xls-rs

xls-rs is a Rust CLI for reading, writing, converting, and transforming spreadsheet-like files.

• CLI binary: xls-rs
• Rust library crate: xls_rs (this is the crate name you use in Rust code)

Supported formats include CSV, Excel (.xlsx, .xls), ODS, Parquet, and Avro, with formula evaluation and a growing set of pandas-style operations.

Install / build

cargo build

Run

cargo run -- --help

Example:

cargo run -- read --input examples/sales.csv

Global flags

• --config <path>: use a specific config file (overrides discovery)
• --quiet: suppress non-data output (logs/progress)
• --verbose: print additional debug logs
• --overwrite: allow overwriting output files

Generate examples

cargo run -- examples-generate

This creates deterministic files under ./examples/ (CSV fixtures plus derived artifacts like sales.xlsx and sales.parquet).

Configuration

The CLI loads config from the first existing path:

• .xls-rs.toml (project directory)
• ~/.xls-rs.toml
• $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/xls-rs/config.toml

MCP server

XlsRsMcpServer exposes tools for programmatic automation. It also includes a capabilities tool that returns supported operations and formats.

Test

cargo test