Colrows for Excel

The Colrows Excel add-in lets a business user sign in, choose a data source, and ask a question in plain language - Colrows builds and runs a read-only query and drops the answer into an Excel table, through the same governed semantic layer as everything else in Colrows. The add-in sends no SQL of its own: the server generates the query, checks the user's data access, and applies row and column policies on every run.

What a user does

  1. On Excel's Data tab, choose Colrows to open the task pane.
  2. Choose Sign in. A window shows the Colrows consent page - which names the add-in as a verified Colrows application - and after Allow access it closes.
  3. Select an empty cell, choose a data source, type a question in plain language, and choose Ask data. The answer becomes an Excel table at the selected cell, named after your question (for example Colrows_Monthly_revenue_by_region).
  4. If Colrows needs more detail, the pane shows a clarification. Enter an answer and choose Continue.
  5. The table holds a snapshot of the answer. To get fresh data, select another empty cell and ask again.

How it signs in

Sign-in uses the standard Colrows OAuth authorization-code flow with PKCE, requesting the metadata:read and data:query scopes - the same flow described in Authentication and used by MCP clients. The add-in's first-party client ID is colrows-excel-addin. Access tokens are short-lived and refresh with a rotating refresh token; when a session finally ends, the pane asks you to sign in again. Tokens live only in the task pane's memory - closing the pane signs you out - and the add-in sends no browser cookies. The add-in's pages are served on a host of their own; their Colrows origin and client ID come from config.json and the user cannot change them in the pane. It never stores tokens, SQL, or credentials in the workbook.

After sign-in, the add-in uses two tools of the Colrows MCP connector: listDatasources to list the user's data sources, and askData with the chosen data source ID, the question, and maxRows: 5000. A clarification answer calls askData again with a continuation token. See the MCP integration guide for the connector.

Safe writes

  • Writes a new table at the selected cell, only into empty cells that do not belong to another table - it never overwrites your other data.
  • Values are written as literal text so a value such as =HYPERLINK(...) is not run as a formula; dates and timestamps become real Excel dates (timestamps in UTC).
  • Rows are written in chunks of 1,000 so large results stay responsive.

Limits & behavior

  • 5,000-row cap - at most 5,000 rows per question are loaded into Excel. When more exist, the pane says so; ask a narrower question to get fewer rows. The limit is stated before any question runs.
  • Each table is a snapshot taken when you asked. It does not refresh on its own; to get fresh data, ask again at another empty cell.
  • Excel's own Refresh All does not call Colrows.
  • Runs in Microsoft 365 on Windows, Mac, and Excel on the web.
Governed, not exported.

Every question runs on the server under the current user's data access, not a cached CSV. Colrows generates a read-only query, checks the user's table and column access, and applies data access and masking policies before any rows reach Excel.