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Ask questions about a spreadsheet in chat, no formulas needed

Most spreadsheet work is not writing formulas, it is asking questions: what does this column add up to, which rows are missing a value, what changed between last month and this one. An MCP server puts the spreadsheet in the chat window so you ask in plain language and get an answer, and when you do need an edit, it writes the change back to the file.

Read and answer

MCP Spreadsheet reads Excel and CSV files and answers questions about them without you writing a formula. The free tier reads files up to 5 MB and 5,000 rows, which covers a typical small-business workbook. Over the cap it returns the rows it is allowed to and says how many were left out, rather than failing silently.

Edit and write back

When the answer is a change, the same server writes it back to the file. The free tier writes up to 500 rows per file; over that nothing is written and the tool says so. A Pro key removes the row and size limits up to a 50 MB file ceiling.

Install it

One click, with no JSON. Download spreadsheet.mcpb from the latest release and open it in Claude Desktop. It runs on the Node runtime Claude Desktop ships with, so your own PATH and node version never come into it.

Or a URL, with nothing installed. /mcp/connect mints a free anonymous token and prints the ready line:

claude mcp add --transport http spreadsheet https://mcp.zovo.one/mcp/spreadsheet/t/<token>

Or from a clone, for a client with no bundle installer. Build once, then point the client at the built file:

git clone https://github.com/theluckystrike/mcp-servers.git
cd mcp-servers && npm install
npm run build -w packages/mcp-license -w servers/spreadsheet

claude mcp add --scope user spreadsheet -- node /absolute/path/to/mcp-servers/servers/spreadsheet/dist/index.js

Claude Desktop, Cursor, Windsurf and Cline take the same two strings as JSON, in claude_desktop_config.json or the client's own MCP config file:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "spreadsheet": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/absolute/path/to/mcp-servers/servers/spreadsheet/dist/index.js"]
    }
  }
}

The npm packages are not published yet, so the npx form below returns a 404 today. It is kept because it is what that config becomes the day the publish lands, with nothing else changed; installing these servers when npx does not work yet has the whole picture.

claude mcp add spreadsheet -- npx -y @theluckystrike/mcp-spreadsheet

There is no account and no API key. The hosted URL works with nothing installed, and the local install keeps the file on your own machine. For the deeper walkthroughs see reading Excel in Cursor and answering spreadsheet questions.

Questions

Can I ask a spreadsheet questions in plain language?

Yes. MCP Spreadsheet reads an Excel or CSV file and answers questions about it without you writing a formula, and writes edits back to the file.

What are the free limits?

The free tier reads files up to 5 MB and 5,000 rows and writes up to 500 rows per file. Over a cap the tool says so instead of failing silently.

Does it work without installing anything?

Yes. Spreadsheet is hosted at mcp.zovo.one, so you can add it by URL with a free anonymous token and nothing installed locally.

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