xlwings Lite: Practice Lab
ChatGPT is fine for small scripts. An AI coder makes sense once the code gets longer.
In the videos and guides below, I demonstrate using AI Studio, which is great for learning and getting started. If you are new to this or the automation is small, a normal ChatGPT or any chatbot will do the job perfectly well, and you do not need to pay for anything extra. The difference shows up when the code gets longer and you are changing it often. At a few hundred lines you end up copying the whole script in and out of a chat window on every iteration, and that becomes the slow part. An AI coder reads and edits the file directly, so that step goes away. For paid options, any AI coder (Claude Code, Cursor, Codex and others) will work. I earlier used to use Cursor, but now I use Claude Code as I find its overall coding ability to be far better. For free options (with limits) Google Antigravity works very well with xlwings Lite, especially when you upload the AI Coder Instructions file. Antigravity is in your Google plan (Aug '26) · Infra Guide: AI Coder (Jan '26) · Andrew Ng on AI Coders (Dec '25) · Google Antigravity at launch (Nov '25) · AI Coder Choices (Oct '25)
AI Coder Instructions
- My personal rulebook for xlwings Lite - fed to the AI at the start of every session.
- Bridges the knowledge gap in LLMs about xlwings Lite's environment - includes 'Golden Rules', error patterns, proven code snippets, and best practices.
- Last update date: 30th November 2025. xlwings Lite has had a lot of upgrades since then and this file has not kept pace. The conventions in it are still useful, but if something does not behave the way the file describes, check the current xlwings Lite documentation before assuming the file is right.
- Compressed version: ~929 lines, ~12K tokens. Cleaned up from the original ~1,865 lines, ~20K tokens by removing redundancies.
For Humans
View the complete guide in your browser with proper formatting and navigation.
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TigZig Blog
xlwings Lite, AI workflows
& data automation
An Excel Tracker for Hundreds of Yahoo Finance Tickers
2026-02-21xlwings Lite Local File Access: 8 Patterns You Can Use Today
2026-02-14xlwings Lite WINGMAN function - usage patterns
2026-02-07Python In Excel - Claude Vs. xlwings Lite? Who Wins?
2026-01-17xlwings Lite Data Importer v2 Released
2026-01-09DuckDB Meets Excel: xlwings Lite Data Tools
2025-12-07The xlwings Lite AI Coder Instruction File - December 2025 Release
2025-12-07Google Antigravity for Analysts & Data Scientists
A note on keeping these current
These tools have been built up over time and I update them as far as possible, but each one sits on top of parts that move on their own schedule: the xlwings Lite runtime, the APIs a tool calls, the third-party services behind those, and other reasons besides. So a tool that worked last month can throw an error today. It is usually a small fix. Copy the error and the tool's code into your AI along with the AI Coder Instructions file above, and that is normally enough to get it working again.
Practice Kits
Download workbooks and step-by-step guides.
Data Manipulation and Visualisation
AI-driven variables, automated charts, profiling & best practices
AI-assisted data transformation, intelligent variable creation, automated profiling, and visualization. Learn to create derived variables, summary metrics, profile tables, correlation matrices, and charts using natural language instructions.
Practical Data Cleaning
AI rule generation, test case creation & validation workflows
A step-by-step guide for using AI to generate, test, and validate a robust data cleaning script. Learn to analyze data patterns, generate cleaning rules, create test cases for edge scenarios, and audit AI's proposed logic.
Campaign Build
Exclusion waterfall, segmentation & test/control framework
A step-by-step guide for working with AI to execute a full, auditable campaign workflow in xlwings Lite. Build exclusion waterfalls, segment populations into prioritized tiers, and implement statistically sound test/control groups.
Patterns
Worked examples with test data you can download and try.
Local File Access: 8 Patterns
PDFs, HTML, PowerPoint, Parquet, email attachments - read & write local files
Read and write files on your local drive from xlwings Lite. Mount a local folder, then use 8 distinct patterns covering the most common file workflows.
- •Unzip, process and concatenate files on local drive
- •Generate PDF, HTML and PowerPoint reports to desktop
- •Convert CSV to Parquet, save files from browser to local
- •Send emails with local file attachments via API
- •Run analytics with DuckDB, create charts with Matplotlib
=WINGMAN Function Usage Patterns
LLM Python sandbox, stats, cleaning, bucketing & judgment-based categorization
Like =COPILOT in Excel - pass a prompt and data range, get structured results. Works with full ranges, adjacent ranges, and single rows.
- •LLM Python sandbox for stats and computation
- •Full ranges, adjacent ranges, single rows
- •Structured output that fits next to your table
- •Judgment-based cleaning and categorization
Explore Live Apps
See xlwings Lite in action with these live working apps.
S&P 500 Excel Tracker - Yahoo Finance
A downloadable Excel workbook that pulls prices, dividends and earnings calendar data for hundreds of Yahoo Finance tickers - for when WEBSERVICE keeps failing.
- Pulls hundreds of tickers in one run through the free Tigzig YFIN API
- Prices, dividends and earnings calendar dates in one workbook
- Writes results incrementally so a long pull shows progress as it runs
- Download the workbook and run it - the Python is already in the file
INTELISCAPE-X - Intelligent Web Scraper
Describe in natural English what and how you need the scrape to be done. Transform Excel into an intelligent web scraping platform.
- Extract structured data from multiple websites with AI-powered analysis
- Process batches of URLs with custom column specifications
- Track processing status, errors, and monitor performance metrics
Technical Analysis Reports
Create professional technical analysis reports with AI-powered chart pattern recognition.
- Pulls live data from Yahoo Finance via a custom FastAPI server
- Gemini Vision API analyzes charts for technical patterns
- Generates PDF/HTML reports with embedded charts and tables
Database & ML
Connect to any database with a custom FastAPI layer for data analysis and machine learning.
- Connects to PostgreSQL/MySQL via web API layer
- Pull random records, run custom queries, explore data
- Build XGBoost models with evaluation and decile tables
AI Workflows
Automate Excel workflows with AI schema detection using Gemini 2.0-Flash or GPT-4o.
- Automatic schema detection with structured JSON output
- Identify categorical and numerical variables intelligently
- Generate SQL-compatible data types for database integration
xlwings Lite Data Importer
Import any file format into xlwings Lite. CSV, Parquet, DuckDB, PDF, Images, ZIP - from cloud URLs with auto-conversion to DuckDB for SQL.
- Raw file import: any file (PDF, images, ZIP, CSV, JSON, SQLite) - import as-is
- Auto DuckDB conversion: data files auto-convert to DuckDB for SQL
- Cloud sources: Google Drive, Dropbox, GitHub with shareable links or token access
- Setup guides: CORS proxy and OAuth token setup with AI instructions
MF Portfolio Holdings Analyzer
Two-period mutual fund holdings analysis with intelligent automation and data quality checks.
- Smart file import with auto-detection of delimiters
- Automatic 2-period detection and dynamic report headers
- Human-in-the-loop ISIN mapping correction workflow
Blog Posts
27 posts on Python in Excel, automation, and AI workflows.
Videos
5 walkthrough videos covering setup, scraping, analytics, MF holdings, and databases + ML.
Getting Started with xlwings Lite
A full walkthrough from initial setup to generating code and debugging a real-world script. Watch this to see the entire methodology in action.
Resources
Felix Zumstein (xlwings Creator)
Built with xlwings Lite
Created by Felix Zumstein, it brings Python into Excel seamlessly - enabling native support for databases, AI agents, LLMs, advanced analytics, ML, APIs, and complete automation workflows.