xllify-build

Companion action for xllify.com - open beta, see terms of service

Overview

xllify.com is easiest way to add custom functions to Microsoft Excel. It takes functions implemented in Luau scripts and compiles them into custom functions packaged as an .xll Excel add-in. You can sell, distribute and deploy this .xll however you wish.

Note that currently only Microsoft Excel on Windows is supported. Mac support will involve some (!) compromises, but may follow if there's demand.

There's a starter template repository to help you get started in under a minute.

Support

Drop an email to support@xllify.com.

Usage

Here is a workflow to get you started with this action. It compiles hello.luau and the_answer.luau into a ready to run .xll add-in named hello.xll.

To test out your scripts first (advisable), download the local environment for Mac or Windows.

After the build has completed, it is available in your workspace at the path held in ${{ steps.xllify.outputs.xll_path }}. A common approach is to attach it to a release, as is done below.

name: Build XLL Add-in

on:
  push:
    tags:
      - "v*"

jobs:
  build:
    runs-on: windows-latest
    steps:
      - name: Checkout repository
        uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - name: Build XLL with xllify
        id: xllify
        uses: acornsoftuk/xllify-build@main # or @vX
        with:
          xll_filename: hello.xll
          luau_scripts: |
            hello.luau
            the_answer.luau
            black_scholes.luau
          xllify_key: ${{ secrets.XLLIFY_KEY }}

      - name: Upload XLL to release
        uses: softprops/action-gh-release@v1
        with:
          files: ${{ steps.xllify.outputs.xll_path }}

Inputs

xll_filename (required)

Output XLL filename (e.g., my_addin.xll).

luau_scripts (required)

Space or newline-separated list of Luau file paths relative to your repository root.

Outputs

xll_path

Path to the built XLL file that has been downloaded to your workspace.

Caveats

• .xll files are not signed and can only run from safe locations. xllify XLLs may trigger a warning when you load them into Excel, depending upon your environment. This is all explained here: https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/topic/excel-is-blocking-untrusted-xll-add-ins-by-default-1e3752e2-1177-4444-a807-7b700266a6fb about ways to work around this for now. Examples of using your own signing certificates are coming soon.