Connect In Parallel to Claude over MCP and Claude can read what has actually happened in your execution layer — decisions, drift, goals, action items — and fold it into the Excel project plan you already maintain. The result: a plan that refreshes statuses, due dates, goals, and risks against reality, logs every change, and keeps your original baseline intact.

This works with the boundary between the two tools, not against it. In Parallel holds the execution layer — the source of truth for what changed and why. Excel holds the plan artifact — the format your stakeholders read. Claude reconciles reality into the artifact so neither has to become the other. (New to that split? See Integrations.)

This guide gets the pairing ready. Once it's set up, Use the In Parallel MCP with Excel in Claude runs it.

These steps use Claude Desktop, because Claude works directly with the .xlsx file in a local folder, and the optional scheduled refresh (covered in the companion guide) relies on Claude Desktop's scheduled tasks. The connector is named In Parallel MCP in these screenshots — what matters is that it points at In Parallel's MCP endpoint.

A note on privacy. Reconciling sends your In Parallel execution data to Claude. Before you start, decide whether to mask people — see MCP privacy: mask people in AI responses — and skim What the AI can and can't see so you know what reaches the assistant.

In Claude, create a Project (for example "In Parallel – Excel"). A Project keeps the instructions, the connector, and the file together, so every reconcile starts from the same context and your prompts can stay short.

Turn on the In Parallel MCP connector for the Project so Claude can read your execution data. Once enabled, it appears under Context → Connectors in every chat in the Project.

Keep the connector's tools on Needs approval to start — Claude asks before each In Parallel read, so you stay in control of what it pulls. The reads are described in the In Parallel MCP tools reference.

Add a short instructions block (the panel on the right of the Project) that states how the two tools relate and your house rules. The instructions in the screenshot above read:

"This project folder is used for connecting Excel-based project management and the execution context and reality managed by In Parallel. Claude is used to read and update both. In Parallel is accessed by the MCP connector and Excel is read and updated with Claude's Excel functionality."

Then add the house rules you want every run to follow, for example:

With that context attached, you can keep each reconcile prompt to a sentence or two.

Put your .xlsx in the Project folder (or attach it to the chat). Claude reads its sheet structure first — so its updates preserve your existing format rather than reformatting the file.

The cleaner the baseline, the cleaner the reconcile: clear column headers, one row per task, and an explicit status column give Claude unambiguous cells to update.

The pairing is ready. To run your first reconcile — revise statuses and dates, add new workstreams, refresh goals and risks, and log every change — see Use the In Parallel MCP with Excel in Claude.