Two skill packages for different integration models:
| Skill | Component | Distribution | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| excel-cli | CLI Tool (excelcli.exe) |
Copilot plugin excel-cli, direct skill extraction |
Coding agents - token-efficient, --help discoverable |
| excel-mcp | MCP Server (mcp-excel.exe) |
Copilot plugin excel-mcp, VS Code extension, MCPB, direct skill extraction |
Conversational AI - rich tool schemas |
Shared guidance: skills/shared/*.md — source of truth for both skills (auto-copied to each skill’s references/ folder)
Note: Legacy npm packages (
excel-cli-skill,excel-mcp-skill) are no longer published. Use the methods below instead.
GitHub Copilot Plugins (Recommended):
copilot plugin marketplace add sbroenne/mcp-server-excel-plugins
copilot plugin install excel-mcp@sbroenne/mcp-server-excel-plugins
copilot plugin install excel-cli@sbroenne/mcp-server-excel-plugins
Direct skill extraction (for agents without plugin support):
npx skills add sbroenne/mcp-server-excel
npx skills add sbroenne/mcp-server-excel --skill excel-cli
npx skills add sbroenne/mcp-server-excel --skill excel-mcp
Via VS Code Extension (auto-installs both): Install the Excel MCP VS Code Extension
dotnet build -c Release
Generates SKILL.md and copies shared/ references into each skill’s references/ folder.
skills/
├── shared/ # Shared behavioral guidance (source of truth)
├── excel-mcp/ # MCP Server skill (SKILL.md + references/)
├── excel-cli/ # CLI skill (SKILL.md + references/)
├── templates/ # Scriban templates for SKILL.md generation
├── CLAUDE.md # Claude Code project instructions
└── .cursorrules # Cursor-specific rules