/office-xlsx

name: office-xlsx
description: "Use when the user asks to create, inspect, verify, analyze, format, or deliver Excel `.xlsx` workbooks, Google Sheets-targeted spreadsheet artifacts, trackers, budgets, models, tables, dashboards, formulas, CSV/TSV-to-XLSX conversions, or spreadsheet-ready data packs."
requires:
  bins: [python3]
install:
  - kind: brew
    formula: python
    bins: [python3]
    label: "Install Python 3 via Homebrew"
    os: [darwin]
allowed-tools:
  - read
  - write
  - edit
  - apply_patch
  - exec
  - ls
  - grep
  - pdf
  - web_search
  - web_fetch
  - send_attachment

Office XLSX

Use the bundled scripts in this skill package to produce editable `.xlsx` workbooks. The builder writes formulas, styles, bar/column/line/pie charts, real Excel tables, data validation, conditional formatting, and workbook recalculation hints. The skill activation metadata includes `Skill directory`; treat that as `SKILL_DIR` and run scripts from `SKILL_DIR/scripts/`.

Workbook Shape

For nontrivial workbooks, prefer:

1. Summary or dashboard sheet first. 2. Inputs / assumptions sheet next. 3. Detail or source data sheets after that. 4. Checks sheet only when formulas, reconciliations, or model integrity matter.

Workflow

1. Normalize source data before writing the workbook. 2. Use formulas for derived values instead of hardcoded calculated outputs. Strings beginning with `=` are written as Excel formulas. 3. For structured workbook creation, create a JSON spec in the working directory and run:

python3 "$SKILL_DIR/scripts/check_env.py"
python3 "$SKILL_DIR/scripts/build_xlsx.py" --spec spec.json --out output.xlsx
python3 "$SKILL_DIR/scripts/inspect_xlsx.py" --verify output.xlsx
python3 "$SKILL_DIR/scripts/formula_audit.py" output.xlsx

4. For CSV/TSV conversion, run one or more inputs into one workbook:

python3 "$SKILL_DIR/scripts/csv_to_xlsx.py" --input data.csv --input lookup.tsv --sheet Data --sheet Lookup --out output.xlsx
python3 "$SKILL_DIR/scripts/inspect_xlsx.py" --verify output.xlsx

5. If visual QA matters and LibreOffice is available, run:

python3 "$SKILL_DIR/scripts/render_preview.py" output.xlsx

6. To patch an existing workbook without rebuilding it, create a patch JSON and run:

python3 "$SKILL_DIR/scripts/patch_xlsx.py" --input existing.xlsx --patch patch.json --out output.xlsx
python3 "$SKILL_DIR/scripts/inspect_xlsx.py" --verify output.xlsx
python3 "$SKILL_DIR/scripts/formula_audit.py" output.xlsx --write-cache cached-output.xlsx

Patch actions:

{
  "actions": [
    {"action": "append_rows", "sheet": "Data", "rows": [["New", 123, "=B2*2"]]},
    {"action": "set_cell", "sheet": "Summary", "cell": "B2", "value": "=SUM(Data!B:B)"}
  ]
}

7. When formulas matter, use `formula_audit.py --write-cache` and deliver the cached workbook unless the audit reports unsupported formulas that require Excel/LibreOffice recalculation. For broad formula coverage, run:

python3 "$SKILL_DIR/scripts/recalculate_xlsx.py" output.xlsx --out recalculated.xlsx
python3 "$SKILL_DIR/scripts/inspect_xlsx.py" --verify recalculated.xlsx

8. Deliver the `.xlsx` path or attach it with `send_attachment`.

Spec Shape

{
  "title": "Workbook title",
  "sheets": [
    {
      "name": "Summary",
      "rows": [["Metric", "Value"], ["Revenue", 1200000], ["Margin", "=B2*0.42"]],
      "tables": [{"name": "SummaryTable", "ref": "A1:B3"}],
      "data_validations": [{"range": "A2:A10", "type": "list", "formula1": ["Revenue", "Margin"]}],
      "conditional_formats": [{"range": "B2:B10", "type": "colorScale"}],
      "charts": [
        {"type": "column", "title": "Summary", "categories": "$A$2:$A$3", "values": "$B$2:$B$3", "anchor": "D2"},
        {"type": "line", "title": "Trend", "categories": "$A$2:$A$3", "values": "$B$2:$B$3", "anchor": "D18"}
      ],
      "column_formats": ["text", "currency"],
      "column_widths": [24, 16],
      "freeze_top_row": true,
      "autofilter": true
    }
  ]
}

Quality Bar

• Keep important values visible; avoid tiny columns and clipped headers.
• Use one workbook, not many disconnected CSV-like sheets, when relationships

between tabs matter.

• Prefer real Excel tables, filters, validations, conditional formats, and

charts when the workbook is meant to be used repeatedly.

• Keep formulas editable, audit formulas before delivery, and write cached

values for supported formulas when possible. Supported audit functions include common arithmetic, comparisons, `SUM`, `AVERAGE`, `MIN`, `MAX`, `COUNT`, `MEDIAN`, `ROUND`, `ABS`, and simple `IF`.

• When patching an existing workbook, preserve unrelated package parts and rerun

`inspect_xlsx.py` plus `formula_audit.py`; use `recalculate_xlsx.py` when the formula surface exceeds the bundled evaluator.

• If preview rendering fails because LibreOffice or a PDF-to-PNG renderer is

missing, state exactly which verification passed; do not imply visual QA passed.