# SpreadAPI help > SpreadAPI turns an Excel workbook into a service: a REST API, an MCP server for AI assistants, web apps and automation connectors. Each line below is one help article: title, what it answers, and its Markdown address. ## Getting started - [What SpreadAPI is](https://spreadapi.io/help-md/getting-started/what-is-spreadapi): SpreadAPI turns an Excel workbook into a web service. This page explains what that means, who it is for, the four ways to use a service, and what SpreadAPI does not do. - [Your first service in ten minutes](https://spreadapi.io/help-md/getting-started/first-service): This page takes you from an Excel file to a working API, step by step. You need an Excel workbook with at least one formula and a SpreadAPI account. - [Core concepts](https://spreadapi.io/help-md/getting-started/core-concepts): This page explains the handful of terms everything else builds on: workbook, inputs, outputs, AI areas, draft and published, save versus publish, and tokens. - [Finding your way and glossary](https://spreadapi.io/help-md/getting-started/navigation-and-glossary): This page is a map of the app: the service list, the service page with its tabs, the account menu, and every term with its English and German label. - [Choose your way to use a service](https://spreadapi.io/help-md/getting-started/choose-your-way): A published service can be used in several ways at the same time. This page helps you pick the one that fits what you want to do. - [Help in the app](https://spreadapi.io/help-md/getting-started/help-in-the-app): This page shows where to get help: the help window in the app with its chat, the public help centre, the short tours, and how to reach support. ## Plans and limits - [Plans overview](https://spreadapi.io/help-md/plans-and-limits/plans-overview): SpreadAPI has three plans: Basic, Pro and Custom. This page shows what each includes in one table and where you see the plan of your account. - [Published services limit](https://spreadapi.io/help-md/plans-and-limits/published-services-limit): The Basic plan includes one published service. This page explains what counts, what happens when you try to publish a second one, and what stays online when a plan changes. - [File size limits](https://spreadapi.io/help-md/plans-and-limits/file-size-limits): Each plan allows a certain workbook size. This page gives the numbers, explains how size is measured and what happens at the limit, and shows how to make a workbook smaller. - [Call limits](https://spreadapi.io/help-md/plans-and-limits/call-limits): Every plan includes a number of calls per month, and every service answers at most 1,000 calls per minute. This page explains what counts as a call, what happens at each limit, and where you see the calls of the month. - [Upgrade and billing](https://spreadapi.io/help-md/plans-and-limits/upgrade-and-billing): This page shows how to move to a larger plan, what changes when you do, and how invoices and cancelling are handled. ## The workbook - [Import an Excel file](https://spreadapi.io/help-md/workbook/import-excel): How to bring an Excel workbook into a service: where to import, which file types work, what is kept, and what to check before you save and publish. - [Import from Google Sheets](https://spreadapi.io/help-md/workbook/import-google-sheets): How to start a service from a Google Sheets link, how the service stays linked to that sheet, and how to bring in the latest version later. - [Build a workbook in the editor](https://spreadapi.io/help-md/workbook/start-from-scratch): How to build a calculation model directly in SpreadAPI's built-in spreadsheet editor, without an Excel file, and which tools the editor offers. - [Supported Excel features](https://spreadapi.io/help-md/workbook/supported-excel-features): Which parts of an Excel workbook work in a SpreadAPI service, which do not, and what to use instead. - [Replace the workbook with a new version](https://spreadapi.io/help-md/workbook/replace-the-workbook): How to bring a new version of your Excel file into an existing service while keeping its inputs, outputs and settings, and what to check before callers get the new version. - [Formatting and number formats](https://spreadapi.io/help-md/workbook/formatting-and-number-formats): What the formatting toolbar of the editor does, how to set a number format, and why the number format of a cell matters for the inputs and outputs of your service. - [Export the workbook](https://spreadapi.io/help-md/workbook/export-workbook): The four ways to get a workbook out of SpreadAPI: as an Excel file, as a service package, as a runtime package, and as a filled-in Excel file for the callers of your service. - [Live data from a data source](https://spreadapi.io/help-md/workbook/live-data): How a service calculates with data from your own system: a price list, tariffs, exchange rates. The logic stays in the spreadsheet, the data comes from a web address you name, and every calculation uses the current recor - [Tips for structuring a workbook](https://spreadapi.io/help-md/workbook/workbook-tips): How to lay out a workbook so that it becomes a clear, reliable service: where to put input and output cells, how labels and formats help, and what to consider for random and time functions and for large tables. ## Inputs, outputs and AI areas - [Add inputs](https://spreadapi.io/help-md/parameters/add-inputs): How to turn a cell of your workbook into an input of the service: selecting the cell, the fields of the dialog, and what SpreadAPI fills in for you. - [Add