xlsx

Use openpyxl to write formula strings directly into cells, such as sheet['B10'] = '=SUM(B2:B9)'. Because openpyxl stores no cached values, recalculate the file with LibreOffice afterward so the formulas evaluate and other tools can read the results.

Run the recalc.py script, which drives LibreOffice headlessly to compute every formula and rewrite the file in place. It returns JSON with a status, total formula count, and an error summary naming the exact cells containing errors like #VALUE! or #NAME?.

openpyxl writes formulas as strings without cached values, so data_only=True reads back None until the file is recalculated by a real spreadsheet engine. Run recalc.py first, then load the workbook with data_only=True to see computed values.

Excel-2007-era functions like SUMIFS, INDEX, MATCH, IFERROR, and SUMPRODUCT work without prefixes. Six newer functions need an _xlfn. prefix, while XLOOKUP, XMATCH, SORT, FILTER, UNIQUE, and SEQUENCE should be avoided entirely because LibreOffice cannot reliably evaluate them.

Yes, but you must pass keep_vba=True to load_workbook, otherwise the macros are stripped on save. The markitdown tool can also read .xlsm files for a quick content preview.

openpyxl strips cached values from cells referencing other files, so recalculation resolves them to #NAME? and deletes the links permanently. The recalc.py script detects this state and refuses to run unless you pass --force or copy the values out first.