Claude + MagicSlides MCPMake a spreadsheet with Claude
Students can upload the papers for a thesis into Claude and ask for a literature tracker. Claude reads them, pulls out the method and main finding of each, and saves the table as a MagicSlides spreadsheet you can sort and extend.
Set up MagicSlides in Claude (one time)
Add MagicSlides once as a custom connector. It works on every Claude plan; the Free plan allows one custom connector.
https://www.magicslides.app/api/mcp/mcp- 1.In Claude, open Customize → Connectors and click Add custom connector.
- 2.Name it MagicSlides and paste the URL above.
- 3.Click Connect and log in with MagicSlides. There is no API key.
Example: what you type in Claude
I uploaded 8 papers for my thesis on remote work and productivity. Make a literature tracker with authors, year, title, venue, method, key finding and which chapter I should use it in, and save it as a MagicSlides sheet.
- Read the 8 uploaded papers
- Pulled authors, year, venue, method and the main finding from each
- Mapped each paper to a thesis chapter: context, early evidence, costs, selection, hybrid
- Called create_sheet with 9 rows (header plus 8 papers)
Your literature tracker is in MagicSlides with 8 papers from 2015 to 2024. Chapter 3 has two papers on the costs of remote work, so you may want one more source there.
| # | Authors | Year | Title | Venue | Method | Key finding | Use in chapter |
| 1 | Bloom, Liang, Roberts, Ying | 2015 | Does Working from Home Work? Evidence from a Chinese Experiment | Quarterly Journal of Economics | Randomised trial, call centre | Home workers were 13% more productive | Ch 2: early evidence |
| 2 | Choudhury, Foroughi, Larson | 2021 | Work-from-anywhere: The productivity effects of geographic flexibility | Strategic Management Journal | Natural experiment, US Patent Office | Output rose 4.4% under work-from-anywhere | Ch 2: flexibility |
| 3 | Yang et al. | 2022 | The effects of remote work on collaboration among information workers | Nature Human Behaviour | Email and chat data, Microsoft | Collaboration networks became more siloed | Ch 3: costs |
| 4 | Gibbs, Mengel, Siemroth | 2023 | Work from Home and Productivity: Evidence from Personnel and Analytics Data on IT Professionals | Journal of Political Economy Microeconomics | Firm analytics data, India | Hours rose, output per hour fell | Ch 3: costs |
| 5 | Barrero, Bloom, Davis | 2023 | The Evolution of Work from Home | Journal of Economic Perspectives | Survey of Working Arrangements and Attitudes | WFH settled near a quarter of paid days in the US | Ch 1: context |
| 6 | Emanuel, Harrington | 2024 | Working Remotely? Selection, Treatment, and the Market for Remote Work | American Economic Journal: Applied Economics | Call centre, US retailer | Less productive workers selected into remote jobs | Ch 4: selection |
| 7 | Bloom, Han, Liang | 2024 | Hybrid working from home improves retention without damaging performance | Nature | Randomised trial, Trip.com | Hybrid cut quits by a third, no performance loss | Ch 4: hybrid |
This is the real output from that prompt, made with the MagicSlides MCP. Open it to click through or download it.
How it works
- 1.Add MagicSlides in Claude under Customize, Connectors, Add custom connector
- 2.Upload your papers as PDFs into the chat
- 3.Ask Claude for a literature tracker saved as a MagicSlides sheet
- 4.Open the editor link, sign in, and add papers as you read more
Tool used: create_sheet. Prefer a web app? AI spreadsheet generator does the same without an agent.
FAQ
Can Claude read the papers I upload?
Yes. You can upload PDFs into the chat and Claude reads them before building the table.
Why does the sheet link ask me to sign in?
Sheets return an editor link, which opens in the MagicSlides editor after you sign in to your account.
Can I add columns later?
Yes. Edit the sheet in MagicSlides, or ask Claude to read it with get_sheet and add a column with update_sheet.
Should I check the findings myself?
Yes. Use the tracker as a starting point and confirm each finding against the paper before you cite it.
More with Claude
Sheets in other agents
Connect MagicSlides to Claude
One MCP server for decks, docs, sheets and reels. Log in with your MagicSlides account, no API key. Making a deck from your own copy uses no AI credits.