outputs](https://spreadapi.io/help-md/parameters/add-outputs): How to choose which cells a service returns: single result cells, whole ranges as tables, and the title and format that travel with each result. - [AI areas](https://spreadapi.io/help-md/parameters/ai-areas): What the AI Areas tab of the parameter panel is, what you can do there today, and how to open parts of your workbook to an AI assistant with inputs and outputs. - [Input validation](https://spreadapi.io/help-md/parameters/input-validation): The rules you can set for an input (required, default, minimum, maximum, allowed values), how a value is checked before the workbook calculates, and what a caller receives when a value is refused. - [Percentages and formats](https://spreadapi.io/help-md/parameters/percentages-and-formats): How percentage inputs are sent (as decimals), how SpreadAPI recognises percentages, currencies and dates from the cell format, and how formats travel with outputs so results can be shown the way your workbook shows them. - [Data types](https://spreadapi.io/help-md/parameters/data-types): The data types of inputs and outputs (numbers, text, yes/no values, ranges) and how dates are handled: what a caller sends for each and what comes back. - [Rename, reorder and remove parameters](https://spreadapi.io/help-md/parameters/rename-reorder-remove): How to change the name, the cell and the order of inputs and outputs, how to remove one, which changes affect the callers of a published service, and how to make such changes safely. ## Save, publish and settings - [Save your changes](https://spreadapi.io/help-md/save-and-publish/save-changes): How saving works on the service page: when the Save button appears, what it stores, and what happens to callers of a published service when you save. - [Publish, republish and unpublish](https://spreadapi.io/help-md/save-and-publish/publish-and-republish): How to put a service online, how to bring later changes to your callers, how to take a service offline, and what callers see at each step. - [Service settings](https://spreadapi.io/help-md/save-and-publish/service-settings): What you can set for one service under Settings: its name and description, Excel export for callers, its data sources and caching. It also says where the token requirement is set, because that is not here. - [Manage your services](https://spreadapi.io/help-md/save-and-publish/manage-services): The service list is the start page of the app. This page explains how to create, find, duplicate, group and delete services there, and what the status labels mean. - [Test before publishing](https://spreadapi.io/help-md/save-and-publish/test-before-publishing): How to try a service with your own values while it is still a draft, using the test panel on the service page, and how this differs from the API tester. ## The API - [Call a service over the API](https://spreadapi.io/help-md/api/call-the-api): The address of a published service, how to call it with GET or POST, what a first call looks like, and the short domain. For the answer in detail see The API response. - [The API response](https://spreadapi.io/help-md/api/api-response): What a successful call returns: the four parts of the JSON answer, the shapes an output value can have, the flatten option, and the CSV and plain-text formats for spreadsheets. - [Tokens and access](https://spreadapi.io/help-md/api/tokens-and-access): How to decide who may call a service: public or token-protected, creating and revoking tokens, where a caller puts the token, and what an expired or wrong token answers. - [The API tester](https://spreadapi.io/help-md/api/api-tester): How to try real calls to a published service in the browser under API → Test, read the answer, and copy the exact address for your own code. - [Code examples](https://spreadapi.io/help-md/api/code-examples): Where to find the ready-made cURL, JavaScript and Python snippets for your service, what each one does, and how to adapt it. The Excel and Google Sheets snippets have their own page. - [Excel and Google Sheets as clients](https://spreadapi.io/help-md/api/excel-and-google-sheets-clients): How to call a published service from a cell in Excel or Google Sheets: with one formula, with Power Query, or with a small custom function. The snippets for your own service are under API → Code → Excel and API → Code → - [Batch calls](https://spreadapi.io/help-md/api/batch-calls): How to run several calculations of one service in a single call: the address, the request and the answer, when a batch is the right tool, and its limits. - [OpenAPI and interactive docs](https://spreadapi.io/help-md/api/openapi-and-interactive-docs): Every published service documents itself. This page covers the interactive documentation under API → Reference, the OpenAPI file you can download, and how to use that file in Postman or a code generator. - [Caching and performance](https://spreadapi.io/help-md/api/caching-and-performance): How SpreadAPI keeps answers fast: which answers are stored and for how long, why the first call can take longer, and how a caller gets a fresh result when it matters. - [Calling from a web page](https://spreadapi.io/help-md/api/browser-calls-and-cors): How to call a service from JavaScript that runs in a visitor's browser, what the service answers to the browser's cross-origin check, and why a token must stay on your server. ## Errors and troubleshooting - [Error reference](https://spreadapi.io/help-md/troubleshooting/error-reference): Every error a call to a service can answer: the HTTP