SKILLbundledHermes Bundled Skills

Xlsx

Name: Xlsx
Author: Nous Research

Create, read, edit Excel .xlsx workbooks and CSVs

excelspreadsheetxlsxcsvopenpyxlproductivityBundledHermes skill

Last registry verification2026-08-18v1.0.0Nous Research

Open original source ↗اقرأ بالعربية

Plain meaning

What does it add to Hermes?

Create, read, edit Excel .xlsx workbooks and CSVs

Xlsx is a skill related to files and documents. It can let the agent read, organize, or create documents within the folder or account scope you grant.

This plain-language explanation is based on the publisher description. The original text remains visible for verification.

Use it when

Use it when your goal in files and documents is clear and you can limit it to the data and actions it actually needs.

Skip it when

Do not add it merely to experiment when Hermes already has a simpler path, or when you cannot review its source and permissions.

Who is it for?

Best for users who want a repeatable way of working inside Hermes.

Safe first test

Use a test folder containing copies of non-sensitive files and begin with one read operation.

Original publisher description

Create, read, edit Excel .xlsx workbooks and CSVs

✓

Data source

This entry was indexed from Hermes Bundled Skills. Our explanation interprets the type and domain without inventing a capability not present upstream.

Security review

The source is official or editorially reviewed, but you still need to review permissions and version compatibility.

Safe setup path

Inspect, install, then test.

01
Open the source
Match the publisher, license, and description to your need. Check the real update history.
02
Review permissions and secrets
Never paste a secret value into this site. Use environment-variable names and grant the smallest scope.
03
Copy setup only after review
The controls below copy text. They do not execute commands on your device.
04
Test with a non-sensitive task
Inspect the visible tools, then exclude write or delete tools you do not need.

Setup method

Already installed with Hermes.

This skill ships with Hermes and loads when the agent decides it is relevant. There is nothing to install; read the definition below so you know what it will do.

Open the official page ↗

The full skill definition

Exactly what Hermes loads when this skill runs.

Reproduced from the official documentation. Read it before enabling the skill: this text becomes the agent's instructions.

Create, read, edit Excel .xlsx workbooks and CSVs.

Skill metadata

A lookup table. Do not read it all; find the row that applies to you.

Source	Bundled (installed by default)
Path	`skills/productivity/xlsx`
Version	`1.0.0`
Author	Nous Research
License	MIT
Platforms	linux, macos, windows
Tags	`excel`, `spreadsheet`, `xlsx`, `csv`, `openpyxl`, `productivity`
Related skills	`docx`, `pdf`, `powerpoint`

Reference: full SKILL.md

Explains the idea itself. Read it slowly; the later sections build on it.

Work with Excel .xlsx workbooks using Python and openpyxl: build styled multi-sheet workbooks with formulas and charts, inspect or dump existing files, edit cells and structure, and convert to/from CSV. All helper scripts are argparse CLIs that print JSON and use explicit UTF-8 I/O.

When to Use

Explains the idea itself. Read it slowly; the later sections build on it.

Creating .xlsx reports: multiple sheets, number formats, styling, merged cells, freeze panes, autofilter, conditional formatting, charts, data-validation dropdowns.
Reading a workbook: sheet inventory, dumping data as JSON or CSV, listing formulas vs cached values.
Editing existing files: set cells, append rows, insert/delete rows/columns, copy/rename sheets.
CSV interop with type inference and non-UTF-8 encodings.
Not for the legacy .xls binary format (use LibreOffice to convert first: soffice --headless --convert-to xlsx old.xls).

Prerequisites

Explains the idea itself. Read it slowly; the later sections build on it.

Python 3.10+ with openpyxl (pip install openpyxl). No other third-party packages are needed; everything else is stdlib.
Optional: LibreOffice (soffice) for headless recalculation or format conversion.

How to Run

Explains the idea itself. Read it slowly; the later sections build on it.

Run the helper scripts with the terminal tool from this skill's scripts/ directory (every script supports --help):

Shell7 lines

python scripts/xlsx_create.py spec.json report.xlsx   # build from JSON spec
python scripts/xlsx_read.py report.xlsx --sheets      # inventory
python scripts/xlsx_read.py report.xlsx --json --sheet Data
python scripts/xlsx_read.py report.xlsx --formulas
python scripts/xlsx_edit.py report.xlsx --sheet Data --set B2=42 --recalc
python scripts/csv_to_xlsx.py data.csv out.xlsx --encoding utf-8
python scripts/xlsx_to_csv.py report.xlsx out.csv --sheet Data

Author the JSON spec with write_file, inspect script JSON output with read_file or directly from stdout.

