Spreadsheets, resolved not raw.

Cell values are indices into a shared string table, formulas store their formula, not their answer — Tika resolves both before you ever see the response.

the-problem

A spreadsheet's cells don't hold their own text. In .xlsx, string cell values are indices into xl/sharedStrings.xml — a dedup table shared across the whole workbook — not inline text, so reading cells in isolation gets you numbers pointing at other numbers. Formula cells store the formula itself (=SUM(A1:A10)); the number a human sees is a separately cached result value, and plenty of naive readers grab the wrong one or the formula string. Number formats add another layer of indirection — a cell can be stored as 0.42 and displayed as 42%, or stored as a serial integer and displayed as a date — so 'the value' and 'what's on screen' genuinely differ. Hidden sheets, hidden rows, and merged cells still carry meaning that a flat text dump can drop entirely.

one-request-solution

txtfetch resolves the indirection for you: shared-string references become their actual text, and formula cells return Tika's cached computed value rather than the =SUM() source, so the numbers in your response match what a person looking at the sheet would see. For table structure — rows and columns kept intact instead of flattened into a wall of numbers — request ?format=markdown.

curl
curl -X POST https://api.txtfetch.com/v1/extract \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $TXTFETCH_KEY" \
  -F file=@q1-revenue-workbook.xlsx
Python
import os
import requests

with open("q1-revenue-workbook.xlsx", "rb") as f:
    r = requests.post(
        "https://api.txtfetch.com/v1/extract",
        headers={"Authorization": f"Bearer {os.environ['TXTFETCH_KEY']}"},
        files={"file": f},
    )

print(r.json()["extracted_text"])
JavaScript
import { readFile } from "node:fs/promises";

const file = new Blob([await readFile("q1-revenue-workbook.xlsx")]);
const form = new FormData();
form.append("file", file, "q1-revenue-workbook.xlsx");

const res = await fetch("https://api.txtfetch.com/v1/extract", {
  method: "POST",
  headers: { Authorization: `Bearer ${process.env.TXTFETCH_KEY}` },
  body: form,
});

const { extracted_text } = await res.json();
console.log(extracted_text);
Go
package main

import (
	"bytes"
	"encoding/json"
	"fmt"
	"io"
	"mime/multipart"
	"net/http"
	"os"
)

type extractResponse struct {
	Status        string `json:"status"`
	ExtractedText string `json:"extracted_text"`
}

func main() {
	f, err := os.Open("q1-revenue-workbook.xlsx")
	if err != nil {
		panic(err)
	}
	defer f.Close()

	var body bytes.Buffer
	writer := multipart.NewWriter(&body)
	part, err := writer.CreateFormFile("file", "q1-revenue-workbook.xlsx")
	if err != nil {
		panic(err)
	}
	if _, err := io.Copy(part, f); err != nil {
		panic(err)
	}
	writer.Close()

	req, err := http.NewRequest("POST", "https://api.txtfetch.com/v1/extract", &body)
	if err != nil {
		panic(err)
	}
	req.Header.Set("Authorization", "Bearer "+os.Getenv("TXTFETCH_KEY"))
	req.Header.Set("Content-Type", writer.FormDataContentType())

	resp, err := http.DefaultClient.Do(req)
	if err != nil {
		panic(err)
	}
	defer resp.Body.Close()

	var result extractResponse
	if err := json.NewDecoder(resp.Body).Decode(&result); err != nil {
		panic(err)
	}
	fmt.Println(result.ExtractedText)
}

Or skip the download — pass a url parameter and txtfetch fetches the document server-side:

curl
curl -X POST "https://api.txtfetch.com/v1/extract?url=https://example.com/reports/regional-sales.xlsx" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $TXTFETCH_KEY"
Python
import os
import requests

r = requests.post(
    "https://api.txtfetch.com/v1/extract",
    headers={"Authorization": f"Bearer {os.environ['TXTFETCH_KEY']}"},
    params={"url": "https://example.com/reports/regional-sales.xlsx"},
)

print(r.json()["extracted_text"])
JavaScript
const endpoint = new URL("https://api.txtfetch.com/v1/extract");
endpoint.searchParams.set("url", "https://example.com/reports/regional-sales.xlsx");

const res = await fetch(endpoint, {
  method: "POST",
  headers: { Authorization: `Bearer ${process.env.TXTFETCH_KEY}` },
});

const { extracted_text } = await res.json();
console.log(extracted_text);
Go
package main

import (
	"encoding/json"
	"fmt"
	"net/http"
	"net/url"
	"os"
)

type extractResponse struct {
	Status        string `json:"status"`
	ExtractedText string `json:"extracted_text"`
}

func main() {
	endpoint, err := url.Parse("https://api.txtfetch.com/v1/extract")
	if err != nil {
		panic(err)
	}
	q := endpoint.Query()
	q.Set("url", "https://example.com/reports/regional-sales.xlsx")
	endpoint.RawQuery = q.Encode()

	req, err := http.NewRequest("POST", endpoint.String(), nil)
	if err != nil {
		panic(err)
	}
	req.Header.Set("Authorization", "Bearer "+os.Getenv("TXTFETCH_KEY"))

	resp, err := http.DefaultClient.Do(req)
	if err != nil {
		panic(err)
	}
	defer resp.Body.Close()

	var result extractResponse
	if err := json.NewDecoder(resp.Body).Decode(&result); err != nil {
		panic(err)
	}
	fmt.Println(result.ExtractedText)
}
{
  "status": "success",
  "extracted_text": "..."
}

formats-covered

  • .xlsx
  • .xls
  • .xlsm
  • .csv
  • .ods

response-options

Need rows and columns, not a flat wall of numbers? ?format=markdown returns each sheet as a proper markdown table.

faq

Does extraction return the formula or the calculated value?
The calculated value — Tika reads the cached formula result that Excel stores alongside the formula, so you get 18200 instead of the literal string =SUM(A1:A10).
Do percentages and dates come back as raw numbers?
No — the cell's number format is applied before the text is returned, so a cell stored as 0.42 with a percent format comes back as 42%, and a date stored as the serial number 46229 comes back as 2026-07-26. A cell with no format applied returns its stored value unchanged, which is what you want for a plain number.
Are hidden sheets and hidden rows included?
Yes — txtfetch extracts hidden sheets and rows along with visible ones, since hiding a sheet in Excel doesn't remove its data.
Can I get real table structure instead of a flat text dump?
Yes — pass ?format=markdown and rows/columns come back as a markdown table per sheet instead of space-separated cell values.

go-further

Office

Stop parsing. Start shipping.

Create an account and get an API key in minutes — the free Hobby plan needs no card.

Get started →