workbook-mcp-server

A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server in Java that exposes an .xlsx workbook generator as tools that AI assistants can call. This lets a client like Claude, GitHub Copilot, or the MCP Inspector create spreadsheets on request.

Built with the official MCP Java SDK over the stdio transport.

Status

Work in progress. The server runs and serves tools over stdio; currently it registers one tool, with workbook tools coming next.

Planned: tools that wrap WorkbookGenerator to build workbooks from explicit data, generate randomized sample data from column specifications, and write the result to disk.

Project layout

src/main/java/com/example/workbooktools/
├── WorkbookMcpServer.java   # MCP server entry point (stdio transport)
├── WorkbookTools.java       # MCP tool definitions
├── WorkbookGenerator.java   # .xlsx generation library (Apache POI)
└── ColumnSpec.java          # Column shapes for sample data: text, integer, decimal, date, choice, nullable

Requirements

• Java 21+
• Maven 3.9+

Build and test

mvn compile
mvn test

Run the server

mvn -q compile exec:java

The server speaks JSON-RPC over stdin/stdout, so it's meant to be launched by an MCP client rather than used directly. -q keeps Maven's build output off stdout, where it would corrupt the protocol stream.

Try it with the MCP Inspector

npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector

In the Inspector, choose STDIO, set Command to mvn and Arguments to -q compile exec:java, then Connect and open the Tools tab.

Use it from VS Code

The repo includes an .mcp.json that registers the server:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "workbook-tools": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "mvn",
      "args": ["-q", "compile", "exec:java"],
      "env": {}
    }
  }
}

Tech stack

• Java 21 (records, sealed interfaces, text blocks)
• MCP Java SDK 2.0.0
• Apache POI 5.3.0 for .xlsx generation
• JUnit 5

Credits

The workbook generation library (WorkbookGenerator, ColumnSpec, and their tests) comes from pturch/workbook-generator; its original commits are preserved in this repository's history. The MCP server layer is built on top of it here.

License

Apache License 2.0