Bilig WorkPaper

What it is

A headless WorkPaper runtime exposed over MCP. Instead of parsing a spreadsheet into text, it keeps a typed workbook object that recalculates: an agent sets an input cell, the formulas downstream recompute, and it reads the dependent cell to confirm what changed. It runs from a persisted WorkPaper JSON document, from an imported XLSX, or from a built-in demo workbook, and can persist edits back to the same file.

What you get

• Sheets, ranges and single cells read from the loaded workbook, including the displayed value rather than the raw formula — list_sheets, read_range, read_cell, get_cell_display_value
• Cell contents written, with a variant that returns the recalculated readback in the same call so the agent does not have to guess whether the formula updated — set_cell_contents, set_cell_contents_and_readback
• Formula checking before it goes in, and a risk pass over the whole workbook — validate_formula, analyze_workbook_risk
• The workbook exported as a WorkPaper JSON document that can be restored later — export_workpaper_document
• MCP resources and prompts so a capable client can discover the workflow before calling anything — bilig://workpaper/agent-handoff, bilig://workpaper/current-document, edit_and_verify_workpaper, debug_workpaper_formula
• Three ways to load: --workpaper for a persisted JSON document, --from-xlsx to import an existing XLSX into an in-memory workbook, and no flag at all for the built-in demo
• A remote endpoint at https://bilig.proompteng.ai/mcp, a stateless JSON-only Streamable HTTP surface for tool discovery and write/readback checks

Requirements

Nothing — no account, no key. Node with npm: npm exec --package @bilig/workpaper@latest -- bilig-workpaper-mcp starts the stdio server, and a Docker target is published for MCP directory scanners. Edits stay in memory unless you pass --writable, which persists set_cell_contents and set_cell_contents_and_readback back to the same file; --from-xlsx alone gives readback and throwaway edits without writing a sidecar. It is listed in the official MCP Registry as io.github.proompteng/bilig-workpaper. Read the project's compatibility-limits page before importing real Excel workbooks — the maintainers keep excelParity marked as not proven.

Setup effort

One command — npm install @bilig/workpaper

Tools you get

11 tools named in the project's documentation. Default demo mode exposes only read_workpaper_summary and set_workpaper_input_cell; --workpaper exposes the other 8, and --from-xlsx adds analyze_workbook_risk. edit_and_verify_workpaper and debug_workpaper_formula are prompts, not tools.

Where it runs

Both documented clients run the server on your machine.