# Reported issues for Nelson MCP — LibreOffice Desktop Extension Pod holds 19 of 30 GitHub reports that passed its relevance review. This can include external user reports, maintainer-confirmed bugs, and concrete feature gaps. Treat them as evidence to inspect, not a count of distinct defects. Back to [Nelson MCP — LibreOffice Desktop Extension](/mcp/nelson-mcp-libreoffice-desktop-extension). ## Most discussed ### MCP edits are recorded as tracked changes even when Record Changes is off — please consider an opt-out ### Summary With *Edit → Track Changes → Record Changes* switched **off** in the LibreOffice UI, edits performed through Nelson MCP tools are still written into `xl/revisions/` on save. Manual edits typed in the UI are correctly not recorded. ### Steps to reproduce 1. Open a `.xlsx` in LibreOffice Calc. 2. Make sure *Edit → Track Changes → Record Changes* is **off**. 3. Via MCP: `write_cell_range` -> `Price!A60 = "TEST2"` 4. By hand in the UI: type `Price!A61 = "manual test"` 5.… [Read the thread](https://github.com/quazardous/nelson-mcp/issues/22) · 2026-07-21 · closed · external user · 10 comments ### /health reports a stale active document after doc_open, while doc_info and doc_list_open are correct The `document` block that `/health` returns does not reflect a document opened through `doc_open`. It either reports no document at all, or reports one with `doc_type: null` and a `doc_id` that belongs to no open document. The tools themselves are fine throughout: `doc_info` and `doc_list_open` always return the correct, stable id. Measured on 0.14.0 against a freshly started GUI instance, six opens in total, each one a separate MCP session, `.xlsx` in Calc: | after `doc_open`, `/health`… [Read the thread](https://github.com/quazardous/nelson-mcp/issues/41) · 2026-09-19 · closed · external user · 9 comments ### doc_open on an already open document creates a second view, both reported active, and closing one drops the file lock Version 0.14.0 (`.oxt`), LibreOffice Calc, Linux, HTTP MCP transport. Calling `doc_open` with the path of a document that is already open does not return the existing document. It opens a second view of the same file, and the state that follows is hard for a caller to reason about. Reproduction: 1. open a spreadsheet from outside Nelson: `soffice /tmp/doc_01.xlsx` 2. `doc_open({file_path: "/tmp/doc_01.xlsx"})` 3. `doc_list_open` What you get: - two entries with different doc_ids for the… [Read the thread](https://github.com/quazardous/nelson-mcp/issues/40) · 2026-09-19 · closed · external user · 8 comments ### doc_close ignores _document, closes the active document instead, and reports success when it closed nothing Version 0.12.1 (`.oxt`), LibreOffice Calc, Linux, HTTP MCP transport. `doc_close` has three separate faults that compound each other. **1. `_document` is ignored.** `doc_close({_document: "id:"})` does not close B — it closes the **active** document. The response echoes `"active_document": ""`, so from the outside it looks like the right thing happened. **2. It returns `ok` even when it closed nothing.** In a batch of 13 calls I got `"Document closed."` 13 times; exactly one document… [Read the thread](https://github.com/quazardous/nelson-mcp/issues/36) · 2026-08-20 · open · external user · 8 comments ### MCP session dies on LibreOffice restart — could the server accept re-initialization on the same endpoint? Nelson runs inside LibreOffice, so every restart of the application invalidates the MCP session. The next tool call then returns: -32000: Session expired (server restarted). Please re-initialize the MCP connection. The message is clear and the server behaves correctly. The friction is on the client side: the MCP client still lists the server as connected, so a dead session and a live one look identical until a call fails. Recovering requires the user to disconnect and reconnect the server… [Read the thread](https://github.com/quazardous/nelson-mcp/issues/38) · 2026-08-21 · closed · external user · 6 comments ### Deadlock on cold start when LibreOffice is launched with a document: no window ever appears When LibreOffice is started cold with a document on the command line, it sometimes never shows a window. The process stays alive, port 8766 is bound, and the desktop taskbar keeps a dead "starting" entry that does nothing when clicked. Killing the process and opening the same file again works, so this is a startup race rather than a permanent failure. This is easy to hit in daily use: opening a spreadsheet attachment from a mail client launches `soffice --calc ` while no LibreOffice… [Read the thread](https://github.com/quazardous/nelson-mcp/issues/35) · 2026-08-14 · open · external user · 6 comments ### save_document_as does not rebind the document — a later save_document overwrites the original file ### Summary `save_document_as` writes the target file and returns `status: ok` with the new `file_url`, but the open document stays bound to its **original** location. A subsequent `save_document` therefore writes back to the original file, while the file created by `save_document_as` stays frozen at the moment of the call. The tool description says: *"The document adopts the new file as its location (like File > Save As, not an export)."