automating-excel
Automating Excel (JXA-first, AppleScript discovery)
Relationship to the macOS automation skill
- Standalone for Excel, but aligned with
automating-mac-appspatterns. - Use
automating-mac-appsfor permissions, shell, and UI scripting guidance. - PyXA Installation: To use PyXA examples in this skill, see the installation instructions in
automating-mac-appsskill (PyXA Installation section).
Core Framing
- Excel AppleScript dictionary is AppleScript-first; use Script Editor for discovery.
- JXA is the production language for logic and data processing.
- Collections are specifiers; read via methods, set via assignments.
- Handle errors from Excel operations using try/catch blocks and Application error checking.
Workflow (default)
- Discover dictionary terms in Script Editor (Excel).
- Prototype a minimal AppleScript command.
- Port to JXA and add defensive checks.
- Use bulk read/write (2D arrays) for performance.
- Use VBA
run()when dictionary coverage is missing.
More from spillwavesolutions/automating-mac-apps-plugin
automating-mac-apps
Automates macOS apps via Apple Events using AppleScript (discovery), JXA (legacy), and PyXA (modern Python). Use when asked to "automate Mac apps", "write AppleScript", "JXA scripting", "osascript automation", or "PyXA Python automation". Foundation skill for all macOS app automation.
125automating-keynote
Automates Apple Keynote using JXA with AppleScript dictionary discovery. Use when asked to "create Keynote presentations", "automate slide decks", "JXA Keynote scripting", or "generate presentations programmatically". Covers document lifecycle, slides, text, shapes, images, tables, charts, transitions, and UI scripting fallback.
79automating-calendar
Automates macOS Calendar via JXA with AppleScript dictionary discovery. Use when asked to "create calendar events", "automate calendar", "JXA calendar scripting", "EventKit automation", or "PyXA calendar automation". Covers events, calendars, recurrence, time zones, batch operations, and EventKit ObjC bridge.
47automating-notes
Automates Apple Notes via JXA. Use when asked to "create notes programmatically", "automate Notes app", "JXA notes scripting", or "organize notes with automation". Covers accounts/folders/notes, HTML bodies, queries, moves, and Objective-C/UI fallbacks for Notes.app automation on macOS.
22automating-powerpoint
Automates Microsoft PowerPoint via JXA with AppleScript dictionary discovery. Use when asked to "automate PowerPoint presentations", "create slides programmatically", "JXA PowerPoint scripting", or "export PowerPoint to PDF". Covers presentations, slides, shapes, text, tables, export enums, and interop with Excel.
22automating-numbers
Automates Apple Numbers via JXA with AppleScript dictionary discovery. Use when asked to "automate Numbers spreadsheets", "create spreadsheets programmatically", "JXA Numbers scripting", or "bulk data operations in Numbers". Focuses on sheets, tables, ranges, batch I/O, clipboard shim, and high-performance data workflows.
20