status, the text in "error", what it means and what to do. Use it to find the article that fixes your case. - [Wrong or old results](https://spreadapi.io/help-md/troubleshooting/wrong-or-old-results): A call succeeds, but the numbers differ from Excel, or a change you made does not show. This page goes through the causes in order of likelihood, with the fix for each. - [Input errors — missing or invalid values](https://spreadapi.io/help-md/troubleshooting/input-errors): A call answers HTTP 400 with "Missing required parameters" or "Parameter validation failed". This page shows how to read the details and correct the call. - [Token errors](https://spreadapi.io/help-md/troubleshooting/token-errors): A call is refused because of its token: missing, wrong, expired or made for another service. This page lists each message, its cause and the fix. - [404 — service not found or not published](https://spreadapi.io/help-md/troubleshooting/not-found-and-unpublished): A call answers HTTP 404 "Not found". This page lists the causes — wrong address, draft, unpublished, deleted — and how to tell them apart. - [Limit errors (429)](https://spreadapi.io/help-md/troubleshooting/limit-errors): A call answers HTTP 429. There are two different limits behind this status; this page shows how to tell them apart and what to do for each. - [Import problems](https://spreadapi.io/help-md/troubleshooting/import-problems): An Excel or Google Sheets import is refused, fails, or the workbook looks different afterwards. This page lists each message with its cause and fix. - [Publish problems](https://spreadapi.io/help-md/troubleshooting/publish-problems): Publishing, republishing or saving is refused or fails. This page lists each message the editor shows, why it appears and what to do. - [Contact support](https://spreadapi.io/help-md/troubleshooting/contact-support): When to write to support, the address, and what to include so that your question can be answered with the first reply. ## AI assistants - [How AI assistants use a service](https://spreadapi.io/help-md/ai/ai-overview): An AI assistant can use a SpreadAPI service in three ways. This page explains the three ways and helps you pick the one that fits, depending on whose AI it is. - [Describe a service for AI (AI → Definition)](https://spreadapi.io/help-md/ai/ai-definition): The Definition page is where you describe a service so that Claude, ChatGPT and other assistants know when to call it and what each value means. This page explains every field, the suggestion buttons and the summary. - [Write good descriptions for AI](https://spreadapi.io/help-md/ai/write-good-descriptions): Good descriptions decide whether an AI picks your service for the right questions and sends the right values. This page shows what to write in each field of AI → Definition, with good and bad examples. - [Connect Claude](https://spreadapi.io/help-md/ai/connect-claude): This page shows how to connect Claude to your SpreadAPI account, how to connect Claude Code, and how to give Claude access to just one service. - [Connect ChatGPT](https://spreadapi.io/help-md/ai/connect-chatgpt): This page shows how to connect ChatGPT to your SpreadAPI account, and how to give ChatGPT access to just one service, public or protected. - [The AI agents page](https://spreadapi.io/help-md/ai/ai-agents-page): The AI agents page lists the AIs that work for your account and lets you decide what each may do. This page explains connections, levels, service access, keys for your own agent, the briefing, the activity view and revok - [The MCP address of one service](https://spreadapi.io/help-md/ai/service-mcp-address): Every published service has its own MCP address that offers only this one service. This page explains how to give it to customers or colleagues, what their AI can do with it, and how a public and a token-protected servic - [The discovery address](https://spreadapi.io/help-md/ai/discovery-address): The discovery address is one web address that describes a service and also calculates with it over plain HTTP. This page explains what an agent finds there, how it calls the service, and how tokens work. - [AI safety and accuracy](https://spreadapi.io/help-md/ai/ai-safety-and-accuracy): When an AI answers with a SpreadAPI service, the numbers are calculated by your workbook, not written by the AI. This page explains why that is, what an AI sees and does not see, and what a call can and cannot change. - [AI troubleshooting](https://spreadapi.io/help-md/ai/ai-troubleshooting): This page lists what can go wrong when an AI uses SpreadAPI, and what to do: the AI cannot connect, asks for a login, does not find or use the tool, sends wrong values, or is refused. ## Building services with an AI agent - [What a connected agent can do](https://spreadapi.io/help-md/building-with-agents/agent-door-overview): An AI agent connected to your account can look at your services, build new ones from a spreadsheet, test them, publish them and calculate with them. This page lists every action in the order of a typical job. - [Build a service with an agent](https://spreadapi.io/help-md/building-with-agents/build-a-service-with-an-agent): You can hand a spreadsheet to your AI and get a published service back. This page walks through the job from "here is my spreadsheet" to a working address: what the agent does at each step and what you decide. - [Rights and limits of a connection](https://spreadapi.io/help-md/building-with-agents/agent-rights-and-limits): A connection between an AI and your account has a