Python Workflows. Inside Excel. With xlwings Lite (free) - Powerful.

Published: March 23, 2025

Data transforms, automations, custom functions, API Calls, stats, ML

Another superb addition to analyst and data scientist's toolkit - xlwings Lite. From Felix Zumstein, creator of xlwings - the powerful and widely used Python package for Excel automation. I've used xlwings off and on over the years - solid package.

Check out dedicated xlwings LIte section on REX AI Co Analyst site

• Full templates
• How-to guides
• Backend code
• Technical breakdowns
• Resource Links

xlwings Lite was released just yesterday. Ran a few quick codes- what I typically run in Jupyter / Colab - it's brilliant.

Setup was simple - just add the xlwings Add-in and you're set. Tried an XGBoost model on cleaned-up mock data - decile table, scoring, ROC/Gains chart ...just to see how it handles...Also some quick analysis, feature engineering, basic stats - smooth and easy.

Most impressive

• Manipulate Excel objects - sheets, columns, rows
• Transfer data between Excel and Python
• Neat mini editor
• Console for print() output and debugging
• Requirements.txt for package installs
• Custom Functions
• Web API calls (huge)+ DB access via same layer (yet to try out)

Quick Tips (based on initial hands-on)

• Format Excel ranges as Tables - good practice anyway.
• Use any LLM or AI coder - they already "know" the xlwings object model.
• Write everything as standard Python functions (def).
• Use @func to create Excel-callable functions (=formula), and @script for direct code runs.
• Great docs and API reference if you get stuck.

Is it a replacement for Jupyter/Colab?

Nopes..many analytics and ML workflows are iterative and need data warehouse connects. A strong addition to the toolkit, not a replacement.

Great fit for

• Excel automation - I'll take Python over VBA any day (and the combo - even more powerful)
• Complex data transformations - no need to switch between Jupyter and Excel.
• In-Excel EDA, validations, diagnostics

Links

Explore 15+ open-source AI analytics apps at tigzig.com with natural language to SQL, python charts, stats, database connectivity and more.

Free access, source codes and build guides

• AI Powered Automation - Connect ChatGPT with n8n

xlwings Lite official site: lite.xlwings.org