OfficeMCP

A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that enables AI assistants to create, read, write, and manipulate Microsoft Office documents (Word, Excel, PowerPoint) and PDFs directly from natural language instructions.

Features

• Format-agnostic tools — unified office_* API works across all supported formats
• Format-specific tools — granular word_*, excel_*, and pptx_* tools for advanced operations
• Markdown support — write Word/PDF content using plain Markdown
• Batch operations — perform multiple document operations in a single tool call
• PDF support — create, read, watermark, and extract pages from PDFs
• Encrypted document handling — detection and support for protected Office files
• Progressive tool disclosure — tiered tool exposure keeps context lean
• Image creation — embed images in Word, PowerPoint, and Excel documents
• Image extraction — extract all embedded images from Word, PowerPoint, and PDF files as base64 data with MIME type for direct AI vision analysis (OCR, captioning)
• Rich document reading — office_read on .docx returns an ordered content list of headings, paragraphs, tables, and inline images in document sequence, preserving section context around every image

Supported Formats

Format	Extension	Read	Write	Create	Convert
Word	.docx	✅	✅	✅	✅
Excel	.xlsx	✅	✅	✅	—
PowerPoint	.pptx	✅	✅	✅	—
PDF	.pdf	✅	✅	✅	✅
Markdown	.md	—	—	—	✅

Prerequisites

• .NET 10 SDK
• An MCP-compatible client (e.g., Claude Desktop, VS Code with Copilot)

Building

git clone https://github.com/your-org/OfficeMCP.git
cd OfficeMCP
dotnet build

Running

dotnet run --project OfficeMCP/OfficeMCP.csproj

The server communicates over stdio using the MCP protocol.

MCP Client Configuration

Claude Desktop

Add the following to your claude_desktop_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "OfficeMCP": {
      "command": "dotnet",
      "args": [
        "run",
        "--project",
        "C:/path/to/OfficeMCP/OfficeMCP/OfficeMCP.csproj"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Or point to the compiled binary directly for faster startup:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "OfficeMCP": {
      "command": "C:/path/to/OfficeMCP/OfficeMCP/bin/Release/net10.0/OfficeMCP.exe"
    }
  }
}

Available Tools

Consolidated Office Tools (format-agnostic)

These tools work across all supported formats and are organized into three tiers.

Tier 1 — Core (always exposed)

Tool	Description
office_create	Create a new document in any supported format
office_read	Read content from any document. For Word: returns an ordered content list with headings, paragraphs, tables, and inline images (base64) in reading order by default. Set includeImages=false for plain text only.
office_write	Write or append content to a document
office_convert	Convert between formats (e.g., .docx → .md)
office_metadata	Retrieve document metadata (format, size, structure)

Tier 2 — Common

Tool	Description
office_add_element	Add elements such as images, tables, and lists
office_add_header_footer	Add headers and footers with optional page numbers and dates
office_extract	Extract specific content: text, images (with base64 + context for AI OCR/captioning), tables, metadata
office_batch	Execute multiple operations on a document in one call

Tier 3 — Advanced

Tool	Description
office_merge	Merge multiple documents into one (PDF)
office_pdf_pages	Extract pages, add watermarks, or read specific PDF pages

---

Word Tools (word_*)

Tool	Description
word_read	Read text from a Word document
word_add_content	Append Markdown content to a Word document
word_add_element	Add page breaks, headers, or footers
word_add_image	Embed an image (supports JPEG, PNG, GIF, BMP, TIFF)
word_convert	Convert between Word and Markdown
word_batch	Perform multiple write operations in one call

---

Excel Tools (excel_*)

Tool	Description
excel_create	Create a workbook with optional initial table data
excel_read	Read content from a sheet, cell, or range
excel_get_formatting	Retrieve cell formatting (colors, fonts, borders)
excel_set_cells	Set cell values with optional table formatting
excel_formula	Insert a formula into a cell
excel_manage_sheet	Add, delete, or rename sheets
excel_format_cells	Apply formatting to a cell range
excel_batch	Perform multiple operations in one call