* The observed behaviour is the opposite — it acts like… [Read the thread](https://github.com/quazardous/nelson-mcp/issues/19) · 2026-07-21 · closed · external user · 6 comments ### Add fit_image tool to auto-fit an image within its frame ## Context After manually rotating an image in LibreOffice (portrait → landscape), the AI assistant needs to resize the image to fit inside its existing frame. Currently this requires: 1. Reading the frame dimensions 2. Knowing the image's actual pixel ratio (which may have changed after rotation) 3. Manually calculating the correct width/height 4. Calling `set_image_properties` with both dimensions (risk of breaking the ratio) 5. Optionally resizing the frame if the image doesn't fit This… [Read the thread](https://github.com/quazardous/nelson-mcp/issues/10) · 2026-04-08 · closed · 6 comments ## Most recent ### /health and doc_info treat the Start Center as a document after the first tools/list On a fresh LibreOffice started without a file, with the Start Center current, `/health` is correct (`available: false`) until the first `tools/list`. After it, `/health` reports `available: true` with `doc_type: null` and a `doc_id` that is new on every start. `doc_info` without `_document` resolves to that same id and fails with `execution_error`, message `getURL`, while `doc_list_open` returns 0 documents. The state stays until a document is opened; after a `doc_open` and `doc_close`, a… [Read the thread](https://github.com/quazardous/nelson-mcp/issues/43) · 2026-09-27 · open · external user · 1 comment ### OnStartApp bootstrap deadlocks LibreOffice startup when RecoveryInfo/Crashed=true (Solar Mutex × Recovery SynchronousDispatch) # OnStartApp bootstrap deadlocks LibreOffice startup when `RecoveryInfo/Crashed=true` — Solar Mutex × Recovery `SynchronousDispatch` ## Environment - **Nelson:** 0.12.1 (`nelson-0.12.1.oxt`) - **LibreOffice:** 26.2.5.2 (openSUSE Tumbleweed distro build; upstream TDF 26.2.5) - **VCL plugin:** Qt6 on KDE Plasma 6 Wayland - **Python:** 3.13 - **OS:** openSUSE Tumbleweed, Linux 7.1.8 ## Symptom After any LibreOffice crash that leaves `RecoveryInfo/Crashed=true` in the user's… [Read the thread](https://github.com/quazardous/nelson-mcp/issues/37) · 2026-08-20 · open · external user · 5 comments ### doc_open returns ok before the document is resolvable as active — the next tool call fails with no_document (retryable: false) The first tool call that targets the **active** document immediately after `doc_open` fails, even though `doc_open` returned `ok` and `doc_list_open` lists the document: ```json {"status":"error","code":"no_document","message":"No document open in LibreOffice.", "retryable":false,"hint":"Use doc_create or doc_open first."} ``` `doc_open` apparently returns before the newly opened document becomes resolvable as the current/active component. Measured on 0.12.1 in a **single MCP session** (one… [Read the thread](https://github.com/quazardous/nelson-mcp/issues/34) · 2026-07-26 · closed · external user · 5 comments ### A prefix that disagrees with sheet_name is accepted silently on the write paths, not refused Two loose ends from #30, both small, found while verifying that fix on 0.12.1. Your comment said a prefix wins over `sheet_name` and that disagreeing between the two is an error rather than a silent choice. The guard is there in `CalcBridge.resolve()`, but the write paths don't go through it: ``` calc_write_range start_cell="Summary.B4" values=[["CONFLICT"]] sheet_name="Sources" → ok, "Wrote 1 rows, 1 cols starting at B4." Summary.B4 = 'CONFLICT' Sources.B4 = None calc_comment… [Read the thread](https://github.com/quazardous/nelson-mcp/issues/33) · 2026-07-25 · closed · external user · 5 comments ### Generated chart names collide across sheets, and the failure surfaces as an empty error message Found while verifying #30 on 0.12.1. This one only became reachable because of that fix — until charts could land on more than one sheet, the counter always matched. `create_chart` names a new chart `Chart_{len(charts)}`, counting the charts on the target sheet. The name has to be unique across the whole document though, so the second chart on a different sheet asks for `Chart_0` again and `addNewByName` throws: ``` chart on Capex from A1:B4 → ok (Chart_0) another chart… [Read the thread](https://github.com/quazardous/nelson-mcp/issues/32) · 2026-07-25 · closed · external user · 5 comments ### A chart built from a sheet-qualified data_range lands on the data sheet, not the active one Follow-up from #30, found while verifying that fix on 0.12.1. A sheet-qualified `data_range` is accepted now and the chart does get built — but it is added to the sheet the data lives on, rather than the active one. Your comment on #30 described the opposite, and it was the case you asked me to confirm, so here is what I see. Workbook has four sheets, `Capex` active: ``` calc_chart create data_range="'Data Sheet'.A1:B5" chart_type="bar" title="cross-sheet" position="D1"… [Read the thread](https://github.com/quazardous/nelson-mcp/issues/31) · 2026-07-25 · closed · external user · 5 comments ### Sheet-qualified ranges (Sheet1.A1:C5) are always rejected, though the tool description advertises them The `read_cell_range` description advertises sheet-qualified ranges: > `range_name`: Cell range(s) (e.g. **A1:D10, Sheet1.A1:C5**) or list of ranges/cells… The parser never accepts one. It isn't about spaces in the name — a single-word sheet fails just as reliably: ``` read_cell_range {"range_name": "Summary.D4:D6"} → Invalid cell range format: 'SUMMARY.D4:D6' read_cell_range {"range_name": "Sources.A1:A3"} → Invalid cell range format: 'SOURCES.A1:A3' read_cell_range {"range_name":… [Read the thread](https://github.com/quazardous/nelson-mcp/issues/30) · 2026-07-25 · closed · external user · 4 comments ### Per-module enable/disable, so users can turn off what they do not use Spun off from #15, which asked for launchers and text-to-image to be separate plugins. The underlying goal — *do not run what I do not use* — is right; splitting into separate `.oxt` files is an expensive way to get it (rationale in #15). This is the cheap way. ## Current state Exactly one module can be turned off: `mcp`, via its `enabled` config key. Every other module loads unconditionally. There is no generic mechanism — nothing in `ModuleBase` or the bootstrap consults an enable flag. So… [Read the thread](https://github.com/quazardous/nelson-mcp/issues/29) · 2026-07-25 · closed · 2 comments ### text_search_fulltext silently misses text frames that text_search finds Spun off from #7 as the one concrete, reproducible defect left in it. Nelson has two search backends over the same document and they disagree. The index-backed one returns **nothing** rather than saying it does not cover the content — a silent wrong answer, which is the worst failure mode for an agent, since it will conclude the text is not there. ## Reproduction A Writer document with an image inserted via `image_insert`, which wraps it in a captioned text frame (caption: `logo`): ```… [Read the thread](https://github.com/quazardous/nelson-mcp/issues/28) · 2026-07-25 · closed · 3 comments ### Guide tool selection: the instructions field, misleading affordances, and the unbuilt tool broker Spun off from #2. That issue reported an LLM **creating a new document instead of opening the one the user named**, and ignoring the headings it was asked to use. Everything done since (custom endpoints, document-type filtering, the #11 rename and merges) reduced *how many* tools the model sees — none of it addressed *how it chooses*. Three concrete gaps, cheapest first. ## 1. The `instructions` field is wasted `initialize` returns an `instructions` string that MCP clients inject straight… [Read the thread](https://github.com/quazardous/nelson-mcp/issues/27) · 2026-07-25 · closed · 4 comments ### Declare tools.listChanged: true and emit list_changed when the active document type changes ## Summary Nelson filters its tool list by the type of the currently open document — a great design for keeping context small (~27 generic tools with no document, 61 with a Calc document, ~96 with a Writer document; measured on v0.8.2, `minimal` preset). However, `initialize` declares: ```json "capabilities": {"tools": {"listChanged": false}} ``` With `listChanged: false`, MCP clients cache the tool list once at connect time and never re-fetch it. The two features interact badly: 1. A… [Read the thread](https://github.com/quazardous/nelson-mcp/issues/24) · 2026-07-23 · closed · external user · 3 comments The remaining reports are on [the project's issue tracker](https://github.com/quazardous/nelson-mcp/issues).