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Introduction

Note

The GridShell Sheets add-on is available on the Google Workspace™ Marketplace.

What GridShell is

GridShell gives you a real terminal, live-bound to an open Google Sheets™ spreadsheet, that any AI agent you already run can drive directly. GridShell doesn't run or host any AI model itself, and never sees your spreadsheet data - you bring the agent (Claude™ Code, Codex™, Antigravity™, OpenCode™, or any other CLI agent that speaks MCP, local or backed by its own vendor's API), GridShell only bridges it to the sheet. You can manipulate the sheet through structured calls, either using an AI agent or running Python scripts directly, and in contrast to "external" REST API or MCP integrations, you can also point the calls at whatever is currently selected. This way you can build a spreadsheet iteratively - try something, look at the result, and adjust - rather than relying on a one-shot script and hoping it's right.

Any MCP-compatible CLI agent can drive it, including a locally-hosted one, not just a single vendor's own integration, unlike most other AI-in-Sheets add-ins: switching models here is cheap, and nothing locks you into one. At the same time, you have all the flexibility of an API/MCP integration, including building your own tools on top of the ones GridShell already provides - and, unlike a fixed integration, you or the agent itself can diagnose and adjust the agent's harness (instructions, skills, tools) mid-session when something isn't working, not just retry the same fixed calls.

How the pieces fit together

Using GridShell requires two components running together:

  • The GridShell app (installed from the Google Workspace Marketplace) provides the in-Sheets terminal UI, session management, and settings.
  • A self-hosted server (the GridShell Python library, installed via PyPI) provides the actual shell and the MCP relay the agent connects to.

The app installs in a few clicks, while the server is something you run yourself, on infrastructure you choose - one per user, never a shared backend GridShell operates on your behalf. It's also open source (MIT), so you can read exactly what it does, adapt it to your own security requirements, or build your own tools on top of it, rather than taking a privacy claim on faith. The app itself, distributed only through the Google Workspace Marketplace, is closed source at this point. See License for the full terms of both, GridShell App for installing and using the add-on, and GridShell Library for installing and running the server.

Security

A GridShell shell is a real one: the agent can run arbitrary code, not just call a fixed set of spreadsheet functions. Don't point it at a spreadsheet, document, or agent/MCP tool you don't otherwise trust - spreadsheet content is something the agent reads and can act on, so treat untrusted content the same way you'd treat any other untrusted input to a coding agent.

Running your own server also adds a small network-facing service on top of that; it requires an auth token by default, even for local use. Deployment specifics, hardening a remote server, and the app's own guardrails (URL Guard, the free-tier deny-list) are covered in Server: Security & Deployment and App Settings & Limitations.

GridShell is provided as-is, with no warranty of any kind - see the Terms of Service for the full terms.

Where to go next