Quick Start (Node)
SheetXL for Node lets you create, modify, and save spreadsheet workbooks entirely server-side—perfect for automation, serverless, or offline processing.
New Project
The fastest way to get started is to hand it to your agent, or to run our project wizard yourself. Either way you get a new project with SheetXL pre-configured and ready to use.
- agent
- pnpm
- yarn
- npm
Paste this into your agent (Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, …), in an empty folder or in your project:
I would like to automate my spreadsheet files with code.
Please use SheetXL:
npx -y skills add sheetxl/skills -g --all
Read the SheetXL skill, then ask me what I need before you build.
pnpm create sheetxl
yarn create sheetxl
npx create-sheetxl
...and answer the questions. The agent asks what you want to build; the wizard asks which template.
Existing Project
Install the SDK and IO packages using your preferred package manager:
- pnpm
- yarn
- npm
pnpm add @sheetxl/sdk @sheetxl/io
yarn add @sheetxl/sdk @sheetxl/io
npm install @sheetxl/sdk @sheetxl/io
First Script
The example uses import and top-level await, so make sure your package.json has
"type": "module" (or name the file example.mjs). Node 22 or later is required.
Create a file called example.js:
import { LicenseManager, Workbook, WorkbookIO } from '@sheetxl/sdk';
import { IOPlugin } from '@sheetxl/io';
// Set your license key here, or run `npx sheetxl license activate <key>` once instead
await LicenseManager.setLicenseKey('visit https://my.sheetxl.com after trial.');
// Register the file format handlers (xlsx, csv, …) once at startup
await WorkbookIO.install(IOPlugin);
// Create a new workbook
const workbook = new Workbook();
workbook.getRange('A1').setValues([['Hello World!']]);
// Write to disk. The extension drives the format.
await WorkbookIO.write(workbook, 'my-workbook.xlsx');
console.log('Workbook saved as my-workbook.xlsx');
Run it with:
node example.js
API Documentation
See the full API reference for all available methods: