Excel Connector

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

Usage as App
Usage as MCP

Installation

Go to Apps in your workspace
Search for Excel and install it
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

MCP Setup

Open your AI Knowledge project
Go to Advanced > Tools
Click Add and select the MCP tab
Enter the MCP endpoint URL
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

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

Integration Overview

Apps Marketplace

Read & Write

Tables & Charts

Functions

Prerequisites

Installation

Configuration

File Access

Available Automations

Workbook Operations

Worksheet Operations

Range Operations

Formatting

Tables

Charts

Named Items & Pivot Tables

Functions

DSUL Examples

Read a Range

Write Values

Create a Table

MCP Setup

Authentication

File Access

Available Tools

Tool Categories

JSON-RPC Examples

Read a Range

Write Values

Output Formats

Error Handling

Common Issues

Rate Limits

External Resources

Microsoft Graph Excel API

Excel API Best Practices

Graph Explorer

MCP Specification

Integration Overview

Apps Marketplace

Read & Write

Tables & Charts

Functions

​Prerequisites

​Installation

​Configuration

​File Access

​Available Automations

​Workbook Operations

​Worksheet Operations

​Range Operations

​Formatting

​Tables

​Charts

​Named Items & Pivot Tables

​Functions

​DSUL Examples

​Read a Range

​Write Values

​Create a Table

​MCP Setup

​Authentication

​File Access

​Available Tools

​Tool Categories

​JSON-RPC Examples

​Read a Range

​Write Values

​Output Formats

​Error Handling

​Common Issues

​Rate Limits

​External Resources

Microsoft Graph Excel API

Excel API Best Practices

Graph Explorer

MCP Specification

Prerequisites

Installation

Configuration

File Access

Available Automations

Workbook Operations

Worksheet Operations

Range Operations

Formatting

Tables

Charts

Named Items & Pivot Tables

Functions

DSUL Examples

Read a Range

Write Values

Create a Table

MCP Setup

Authentication

File Access

Available Tools

Tool Categories

JSON-RPC Examples

Read a Range

Write Values

Output Formats

Error Handling

Common Issues

Rate Limits

External Resources