Product guide
The Shortcut agent on your computer, with the broadest access to Excel and files.
Shortcut’s local product runs directly on your machine, as a terminal interface or a desktop app. It can automate desktop Excel on Windows, work with local files and synced cloud folders, and connect to the tools already on your computer.
Run npm install -g shortcutxl in a terminal.
Run shortcut for the terminal interface, or shortcut app for the desktop app.
Open a folder, a workbook, or connect a tool.
The agent proposes actions; you approve file and command access.
The CLI requires Node.js 22.12 or later. Installing the shortcutxl package provides the shortcut command, the desktop app, and the agent runtime together at the same version. A standalone Windows installer is also available.
# Install once
npm install -g shortcutxl
# Launch the terminal interface
shortcut
# Or launch the desktop app
shortcut app
# Or run a Platform API cloud job from your terminal
shortcut api run "Combine these sheets into a report" --input data.xlsx# Claude Code: install the plugin once
/plugin marketplace add fundamental-research-labs/shortcutxl-plugins
/plugin install shortcutxl@shortcut
# Codex: install the skill, then restart Codex
$skill-installer install https://github.com/fundamental-research-labs/shortcutxl-plugins/tree/master/shortcutxl
# Your coding agent then calls shortcut itself
shortcut -p "Create a DCF model for AAPL"
shortcut --session a1b2c3d4 -p "Now add a sensitivity table"# Install once
npm install -g shortcutxl
# Launch the terminal interface
shortcut
# Or launch the desktop app
shortcut app
# Or run a Platform API cloud job from your terminal
shortcut api run "Combine these sheets into a report" --input data.xlsxThe shortcut api commands are covered in the Platform API guide, including a full CLI example.
On Windows, Shortcut can control the full desktop Excel application, with the same automation surface available to VBA.
Where enabled for your account, the CLI can use Shortcut's in-house spreadsheet engine to read, edit, and create .xlsx files without Excel installed.
MCP is a standard way to connect AI tools to external systems. The CLI can launch MCP connectors on your computer and also use cloud-hosted ones.
After shortcut login, the shortcut api commands submit, track, and download Platform API cloud runs using your OAuth session, with no API key needed.
Install the ShortcutXL plugin and your coding agent can call shortcut itself: it starts runs, continues sessions, and picks the right mode while Shortcut does the spreadsheet work.
Shortcut works with the files on your computer, including folders synchronized from OneDrive, SharePoint, Google Drive, Dropbox, and Box, and can reach databases and internal systems your machine can, including ones that require your VPN.
The CLI is designed for interactive use on your own machine: you watch the agent work, approve file and command access, and iterate. It can also run on a machine you manage, but desktop Office workflows still depend on that machine and its Office session.
If the goal is fully unattended cloud execution called from another application, the Platform API is the product built for that. The shortcut api commands drive those same cloud runs from your terminal.
Controlling desktop Excel, Word, and PowerPoint requires Windows with desktop Office. Without it, the CLI works through the in-house spreadsheet engine where that is enabled for your account.
The CLI can run on a machine you manage, but desktop Office workflows still depend on that machine and its Office session. For fully unattended cloud jobs, use the Platform API.
Yes, in desktop Excel mode on Windows. Shortcut works on the workbook open in Excel and can use the same automation features available to VBA.
Yes, subject to your filesystem permissions and Shortcut’s approval policy. This includes cloud-storage folders synchronized to your computer.
Possible on a managed machine, but desktop Office workflows still depend on that machine. The Platform API is the product designed for unattended runs.
Install command and README. The detailed setup, integrations, MCP, and permissions guides ship with the CLI itself.
Launch walkthrough →A guided first session, from install to first automation.
Run Shortcut from your own agent →Integrate the shortcut command into your own assistant or agent.
Claude Code and Codex plugin →Install ShortcutXL as a plugin for your coding agent.
Platform API guide →The cloud jobs that the shortcut api commands submit and track.
Next step
Workflows that need desktop Excel, local files, synced drives, local tools, or the broadest integration surface.