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name: excel-mcp-report-formatting description: >- Apply optional presentation conventions when the user requests Excel report formatting or a new reader-facing report through Excel MCP tools. Use for readable headers, meaningful number formats, financial-model colours, and report layout. Do not load for ordinary reads, raw exports, targeted data updates, Power Query or Data Model work, or failure recovery without a report-formatting request. compatibility: Windows with desktop Excel and the Excel MCP Server.

Report formatting with Excel MCP

Use the user's requested style first, the existing template second, and the optional conventions in the formatting guide only when neither specifies a style. Read that guide for the requested report, not unrelated workbook work.

Discover exact actions and parameters from the MCP tool schemas. Preserve values, formulas, units, identifiers, existing layouts, and unrelated sheets. Formatting is not permission to refresh data or rebuild workbook objects. Use table styles for Tables, chart_config for charts, and pivottable_field for PivotTable number formats; do not apply range_format to Table or PivotTable cells instead of their owning controls.

Inspect the affected formats and calculated outputs before saving the authorized result. Financial-model colours and dashboard visuals are optional, not a requirement for every report. Screenshots are optional and need a desktop.

General workflow and recovery documentation is available on the website; it is not another required skill.