What is 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.

Use them to compile the TypeScript code, run the server, and manually test reading or changing VBA modules and running Excel macros.

They explain how to build and run the server and how to test it when automated tests are unavailable.

How prizmPrograms/excel-mcp-server configures GitHub Copilot

Reuse

Borrowing it

Nothing to install: this file belongs to prizmPrograms/excel-mcp-server. Take a copy, put it at the same path in your own repository, and replace the rules that are about this project with yours.

Copy the file

curl -O https://raw.githubusercontent.com/prizmPrograms/excel-mcp-server/main/.github/copilot-instructions.md

Clone the repo

git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/prizmPrograms/excel-mcp-server

Made for: GitHub Copilot.

Wrote this? Show the measurements

A badge with what this costs and how it scanned, read live from this page, so it follows the numbers instead of freezing them. Markdown for a README, HTML for a documentation site or a project page.

README.md

[![agentmods](https://agentmods.dev/badge/instructions/prizmprograms/excel-mcp-server/copilot-instructions/github.svg)](https://agentmods.dev/instructions/prizmprograms/excel-mcp-server/copilot-instructions)

Your own site

<a href="https://agentmods.dev/instructions/prizmprograms/excel-mcp-server/copilot-instructions"><img src="https://agentmods.dev/badge/instructions/prizmprograms/excel-mcp-server/copilot-instructions/github.svg" alt="Measured on agentmods" height="20"></a>

Or the 80×15 button, for a site that already has a row of RSS and ATOM ones. Only the verdict fits; the numbers stay here.

Your own site · 80×15

<a href="https://agentmods.dev/instructions/prizmprograms/excel-mcp-server/copilot-instructions"><img src="https://agentmods.dev/badge/instructions/prizmprograms/excel-mcp-server/copilot-instructions.svg" alt="Reviewed on agentmods" width="80" height="20"></a>

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. A grade says what 26 rules found in the file — not that it is safe.

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.

Model	Per session	Once invoked
Fable 5.1	$0.01446	$0.01446
Opus 5.5	$0.00578	$0.00578
Sonnet 5.5	$0.00289	$0.00289
Haiku 4.5	$0.00145	$0.00145

Measured 2mo ago against content hash 3f731930c082, method: parsed. Prices are Anthropic first-party input rates as of 2026-10-07, 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 2mo 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:

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

Architecture

Three-Layer Design

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)
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)
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.

2mo 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 7mo ago), licensed MIT. It adds 1,446 tokens to every session, about $0.0058 per session on Opus 5.5. 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.

Documents Spreadsheets

excel-mcp-server copilot-instructions.md next to 6 instructions from other repositories
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excel-mcp-server: Instructions file for GitHub Copilot