Quick Reference

A lookup table. Do not read it all; find the row that applies to you.

Task	Command
Create workbook from spec	`xlsx_create.py spec.json out.xlsx`
Sheet names + dimensions	`xlsx_read.py f.xlsx --sheets`
Dump sheet as JSON	`xlsx_read.py f.xlsx --json --sheet S`
Dump sheet as CSV	`xlsx_read.py f.xlsx --csv --out d.csv`
List formulas + cached values	`xlsx_read.py f.xlsx --formulas`
Set a cell / formula	`xlsx_edit.py f.xlsx --set "A1==SUM(B:B)"`
Append a row	`xlsx_edit.py f.xlsx --append '[1,"x",true]'`
Insert 2 rows before row 3	`xlsx_edit.py f.xlsx --insert-rows 3:2`
Copy / rename sheet	`--copy-sheet Src:New --rename-sheet Old:New`
Force recalc on open	`xlsx_edit.py f.xlsx --recalc`
CSV -> styled xlsx	`csv_to_xlsx.py in.csv out.xlsx`
xlsx -> CSV	`xlsx_to_csv.py f.xlsx out.csv --encoding utf-8`

Procedure

Explains the idea itself. Read it slowly; the later sections build on it.

Create: write a JSON spec (schema documented in xlsx_create.py --help and its docstring). Each sheet supports rows (scalars or styled cell objects), sparse cells overrides, column_widths, row_heights, merges, freeze_panes, autofilter, conditional_formats (cell_is rules and color scales), charts (bar/line/pie from cell ranges), and validations (list dropdowns). Typed values: JSON numbers/bools pass through; dates use {"value": "2026-01-31", "type": "date"}. Number formats are Excel format strings: currency "$#,##0.00", percent "0.0%", date "yyyy-mm-dd".
Formulas: set with "formula": "SUM(B2:B9)" in the spec or --set "C1==SUM(A:A)" in the editor. When writing formulas, add "full_calc_on_load": true (spec) or --recalc (editor); this sets the workbook's fullCalcOnLoad flag so Excel/LibreOffice recompute everything on open. openpyxl itself NEVER evaluates formulas.
Read: --sheets for inventory (names, dimensions, merged ranges, chart count), --json/--csv for data, --formulas to pair each formula string with its cached result. Cached results exist only if the file was last saved by a real spreadsheet app; files fresh from openpyxl return null there. To materialize results headlessly: soffice --headless --convert-to xlsx file.xlsx then reload with --data-only.
Edit: xlsx_edit.py applies renames/copies first, then structural row/column changes, then --set/--append. It edits in place unless --out is given — copy the file first if you need the original.
CSV interop: csv_to_xlsx.py infers int/float/bool/ISO-date per cell and styles the header row; xlsx_to_csv.py writes ISO dates and blank strings for empty cells. Both default to UTF-8 and accept --encoding (e.g. utf-8-sig for Excel-friendly BOM, cp1252 for legacy Windows exports).

Pitfalls

Explains the idea itself. Read it slowly; the later sections build on it.

openpyxl does not calculate. Formula results are available only via load_workbook(path, data_only=True) and only when the file was previously saved by Excel/LibreOffice. Otherwise you get None.
Insert/delete does not shift references. insert_rows, delete_cols, etc. move cell values but do NOT update merged-cell ranges, formula references, chart anchors, or conditional-format ranges. After structural edits on sheets with merges or formulas, re-check them with --sheets and --formulas and fix manually.
data_only=True then save silently discards all formulas (cached values replace them). Never save a workbook loaded that way unless that is the goal.
Loading strips charts/images: openpyxl does not round-trip charts, so editing a charted workbook and saving drops the charts. Re-add charts after editing, or avoid re-saving charted files.
CSV locale traps: always pass explicit encodings (the scripts already do) and remember European CSVs often use ; delimiters and decimal commas — use --delimiter ';' and expect strings like "12,5" to stay strings.
Dates are datetimes: Excel stores dates as serial numbers; openpyxl returns datetime/date objects. Dumps here emit ISO strings.
Sheet names are capped at 31 chars and reject [ ] : * ? / \.

Verification

Explains the idea itself. Read it slowly; the later sections build on it.

After creating: xlsx_read.py out.xlsx --sheets and confirm sheet names, dimensions, merged ranges, and chart counts match intent.
Dump data with --json and compare against the source values.
After edits: re-dump the touched range; if formulas were written, confirm --formulas lists them and that --recalc was applied.
For a full visual check, open in LibreOffice: soffice --headless --convert-to pdf out.xlsx and inspect the PDF.