gridcraft/docs/macros.md

Macros

Last updated: 2026-10-21 · Change: major (created: the macro format and storage)

GridCraft macros are typed, declarative lists of commands, not VBA. Every step runs a GridCraft command (the same ids the ribbon, CLI and MCP use) or one of three bounded control steps. A macro declares the inputs it works on.

This page describes the macro format and how macros are saved in a workbook. Step parameters can hold tokens such as Input and Output; the engine does not resolve or run them in this version.

A macro

{
  "name": "Totals",
  "description": "Adds a total next to the amounts",
  "inputs": [{"name": "Input", "header": true, "cols": [2, 2], "colTypes": ["text", "number"]}],
  "output": {"anchor": "Input.right(2).cell(1,2)", "onConflict": "ask"},
  "steps": [
    {"type": "command", "id": "cell.set", "params": {"cell": "Output", "input": "Total"}},
    {"type": "command", "id": "cell.set", "params": {"cell": "Output.offset(1,0)", "input": "=SUM({{Input.data.col(2)}})"}},
    {"type": "repeat", "over": "Input.data", "of": "rows", "max": 1000, "body": [
      {"type": "if", "cell": "Row.cell(1,2)", "op": "gt", "value": 100,
       "then": [{"type": "command", "id": "home.bold", "params": {"range": "Row"}}]}
    ]},
    {"type": "stop", "message": "Done."}
  ],
  "permissions": []
}

• Steps: command (id, params), repeat (each row or column of over, at most max times), if (cell compared with value by eq, ne, gt, ge, lt, le, empty, notEmpty or contains; then and else lists) and stop (message; rollback: true undoes the run). Every step can carry enabled, breakpoint and note. The short form {"command": "cell.set", "params": {…}} is accepted for a command step.
• Inputs: kind (cell or range), rows and cols as [min, max] (0 for no maximum; rows exclude the header), header, colTypes (number, text, date, bool, any), nonEmpty and defaultRef. A run binds each input to the range it is given, its default, or (for the first input) the selection, and refuses with messages that name the cells: "Input column 2 (Amount) must hold numbers; C4 holds text."
• Limits: 1,000 macros a workbook, 10,000 steps a macro, and Repeat and If nested 4 deep.

Storage

Macros are saved in the workbook: as a field in GridCraft's JSON format, and in xlsx as hidden defined names (_gc_macro_<n>_<k>, the macro's JSON split into string literals within Excel's limits), which other spreadsheet applications keep but do not run.

Automate scripts and VBA

Automate scripts (automate.recordActions, newScript, allScripts, runScript, deleteScript) are an older, separate feature. They keep their commands, parameters, storage (_sc_scripts) and results, and View › Macros (view.macros) still lists them. Macros neither read nor change them; a workbook can hold a script and a macro with the same name.

A VBA project in an .xlsm or .xltm file is preserved on save and never run. GridCraft macros are stored apart from it.