Microsoft Excel (Microsoft Graph workbook API) vs NocoDB

Microsoft Excel (Microsoft Graph workbook API)

Ranges, tables, charts and 366 worksheet function endpoints are reachable over REST with a public OpenAPI, and a non-persistent session lets an agent test changes without saving them. The reference pages list delegated permissions only, with Files.ReadWrite as the least privileged scope, and writes take no idempotency key.

NocoDB

API tokens and MCP connections are limited by permission category and by base, and an MCP connection registers only the tools it is allowed. The v3 REST API has a public OpenAPI file. Requests are capped at 5 a second per user, REST writes take 10 records a call, and the Free plan stops at 1,000 API calls a month.

Microsoft Excel (Microsoft Graph workbook API)

1. Create a session with POST /workbook/createSession and send workbook-session-id on every call. Persistent sessions expire after about 5 minutes idle
2. Set persistChanges to false when you only need a calculation or a chart image, so nothing is saved to the file
3. Send one request at a time per workbook and wait for each response. Microsoft warns that parallel writes cause throttling, timeouts and merge conflicts
4. Add rows in one call with a two-dimensional values array, and check the table before repeating a row add that returned 504
5. Read bounded addresses such as A1:D500. A whole-column range such as C:C returns null for values, and writes to it are refused

NocoDB

1. Create a fine-grained token limited to the bases and categories the task needs. Send it as xc-token or as a Bearer token
2. Stay under 5 requests a second across all tokens of one user. After a 429, honour Retry-After or wait 30 seconds
3. Send REST writes in batches of 10 records. The MCP record tools take up to 100, counted as one API call per 10 records
4. Write date filters with a sub-operator, such as (due_date,eq,exactDate,2026-06-01), and put no space after ~and or ~or
5. Use /records/upsert with a merge key so a repeated write updates the record instead of adding a duplicate