bilig is for the awkward middle ground where a spreadsheet has become business logic, but Excel automation is too brittle. Use @bilig/headless to write inputs, recalculate formulas, read exact outputs, and persist a WorkPaper JSON file from Node services, queues, serverless jobs, or MCP agents.
bilig turns spreadsheet logic into a backend artifact.
A lot of products still have pricing rules, payout checks, import validation, quota plans, and finance models living in spreadsheets. The painful part is not the formulas; it is driving Excel or a browser UI just to change a few inputs and prove the result.
@bilig/headless gives you a WorkPaper runtime for Node.js:
- create a workbook from tables or persisted JSON
- set cell contents through an API
- recalculate formulas
- read display values back
- save and restore the WorkPaper document
- expose the same workflow to agents through
bilig-workpaper-mcp
It is useful when you want spreadsheet-style business logic to stay reviewable as cells and formulas, but you need it to run in services, background jobs, serverless functions, or local agent tools.
Quick check:
npm exec --package @bilig/headless -- bilig-formula-clinic --help
MCP for agents:
npm exec --package @bilig/headless -- bilig-workpaper-mcp --workpaper ./pricing.workpaper.json --init-demo-workpaper --writable
Use it for quote calculators, budget variance checks, payout rules, workbook import validation, and any agent workflow where "I updated the spreadsheet" is not enough; you need read-after-write proof.
It is not trying to be a full Excel clone. The useful slice is narrower: formula workbooks that a backend service or agent can edit, recalculate, inspect, and persist without screen scraping.
Maintainer note: the fastest smoke test is:
npm exec --package @bilig/headless -- bilig-formula-clinic --help
The slice I care about most right now is backend/agent workflows where a workbook is real business logic: write inputs, recalc formulas, read outputs, and persist JSON without driving Excel or scraping a spreadsheet UI. Feedback on rough edges is very useful.
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