Agent guidance¶
The CLI plugin ships one short skill, excel-cli, beside its argument-safe launcher. It teaches the session, batch and verification pattern and leaves action details to native help. The MCP plugin contains only its server connection configuration, and the VS Code extension bundles the MCP runtime without a chat-skill contribution.
Discover supported operations¶
For the CLI, use excelcli --help, excelcli list-actions <command>, then excelcli <command> <action> --help for the actions needed. The plugin launcher is bin\start-cli.ps1 inside the installed CLI plugin; it runs npx -y @sbroenne/excelcli@latest without adding excelcli to PATH.
For MCP, use the tool descriptions and input schemas. Both entry points expose the same workbook operations. Native help and schemas define supported inputs, defaults, and results; do not infer syntax from general Excel knowledge.
Optional documentation¶
The reference guides cover workflows and limitations. The report-formatting guide remains available when a user requests presentation advice. It is not automatically loaded or packaged as a skill. Match the user's instructions and existing template first.
Authoring and packaging¶
| Content | Source |
|---|---|
| Operation and parameter descriptions | Core interface XML documentation and attributes |
| Generated action metadata | Shared generators and command contracts |
| Minimal MCP instructions | MCP Server Program.cs |
| Workflows and formatting advice | docs/reference/ |
| Plugin launchers and configuration | .github/plugins/ |
| CLI quick-start skill | .github/plugins/excel-cli/skills/excel-cli/SKILL.md |
Keep product-specific warnings beside the affected action. Do not copy generic Excel tutorials or action catalogs into automatically loaded instructions. Follow product guidance rules when changing metadata.
Build plugins with scripts\Build-Plugins.ps1 -Version <version>. scripts\Build-ReleasePackages.ps1 owns complete distributable preparation. The plugin build copies the CLI quick-start skill and stamps its VERSION; it rejects any other bundled skill content. Neither command installs skills. Packaging does not uninstall older product copies from user machines, and source changes do not publish plugins.