PowerPoint MCP server for AI agents

Microsoft Office MCP Servers allow you to interact with Microsoft Office applications through AI assistance. Currently, these servers support PowerPoint (for creating and manipulating presentations) and Excel (for interacting with workbooks and spreadsheets), using pywin32 for COM automation to directly communicate with running Office applications.

Prerequisites

Windows operating system
Microsoft Office installed (PowerPoint and/or Excel)
Python 3.7+
pywin32 package

Installation

Clone the repository:

git clone https://github.com/jenstangen1/mcp-pptx.git
cd mcp-pptx

Install dependencies using uv:

uv pip install pywin32

Run the pywin32 post-install script with administrator privileges:

python C:\path\to\your\env\Scripts\pywin32_postinstall.py -install

Setting up with Claude

To integrate these MCP servers with Claude, add the following configuration to your Claude Desktop app settings:

{
    "mcpServers": {
        "powerpoint_mcp_win32": {
            "command": "uv",
            "args": [
                "run",
                "mcp_powerpoint_server_win32.py"
            ],
            "cwd": "C:\\path\\to\\your\\workspace"
        },
        "excel_mcp_win32": {
            "command": "uv",
            "args": [
                "run",
                "mcp_excel_server_win32.py"
            ],
            "cwd": "C:\\path\\to\\your\\workspace"
        }
    }
}

Replace C:\\path\\to\\your\\workspace with your actual workspace path.

PowerPoint MCP Server

Available MCP Tools

Presentation Management

list_presentations: List all PowerPoint files in the workspace
upload_presentation: Upload a new presentation to the workspace
save_presentation: Save the current presentation

Slide Operations

add_slide: Add a new slide to the presentation
delete_slide: Delete a slide from the presentation
get_slide_count: Get the total number of slides in the presentation
analyze_slide: Analyze the content of a slide
set_background_color: Set the background color of a slide

Element Operations

add_text: Add text to a slide
add_shape: Add a shape to a slide
edit_element: Edit an element's properties
style_element: Apply styling to an element
connect_shapes: Connect two shapes with a connector
find_element: Find elements on a slide based on criteria

Financial Tools

get_company_financials: Get financial data for a company (currently returns dummy data)
create_financial_chart: Create a financial chart on a slide
create_comparison_table: Create a comparison table for companies

Template Operations

list_templates: List all available templates
apply_template: Apply a template to a presentation
create_slide_from_template: Create a new slide from a template
save_as_template: Save a slide as a template

Debug Tools

debug_element_mappings: Debug tool to inspect element mappings for a slide

Excel MCP Server

Available MCP Tools

Workbook Management

list_open_workbooks: List all currently open Excel workbooks
save_workbook: Save a workbook to disk with optional format selection

Worksheet Operations

list_worksheets: List all worksheets in a workbook
add_worksheet: Add a new worksheet to a workbook
get_worksheet: Get a worksheet by name or index

Cell and Range Operations

get_cell_value: Read a single cell's value
set_cell_value: Set a single cell's value
get_range_values: Read values from a range of cells
set_range_values: Set values for a range of cells

Usage Examples

PowerPoint Examples

You: Create a new slide with a title "Market Analysis" and add a bar chart showing revenue growth.

Claude: I'll help you create that slide with the title and chart. I'll:
1. Add a new slide
2. Add the title text
3. Create a revenue chart

You: Make the title bigger and change its color to blue.

Claude: I'll modify the title's formatting.

You: Add a comparison table below the chart comparing three companies.

Claude: I'll add a comparison table below the existing chart.

Excel Examples

You: Open the Q4 report and show me the revenue numbers from cells B2 to B5.

Claude: I'll help you retrieve those revenue figures.

You: Calculate the sum of these numbers and put it in cell B6.

Claude: I'll calculate the sum and write it to B6.

You: Create a new sheet called "Summary" and copy these values there.

Claude: I'll create a new sheet and copy the data.

Best Practices

Be Specific
- Mention slide numbers when relevant
- Specify exact cell ranges in Excel
- Describe desired formatting clearly
Complex Operations
- Break down complex requests into steps
- Confirm intermediate results
- Ask for adjustments as needed
Troubleshooting
- Ensure PowerPoint/Excel is running
- Check file permissions
- Verify COM automation is working
- Run pywin32_postinstall.py if needed

How to install this MCP server

For Claude Code

To add this MCP server to Claude Code, run this command in your terminal:

claude mcp add-json "powerpoint_mcp_win32" '{"command":"uv","args":["run","mcp_powerpoint_server_win32.py"],"cwd":"C:\\path\\to\\your\\workspace"}'

See the official Claude Code MCP documentation for more details.

For Cursor

There are two ways to add an MCP server to Cursor. The most common way is to add the server globally in the ~/.cursor/mcp.json file so that it is available in all of your projects.

If you only need the server in a single project, you can add it to the project instead by creating or adding it to the .cursor/mcp.json file.

Adding an MCP server to Cursor globally

To add a global MCP server go to Cursor Settings > Tools & Integrations and click "New MCP Server".

When you click that button the ~/.cursor/mcp.json file will be opened and you can add your server like this:

{
    "mcpServers": {
        "powerpoint_mcp_win32": {
            "command": "uv",
            "args": [
                "run",
                "mcp_powerpoint_server_win32.py"
            ],
            "cwd": "C:\\path\\to\\your\\workspace"
        }
    }
}

Adding an MCP server to a project

To add an MCP server to a project you can create a new .cursor/mcp.json file or add it to the existing one. This will look exactly the same as the global MCP server example above.

How to use the MCP server

Once the server is installed, you might need to head back to Settings > MCP and click the refresh button.

The Cursor agent will then be able to see the available tools the added MCP server has available and will call them when it needs to.

You can also explicitly ask the agent to use the tool by mentioning the tool name and describing what the function does.

For Claude Desktop

To add this MCP server to Claude Desktop:

1. Find your configuration file:

macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json
Linux: ~/.config/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

2. Add this to your configuration file:

{
    "mcpServers": {
        "powerpoint_mcp_win32": {
            "command": "uv",
            "args": [
                "run",
                "mcp_powerpoint_server_win32.py"
            ],
            "cwd": "C:\\path\\to\\your\\workspace"
        }
    }
}

3. Restart Claude Desktop for the changes to take effect