Use spreadsheet tools in your agent’s chat
- Connect once. Follow the MCP setup instructions to add all 13 toolsets to your agent.
- Provide the spreadsheet. Give your agent a path it can read, or attach the file if your client supports uploads. The agent needs file access and HTTP transfer tools.
- Describe the task. In your agent’s chat, name the file and sheet, describe the change, and ask for the result. Your agent reads or edits the workbook with the connected tools.
No special command or required brand phrase. If your agent chooses another method, ask it to use the connected EasyRunCraft tools.
What to ask your agent
After connecting, use your own filenames and sheet names in requests like these:
| Ask your agent | You get |
|---|---|
| List the sheets in orders.xlsx and read A1:C10 on the Orders sheet. | Workbook information and the selected cells as CSV. |
| Write =A2*B2 into C2 and =A3*B3 into C3 on the Orders sheet in orders.xlsx. | A new XLSX containing the formulas. |
| Make A1:C1 bold and display C2:C20 with two decimal places on the Orders sheet in orders.xlsx. | A formatted XLSX copy. |
| Sort A1:C20 on the Orders sheet in orders.xlsx by column B from largest to smallest, keeping row 1 as the header. | An XLSX with the selected rows sorted. |
Supported spreadsheet operations
Read sheets and ranges inspect_file
Read workbook metadata, sheet names and the requested cell range as CSV. Supply sheet and range, or omit them to read A1:J20 on the first sheet. A range can contain up to 10,000 cells. Use the exact returned sheet name for subsequent edits.
Write values and formulas set_values
Call edit_spreadsheet with an operation containing sheet, one starting cell such as C2, and a rectangular values matrix. All rows must have the same length, with at most 100 rows and 100 columns. Cells accept text, numbers, booleans or null. Supply formulas as strings such as =A2*B2. The supplied block replaces the cells at that position.
Apply formatting format
Supply sheet and range, then set bold to true or false, or provide a numberFormat code such as 0.00. You can set both in one operation. Number-format codes are limited to 80 characters. This operation supports bold and number formatting.
Sort data sort
Supply sheet, the entire table range, and one sort column as a column letter such as B. Rows sort in ascending order unless descending is true. The first row is treated as a header by default; set header to false when every row contains data. Include every column that should move with its row in the range.
An edit_spreadsheet request accepts 1–30 operations, applied in order. Every operation needs its own sheet name. Edits return a new XLSX file, including when the input was CSV.
Tool-call example for agents and developers
After inspecting a workbook with an Orders sheet and columns A–C, the arguments to edit_spreadsheet can look like this:
{
"file_id": "<uploaded file ID>",
"request_id": "<new request ID>",
"operations": [
{
"type": "set_values",
"sheet": "Orders",
"cell": "C2",
"values": [
[
"=A2*B2"
],
[
"=A3*B3"
]
]
},
{
"type": "format",
"sheet": "Orders",
"range": "C2:C3",
"numberFormat": "0.00"
},
{
"type": "sort",
"sheet": "Orders",
"range": "A1:C3",
"column": "B",
"descending": true,
"header": true
}
]
}Files, limits and results
Your agent calls create_upload and sends the file bytes to the upload URL with HTTP PUT before starting a task.
Submit each job with the uploaded file_id and a fresh request_id. Reuse a request ID only to retry the same request. Poll get_job at most once per second. Inspection appears in result, and an edited workbook is available under file. Download and review the copy before continuing.
Each input and output file can be up to 20 MB for accounts without a subscription and Starter, or 100 MB on Creator and Studio. See plan file limits. Each account can have two active jobs, and each native command has a 45-second limit. Ranges must stay within worksheet bounds and contain at most 10,000 cells.
File storage and follow-up edits
MCP files are temporarily stored on EasyRunCraft servers for processing. Original uploads expire 4 hours after their upload request is created; outputs expire 4 hours after their processing task is created. Expired files cannot be accessed and are deleted automatically while the service is running. If the service is stopped, cleanup resumes on restart. Account and billing records are retained separately from file contents. Ask your agent to delete a file earlier when you no longer need it; other file versions are kept until deleted or expired.
Your agent receives a file_id and an expiry time. Before expiry, it can reuse the original ID or use an output file_id to continue from the latest edit without uploading again. Reusing an ID does not extend that file’s expiry. After expiry, upload your saved copy again. The agent manages these references; you do not need to enter them manually.
Uploads return file_id and file_expires_at. Completed outputs return file_id and expires_at; both expiry fields are Unix timestamps in milliseconds. The delete_at field gives the same deadline as an ISO date and time. Use a new request_id for a new edit, or the same request ID to retry the same task.
To remove a file sooner, ask your agent to call delete_file with that version’s file_id. Deletion has no separate credit charge. Other versions remain independent; a file in an active task must be released by finishing or cancelling that task first.
Upload and download links are valid for up to 10 minutes and stop working when the file expires. Your agent can call get_job for a fresh download link while the output is still available. Anyone holding a valid signed link can use it until it expires.
Feedback
Tell us which spreadsheet operation you wanted to perform and what the job reported. Include the job ID if you have one.
Keep private workbooks, signed links and access tokens out of your message.
Email GridCraft feedback