level, a list of services and, optionally, an expiry date. On top of that, the plan and a rate limit apply. This page explains each of them and what an agent meets at a l - [Agent errors](https://spreadapi.io/help-md/building-with-agents/agent-errors): This page lists every error code an agent can get from the account address https://spreadapi.io/mcp: what it means, what the agent should do, and what it should tell its user. - [Quickstart for agents](https://spreadapi.io/help-md/building-with-agents/for-agents-quickstart): This page is written for you, the AI agent. It tells you how to connect to a SpreadAPI account, which calls to make in which order, and the rules to follow while you work for your user. ## Web apps and snippets - [Web apps and snippets — overview](https://spreadapi.io/help-md/apps/apps-overview): What the web app and the web snippets are, where you find them, and which one fits your case. Both turn a published service into a calculator people can use in a browser, without you writing front-end code. - [The standard web app](https://spreadapi.io/help-md/apps/web-app): How to open the ready-made web app of a service, share it by link or QR code, and what a visitor sees and can do on the page. - [Web snippets — embed a calculator in your website](https://spreadapi.io/help-md/apps/web-snippets): How to place a calculator from your service inside your own web page: the 15 layouts, the embed code, the view modes, the caption switch, and how to preset input values. - [Themes, theme parameters and custom CSS](https://spreadapi.io/help-md/apps/themes): How to change the look of the web app and the snippets: pick one of ten themes, set your brand colour, the corners of the button and the background, override single properties, and add your own CSS to the web app. - [App rules — show and hide fields depending on values](https://spreadapi.io/help-md/apps/app-rules): How to make the web app show an input or a result only when another input has a certain value, with the exact rule format and its limits. - [Who can open the app — access and the web app token](https://spreadapi.io/help-md/apps/apps-access-and-tokens): Who can open your web app and snippets, how this depends on whether the service is public or requires a token, and how to create, renew and remove the web app token. ## Automation tools - [Connect a service to n8n](https://spreadapi.io/help-md/automation/n8n): How to use a published service in n8n workflows: install the SpreadAPI node, connect it with the service URL, pick inputs, and use the node as a tool for n8n AI agents. - [Connect a service to Zapier](https://spreadapi.io/help-md/automation/zapier): How to run a calculation of your service as a step in a Zap: the service URL, the Calculate action, the input fields, and what comes back. - [Connect a service to Power Automate, Logic Apps and Power Apps](https://spreadapi.io/help-md/automation/power-automate): How to run a calculation of your service in a Power Automate flow: import the SpreadAPI custom connector once, then use the Calculate action with the ID of your service. The same connector works in Logic Apps and Power A - [Make and other tools — call a service with an HTTP step](https://spreadapi.io/help-md/automation/other-tools-over-http): How to call a service from Make or any other automation tool that has an HTTP step: the exact request to build, how to read the results, and the errors to handle. ## Usage and analytics - [The usage overview](https://spreadapi.io/help-md/usage/usage-overview): Usage → Overview shows how one service is used: calls, errors, the share of AI, response time, the account's calls of the month, calls per day, when calls happen and who calls. This page explains every number. - [The call log](https://spreadapi.io/help-md/usage/call-log): Usage → Log lists the latest calls of a service one by one: when, who, over which channel, the result and the duration. This page says what is recorded, what is not, how to filter, and how to use the log to find a proble - [Account analytics](https://spreadapi.io/help-md/usage/account-analytics): The Analytics page shows the usage of the whole account: all services together, each service in one table, and the calls of the month against the calls of your plan. ## Account, security and data - [Account and sign-in](https://spreadapi.io/help-md/account-and-data/account-and-sign-in): This page explains how to create an account, how to sign in and out, what to do when signing in does not work, and how to change the language of the app. - [Data and privacy](https://spreadapi.io/help-md/account-and-data/data-and-privacy): This page explains what SpreadAPI stores about your account and your services, where calculations run, what is recorded about calls, and who can see a workbook. - [Security overview](https://spreadapi.io/help-md/account-and-data/security-overview): This page explains how a service is protected: public and token-protected services, what callers can and cannot see, how AI connections are limited, and what is good practice. - [Delete a service or your account](https://spreadapi.io/help-md/account-and-data/delete-service-or-account): This page shows how to delete a service, what happens to its address and its data, and how to have your account deleted. - [On-premises runtime](https://spreadapi.io/help-md/account-and-data/on-premises): SpreadAPI Runtime runs your services on your own infrastructure instead of the SpreadAPI cloud. This page explains what it is, who it is for, how a service gets there, and how to ask for it.