---

PowerPoint Tools (pptx_*)

Tool	Description
pptx_read	Read text from slides
pptx_add_slide	Add a new blank slide
pptx_manage_slide	Delete, duplicate, or reorder slides
pptx_add_title	Set a slide title and subtitle
pptx_add_text	Add text or bullet points to a slide
pptx_add_image	Embed an image on a slide (supports JPEG, PNG, GIF, BMP)
pptx_add_table	Add a table to a slide
pptx_add_notes	Add speaker notes to a slide
pptx_batch	Perform multiple slide operations in one call

Image Support

Creating documents with images

Images can be embedded when creating or editing documents:

Format	How
Word	word_add_image tool, or inline Markdown  via office_create / office_write
PowerPoint	pptx_add_image tool
Excel	office_add_element with elementType: "image"

Reading documents with images

Rich ordered reading (Word — default)

Calling office_read on a .docx file returns the full document as an ordered content list where each item has a Type of "heading", "paragraph", "table", or "image". Images appear immediately after their containing paragraph so the preceding headings and paragraphs provide natural section context — no separate extraction step needed.

{
  "Content": [
    { "Type": "heading",   "Text": "Q4 Financial Summary", "Level": 1 },
    { "Type": "paragraph", "Text": "Revenue grew 23% as shown in the chart below." },
    { "Type": "image",     "AltText": "Revenue chart", "MimeType": "image/png",
                           "ImageBase64": "...", "WidthPx": 640, "HeightPx": 400 },
    { "Type": "paragraph", "Text": "Figure 1: Q4 2025 revenue by region." },
    { "Type": "heading",   "Text": "Cost Analysis", "Level": 2 }
  ]
}

Pass includeImages: false to get plain text only.

Bulk image extraction

office_extract with extractType: "images" extracts all embedded images from Word, PowerPoint, and PDF files. Each result includes:

Field	Description
ImageBase64	Full base64-encoded image bytes for AI vision analysis
MimeType	image/png, image/jpeg, etc.
AltText	Alt text stored in the document
ContextBefore	Paragraph immediately before the image (Word) or full slide text (PowerPoint)
ContextAfter	Paragraph immediately after the image (Word)
WidthPx / HeightPx	Dimensions at 96 dpi
PageOrSlideNumber	Source page (PDF) or slide number (PowerPoint)

---

Project Structure

OfficeMCP/
├── Program.cs                          # MCP server entry point & DI setup
├── Models/
│   └── DocumentModels.cs               # Shared data models (formatting, layout, etc.)
├── Services/
│   ├── WordDocumentService.cs          # Word document logic
│   ├── ExcelDocumentService.cs         # Excel workbook logic
│   ├── PowerPointDocumentService.cs    # PowerPoint presentation logic
│   ├── PdfDocumentService.cs           # PDF creation and manipulation
│   ├── EncryptedDocumentService.cs     # Encrypted/protected document handling
│   ├── FormatDetector.cs               # File extension → format detection
│   └── MarkdownParser.cs               # Markdown → Office content conversion
└── Tools/
    ├── OfficeDocumentToolsConsolidated.cs  # Unified office_* MCP tools
    ├── WordDocumentToolsOptimized.cs       # Word-specific word_* MCP tools
    ├── ExcelDocumentToolsOptimized.cs      # Excel-specific excel_* MCP tools
    └── PowerPointDocumentToolsOptimized.cs # PowerPoint-specific pptx_* MCP tools

Dependencies

Package	Version	Purpose
ModelContextProtocol	1.0.0	MCP server framework
DocumentFormat.OpenXml	3.4.1	Word, Excel, PowerPoint manipulation
itext7	9.5.0	PDF creation and manipulation
Azure.Identity	1.18.0	Azure credential support
Microsoft.Extensions.Hosting	10.0.3	Dependency injection and hosting
Newtonsoft.Json	13.0.4	JSON serialization (transitive override)

Running Tests

dotnet test OfficeMCP.Tests/OfficeMCP.Tests.csproj

License

This project is provided as-is.