Install via Claude Code — monceai for Excel

Hand the install to a Claude with Bash. It sideloads the manifest, relaunches Excel, then hands off to you for the GUI consent step.

1 Open Claude Code in any terminal

You need a Claude with Bash + WebFetch tools. Claude Code is the reference install; the same prompt works in any agent harness.

2 Paste this single line

This tells Claude to fetch the prompt and follow it. The agent reads /install/agent.txt from this server and executes the install steps in your terminal.

Fetch https://excel.aws.monce.ai/install/agent.txt and follow the install plan. Stop when the GUI consent step is reached and tell me what to click.

Why this works. The URL serves a self-contained prompt — OS detection, sideload commands for Mac and Windows, verification curls, and a clean hand-off. Claude doesn't need any context from this conversation; the URL is the brief.

3 What the agent will actually do

Step	Tool	Result
Detect OS	`uname`	Branch chosen
Create watched folder	`mkdir -p`	~/Library/.../wef/ exists
Sideload manifest	`curl -fsSL`	~2 KB at the right path
Verify XML well-formed	`grep DisplayName`	MANIFEST_OK
Quit Excel cleanly	`osascript`	No dirty state
Relaunch Excel	`open -a`	Excel boots, watcher re-scans
Sanity-curl the endpoints	`curl -sI`	200 on /health, /manifest, /functions.js, /taskpane
Click Insert → Add-ins → Trust	—	YOU do this
Sign in via magic link	—	Pending v0.5

4 When the agent stops, do this

The agent will print something like MANIFEST_OK 2.3KB · Excel relaunched. Then it hands off:

In Excel: Insert → Add-ins → Developer Add-ins section → monceai → click Trust. The taskpane slides in from the right.

Today's build (v0.1): the taskpane shows a stubbed sign-in form — the magic-link Lambda ships in v0.5. Custom functions like =PREDICT register correctly but return #N/A — sign in via the monceai taskpane until auth lands. Use this flow now to verify install reliability across machines, full UX comes next.

5 The full prompt (for transparency)

This is what Claude will see when it fetches /install/agent.txt. Read it before you trust an agent to run shell commands on your machine.

You are installing the monceai for Excel add-in on the user's machine. The user has summoned you specifically to do this. Be brief. WHAT YOU CAN DO (Bash-enabled agent, no GUI control): 1. Detect OS (uname) 2. Sideload the Office Add-in manifest (mkdir + curl) 3. Verify the file landed and is valid XML (ls + grep) 4. Restart Excel cleanly (osascript / taskkill) 5. Confirm the user is reachable to take the GUI step WHAT YOU CANNOT DO (the GUI wall — the user must do these): 6. Click Insert -> Add-ins -> Developer Add-ins -> monceai 7. Click Trust on the consent dialog 8. Sign in via magic link in the taskpane (post-v0.5) YOUR PLAN — execute in order, stop and report after step 5: -- macOS branch -- WEF=~/Library/Containers/com.microsoft.Excel/Data/Documents/wef mkdir -p "$WEF" curl -fsSL -o "$WEF/manifest.xml" https://excel.aws.monce.ai/manifest.xml ls -la "$WEF/manifest.xml" grep -q '<DisplayName DefaultValue="monceai"' "$WEF/manifest.xml" \ && echo MANIFEST_OK || echo MANIFEST_BAD osascript -e 'tell application "Microsoft Excel" to quit' 2>/dev/null sleep 1 open -a "Microsoft Excel" -- Windows branch (PowerShell) -- $dir = "$env:USERPROFILE\monceai-addin" New-Item -ItemType Directory -Force -Path $dir | Out-Null Invoke-WebRequest -UseBasicParsing -Uri https://excel.aws.monce.ai/manifest.xml ` -OutFile "$dir\manifest.xml" Get-Item "$dir\manifest.xml" | Format-List Length, LastWriteTime Select-String -Path "$dir\manifest.xml" -Pattern '<DisplayName DefaultValue="monceai"' ` | Out-Null; if ($?) { "MANIFEST_OK" } else { "MANIFEST_BAD" } Stop-Process -Name EXCEL -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue Start-Sleep -Seconds 1 Start-Process excel.exe -- Linux / Excel-on-the-web branch -- Tell the user there is no desktop Excel to sideload into. Print this URL for them to upload manually inside Excel for the web: https://excel.aws.monce.ai/manifest.xml Path: Insert -> Add-ins -> More Add-ins -> MY ADD-INS -> Manage -> Upload My Add-in. VERIFICATION CHECKS (always do these, even on success): curl -sI https://excel.aws.monce.ai/health # expect 200 + JSON ok curl -sI https://excel.aws.monce.ai/manifest.xml # expect 200 application/xml curl -sI https://excel.aws.monce.ai/functions.js # expect 200 application/javascript curl -sI https://excel.aws.monce.ai/taskpane.html # expect 200 text/html REPORT TO THE USER (concise, after step 5): - State which OS you detected. - Confirm: MANIFEST_OK + size + path. - Confirm Excel was relaunched. - Hand off: "Now in Excel: Insert -> Add-ins -> Developer Add-ins -> monceai -> click Trust. Taskpane will slide in from the right. Today's build is pre-release: the sign-in form is stubbed pending v0.5." - If MANIFEST_BAD: state it, do not proceed, suggest curl -v on the URL. - If Windows shared-folder catalog isn't yet configured, surface the one-time Trust Center setup (File -> Options -> Trust Center -> Trust Center Settings -> Trusted Add-in Catalogs -> add the folder, tick Show in Menu, restart Excel) and stop. DO NOT: - Touch any other Office product. - Modify the user's shell rc files. - Open browser tabs (the user is in their terminal, not Office). - Run sudo. None of this requires it. - Continue past step 5. The GUI consent is the user's job. CONSTANTS (do not invent others): manifest: https://excel.aws.monce.ai/manifest.xml taskpane: https://excel.aws.monce.ai/taskpane.html functions: https://excel.aws.monce.ai/functions.js pitch: https://snakebatch.aws.monce.ai/excel health: https://excel.aws.monce.ai/health mac path: ~/Library/Containers/com.microsoft.Excel/Data/Documents/wef/ win path: $env:USERPROFILE\monceai-addin\ You may stop after the relaunch. The user takes over for the click-trust step.

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