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Build your first Excel add-in
This article describes how to use the Excel JavaScript API to build an add-in for Excel 2016 or Excel Online. The following steps walk you through building a simple task pane add-in that loads some data into a worksheet and creates a basic chart in Excel 2016.
Explore the code via the Office Add-in Playground
You’ll start by creating a web app using HTML and JQuery. For an easy getting-started experience, download the Office Add-in Playground from the Office Store.
Using the Add-in, you'll be able to import the code below, run it, and make whatever changes you'd like to experiment with the APIs. You will also get a full IntelliSense experience for browsing the API documentation. See the "preview" of the files below, and then try it out live on the playground!
Going beyond the Playground
The playground is meant for quick experimentation with the APIs. When you are ready to create a real project, download the sample project, which is identical to the playground snippet above, but contains the full HTML markup (with a "head" element that references the appropriate external libraries and the scripts and styles of the snippet).
The sample also includes an XML manifest, which you need to run Office Add-ins when outside the Playground. Follow the steps in the sample's README for instructions on how to sideload the manifest into your Office applications.