How to install the HISAB 360 Excel add-in on Windows
Prefer YouTube? Watch this walkthrough on YouTube →
This walkthrough shows the complete HISAB 360 setup on a Windows PC, start to finish — about two minutes on screen and roughly five minutes on a clean machine. Note: the video predates a recent update — the AI engines it installs by hand in Step 3 now install automatically with HISAB, so setup is even shorter than shown.
HISAB 360 is a chat agent that lives inside Excel, and the AI is your choice: the built-in HISAB AI (zero setup, metered in simple credits — your trial includes 50) or your own Claude or Codex account driven through a small local server, billed to you by the provider with no markup. The written steps below are the current flow; for the canonical reference, see the installation docs.
Check the requirements
You need Windows 10 (build 1809 or later) or Windows 11, and Microsoft Excel 2016 or later — or Microsoft 365 desktop (not Excel for the web). .NET Framework 4.8 and the WebView2 runtime are already present on current Windows; the installer pulls WebView2 in if it's missing. Node.js is bundled with HISAB, so there's nothing separate to download.
Step 1 — Run the signed installer
Download the Authenticode-signed installer from the Download page — it serves the right build for your Office bitness, or grab the 32-bit installer if your Excel is 32-bit. Run the file; because the certificate is still building reputation, Windows SmartScreen may say "Windows protected your PC" — click More info ▸ Run anyway, approve the one-time UAC prompt, and finish the wizard. It installs per-machine to C:\Program Files\HISAB.
Step 2 — Open Excel and sign in to HISAB
Launch Excel and open a workbook; the HISAB 360 panel appears in the ribbon. If Excel asks you to enable the add-in, allow it. Open the panel and sign in with the same account you used on the website (Google, GitHub, or email) to activate your 15-day free trial — no card required. The trial is once per machine.
Step 3 — Choose your AI (engines already installed)
Nothing to install here any more: the Claude Code and Codex engines set up automatically while HISAB installs. Using the built-in HISAB AI? You're done — start chatting; your trial includes 50 credits. Using your own AI? Just pick Claude or Codex with the provider toggle in Settings and go to Step 4. (If an engine is ever missing — e.g. blocked by corporate endpoint security — the Install Claude / Install Codex card in Settings shows a one-line re-install command, e.g. npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code, that you run in your own terminal; Node.js is bundled so npm just works.)
Step 4 — Own AI only: sign in to your engine and verify
On the Settings sign-in card, click Sign in for your engine — the button builds the exact login line (adding Claude to PATH, or pointing Codex at HISAB's isolated home) and opens your browser. Authenticate with a Claude or ChatGPT subscription (more usage per dollar) or a pay-as-you-go API key, then return and click Verify.
Confirm the MCP connection
Verification is restart-free, so there's no need to relaunch Excel. Once the engine is installed and signed in, the "Connect an AI engine" card disappears. Pick a model — Claude Opus is a solid default — and send a quick hi. The MCP pill at the top of the Chat tab turns from amber to green and a reply comes back, confirming your AI client is talking to HISAB's local server end to end.
Why this matters for finance teams
For a finance team, where the add-in installs and how it gets its AI both matter. HISAB is a real per-machine signed setup — not a fragile per-user ClickOnce drop — which makes it predictable to deploy, and IT can use the accompanying MSI. Your workbook stays on your machine: only sheet names, ranges, headers and sample rows are ever sent to the AI, never the full file.
The AI choice is the part most teams care about during setup. The built-in HISAB AI needs zero extra accounts — it's ready on install and metered in simple credits. Or bring your own Claude or OpenAI account: HISAB never resells AI, so there's no per-token markup — the provider bills you directly. Either way the engines set up automatically, and if corporate endpoint security ever blocks that, the Settings card offers an EDR-safe one-line command you run in your own terminal. From the first message onward, every change HISAB makes to a workbook is approval-gated and written to an audit log.
Frequently asked questions
Why does Windows SmartScreen warn me when I run the HISAB installer?
The installer is Authenticode code-signed, but a freshly released certificate is still building reputation with SmartScreen, so it may show "Windows protected your PC." This is expected for a newly signed build. Click More info, then Run anyway, and approve the one-time UAC prompt to continue.
Do I need to install Node.js or the AI separately to use HISAB in Excel?
No. Node.js is bundled, and the Claude Code and Codex AI engines install automatically while HISAB installs — nothing extra to download or run. The built-in HISAB AI works with zero setup; if you prefer your own Claude or OpenAI account, you only sign in to it.
What is the install command in Settings for, then?
It's a self-heal for the rare machine where endpoint security blocked the automatic engine setup. Some endpoint-security products freeze any process spawned by Excel as a precaution, so the card gives you a one-line command to run in your own terminal — parented by your shell rather than EXCEL.EXE, which security software doesn't gate.
Do I have to restart Excel after installing or signing in to the AI engine?
No. Detection and verification are restart-free — HISAB reads the live PATH and the bundled-Node location, so after each Verify click it re-checks on the spot. Once the engine is installed and signed in, send a quick message and the MCP pill turns green to confirm the connection.
Try it on your own workbook
The 15-day trial is the full product — no card, no feature gates. The fastest way to evaluate HISAB 360 is on a real file from your own month-end.