
      ],
      "env": {}
    }
  }
}

Tools

read_excel

Read an Excel file and return its contents as structured data.

| Parameter | Required | Description | | ----------- | -------- | ------------------------------------ | | filePath | Yes | Path to the Excel file | | sheetName | No | Sheet name (defaults to first sheet) | | startRow | No | Starting row index for pagination | | maxRows | No | Maximum number of rows to read |

Large files are automatically split into chunks (~100KB). The response includes hasMore and nextChunk fields for pagination.

list_sheets

List all sheet names in an Excel file.

| Parameter | Required | Description | | ---------- | -------- | ---------------------- | | filePath | Yes | Path to the Excel file |

get_excel_images

Extract embedded images from an Excel file, including position information (sheet, row, column). Returns base64-encoded image data.

| Parameter | Required | Description | | ----------- | -------- | ------------------------------------------- | | filePath | Yes | Path to the Excel file (.xlsx or .xls) | | sheetName | No | Only return images from the specified sheet |

Installation

npm install -g excel-reader-mcp

Development

npm install
npm run build
npm test

License

MIT

Acknowledgments

• Originally forked from ArchimedesCrypto/excel-reader-mcp — thanks for the foundation!
• Built with SheetJS