Create and troubleshoot Excel reporting workbooks with charts, dashboards, conditional formatting, print areas, PDF/image export, openpyxl or Office automati...
--- name: software-data-excel-chart-developer-helper description: Create and troubleshoot Excel reporting workbooks with charts, dashboards, conditional formatting, print areas, PDF/image export, openpyxl or Office automation, and recurring data refresh. Use when Codex needs to build or repair XLSX reports while preserving workbook layout, formulas, and presentation-ready output. --- # Excel Chart Report Developer Use this skill for recurring Excel reports where the workbook is both a data artifact and a presentation artifact. Keep charts, formulas, formatting, print settings, and exports in sync. ## Workflow 1. Clarify the report target: dashboard workbook, chart pack, PDF export, image export, print-ready report, recurring refresh, or workbook template. 2. Separate data, calculations, and presentation: - Raw or imported data sheets. - Calculation/helper sheets with formulas and named ranges. - Output sheets with charts, summaries, conditional formatting, and print areas. 3. Choose the automation layer: - Use `openpyxl` for workbook structure, formulas, styles, charts, tables, print setup, and conditional formatting where supported. - Use Excel desktop automation only when live chart rendering, Power Query refresh, or PDF export fidelity is essential and available. - Preserve unsupported workbook parts by editing package contents carefully. 4. Design stable ranges. Prefer Excel Tables and named ranges over hard-coded row counts. 5. Apply visual formatting after data writes so fills, borders, number formats, widths, and conditional formatting do not drift. 6. Validate: - Formulas point to valid ranges. - Charts reference current data. - Print areas, page orientation, margins, headers/footers, and page breaks match the expected export. - Exports are reviewed for clipping, missing labels, and font substitution. ## Common Fix Patterns - **Chart not updating**: verify series formulas, named ranges, table expansion, and cached chart data. - **Conditional formatting drift**: inspect rule ranges and priority ordering after row insertion. - **Bad PDF export**: check print area, scaling, margins, page breaks, and whether a desktop Excel render is required. - **Template overwrites**: write values into known input ranges, then preserve output sheets and chart objects. - **Data refresh**: log source file timestamps, row counts, and validation totals for each run. ## Outputs Provide: - A report architecture or repair diagnosis. - Implementation steps or code for workbook generation/update. - A validation note covering formulas, charts, formatting, and exports. Read `references/requirement-plan.md` only when source evidence from the discovery run is needed.
don't have the plugin yet? install it then click "run inline in claude" again.