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.

What's New

MCP Server: New XlsRsMcpServer exposes all capabilities to AI agents and automation tools via the Model Context Protocol
Styled Excel Export: New presets (default, minimal, report, executive) for professional spreadsheet formatting with charts, conditional formatting, and sparklines
Workflow Engine: Config-driven batch operations via WorkflowExecutor — no temp JSON files needed
Streaming Mode: Memory-efficient processing for large CSV and Excel files (chunked reads/writes)
Time Series & Geospatial: Built-in support for temporal analysis and location-based data

Why xls-rs?

Unlike single-purpose libraries, xls-rs provides a unified surface across library, CLI, and MCP server — the same operations work identically everywhere.

Key differentiators:

Production Safety: CSV formula-injection sanitization on all write paths; overwrite guards (--overwrite required)
Advanced Excel Features: Charts, conditional formatting, sparklines, and styling — not just raw cell values
Data Quality Built-in: Validation rules, profiling, anomaly detection, and data lineage tracking
Pandas-Style Ops: head, tail, describe, sort, filter, dedupe, transpose, select, join, concat
Formula Evaluation: Built-in evaluator for Excel formulas (not just reading stored values)
Encryption: File-level encryption support for sensitive data
Parquet & Avro: Native columnar format support with schema inference from headers
Google Sheets: List and prepare for OAuth integration (API key support today)

Format support (high level)

Format	Read (library / CLI)	Write (library / CLI)	Notes
`.csv`	Yes	Yes	Formula-injection sanitization on writes
`.xlsx`	Yes	Yes	Charts, conditional formatting, sparklines, etc. via library APIs
`.xls`	Yes	Yes	Legacy Excel; same pipeline as xlsx in many paths
`.ods`	Yes	Via conversion paths	OpenDocument spreadsheet
`.parquet`	Yes	Yes	Columnar; schema from headers when present
`.avro`	Yes	Yes	Columnar; field names from headers when present
Google Sheets (`gsheet://`, URL, ID)	Stub / API-key metadata	Stub	`list` with `google_sheets.api_key`; full read/write needs future OAuth / service account

For the latest parity detail across library, CLI, and MCP, see TODO.md and src/capability_catalog.rs.

Read limitations (grid extraction)

Grid reads return tabular data similar to CSV: they do not execute VBA macros or expand pivot tables. Merged cells usually appear as a value on the top-left cell only; other cells in the merge range may be empty. For full-fidelity layout and features, open the file in the authoring application.

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

`read` output format

With -f / --format: use that output (csv, json, jsonl, markdown).
Without --format: uses default_format from the resolved config file if set; otherwise csv.

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

xls-rs 0.1.2