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excel-mcp-server copilot-instructions.md

Project instructions for an MCP server that controls VBA code and macros in open Excel workbooks on Windows. VBA is Excel's built-in programming language, and COM is the Windows interface used to automate desktop applications.

In plain words
What is it for?
Use them to compile the TypeScript code, run the server, and manually test reading or changing VBA modules and running Excel macros.
Why use it?
They explain how to build and run the server and how to test it when automated tests are unavailable.

Instructions file for GitHub Copilot

5 5mo ago A scan 1,446 tokens original MIT
View the source file prizmPrograms/excel-mcp-server
Install

Getting it into your agent

One page per mod, every tool's command on it. A separate URL per tool would split the same page into five that compete with each other.

agentmods
npx agentmods add instructions/prizmprograms/excel-mcp-server/copilot-instructions
Clone the repo
git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/prizmPrograms/excel-mcp-server

Made for: GitHub Copilot.

Per session 1,446 This file is loaded in full into every session.
When invoked 1,446 The same file — it is already loaded in full.
Security scan A 0 findings. Scan, not verified.
Origin original No closer match found in the catalogue.
Token cost

What it costs to keep this loaded

Counted locally with the o200k_base tokenizer, which is exact for GPT models; Claude uses its own tokenizer and its counts differ. Treat this as one consistent yardstick across the catalogue rather than a bill. Prices are per million input tokens.

ModelPer sessionOnce invoked
Fable 5 $0.01446 $0.01446
Opus 5 $0.00723 $0.00723
Sonnet 5 $0.00289 $0.00289
Haiku 4.5 $0.00145 $0.00145

Measured 2d ago against content hash 3f731930c082, method: parsed. Prices are Anthropic first-party input rates as of 2026-08-30, from the pricing page.

Security

Grade A, and why

excel-mcp-server copilot-instructions.md scanned grade A with 0 findings against 26 rules in 11 categories — prompt injection, anti-refusal, data exfiltration, privilege escalation, supply chain, agent snooping, system-prompt leakage, SSRF and excessive agency — measured 2d ago.

A static scan of the body, not an audit. Every finding is printed with the line that produced it so you can judge whether it matters here. A mod is markdown that instructs an agent; that is exactly why what it instructs is worth reading.

Nothing flagged

None of the 26 patterns this scan looks for appear in this file: no shell pipes, no recursive deletes, no credential paths, no hidden text, no instruction-override or anti-refusal phrasing, no agent-config snooping. That is not a guarantee, it is the absence of the things that are checkable.

.github/copilot-instructions.md · 167 lines

How it starts

The opening of the file, as written. The whole thing — 167 lines — stays where its author put it; the contents beside it link to each section on GitHub.

Excel MCP Server - Copilot Instructions

MCP (Model Context Protocol) server that enables VBA automation in running Excel instances on Windows via COM interop.

Build and Test Commands

# Build (compiles TypeScript + copies PowerShell script)
npm run build

# Watch mode for development
npm run watch

# Run the MCP server
node dist/index.js

No automated tests exist. Manual testing requires:

  1. Excel running with workbook open
  2. MCP server running
  3. MCP client (e.g., Claude Desktop) connected

Architecture

Three-Layer Design

  1. excel-com.ps1 (PowerShell)

    • Direct COM automation of Excel Application objects
    • Functions named like Get-VBAModules, Set-Code, Run-Macro
    • Returns JSON via ConvertTo-Json
    • Exits with code 1 on errors (stderr captured)

  2. excel-wrapper.ts (TypeScript)

    • Spawns PowerShell with -ExecutionPolicy Bypass to run excel-com.ps1
    • Maps JavaScript methods to PowerShell commands
    • Parses JSON responses and handles errors
    • Uses ES modules (.js extensions in imports required)

  3. index.ts (MCP Server)

    • Implements MCP SDK server using StdioServerTransport
    • Defines tool schemas (input/output descriptions)
    • Routes tool calls to ExcelWrapper methods
    • Returns results as MCP tool responses

Key Design Decisions

Why PowerShell instead of native Node.js COM?

  • Avoids dependency on winax or similar native modules that require Visual Studio Build Tools
  • PowerShell has built-in COM support on Windows
  • Reduces installation friction for users

Why -ExecutionPolicy Bypass?

  • Script execution policy varies by system configuration
  • Bypass ensures scripts run without requiring system-wide policy changes
  • Safe since script path is controlled by this package

Module Type Constants (VBA)

  • 1: Standard Module (for Sub/Function procedures)
  • 2: Class Module
  • 3: UserForm

Important Conventions

VBA Module Naming

Module names MUST follow VBA rules:

  • Start with a letter (A-Z, a-z) - NOT underscore or number
  • No spaces or special characters (underscore is allowed)
  • Maximum 31 characters

Read the full file on GitHub · 167 lines

Changes

What this file has done since we first saw it

Hashed on every crawl. A supply-chain change to an agent config is a question of when, not whether, so the history is kept rather than the latest state alone.

  1. 2d ago First seen · 167 lines · 1,446 tokens per session scan A 3f731930c082

Subscribe to this mod's changes

excel-mcp-server copilot-instructions.md is an instructions file published in the GitHub repository prizmPrograms/excel-mcp-server (5 stars, last pushed 5mo ago), licensed MIT. It adds 1,446 tokens to every session, about $0.0072 per session on Opus 5. A static security scan graded it A with 0 findings. No closer match exists in the catalogue, so it is treated as the original; first seen 2026-08-31.

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