Choose five tools for working with spreadsheet data

DuckDB, Anthropic's data plugin, csvkit, Datasette and marimo give you different ways to inspect a dataset, per their documentation ^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4]^[5]. Choose the tool for the operation you need before asking an agent to analyze the whole file.

Use SQL for a focused calculation

DuckDB is an analytical database with support for tabular data ^[1]. Use a query to select the columns and aggregate you need. Check the query and a small sample against the original file before relying on its result.

Use the data plugin for a guided analysis

Anthropic's data plugin provides analysis and dashboard workflows for Claude ^[2]. Review its instructions and connectors before installation, especially when the dataset contains private information.

Inspect a CSV with csvkit

The csvkit tutorial documents its Python installation ^[3]. Use an isolated Python environment if your operating system manages its own Python packages.

bash

pip install csvkit

Work through the linked tutorial to inspect columns, convert formats and calculate statistics ^[3].

Choose a browser or notebook view

Datasette provides a web interface for exploring data and JSON access to results ^[4]. marimo provides a reactive Python notebook ^[5]. Pick the format you can inspect and rerun.

A file processed locally can still produce tool output that your agent sends to its model. Review the agent's data handling before using confidential rows. Keep the calculation and its input alongside the answer so another person can reproduce it.