Click to copy
I am comfortable copy-pasting and following instructions, but I am not a developer.
There is nothing to install for this one and no commands to type: it all happens inside Claude. If any instruction below implies a Terminal, translate it into the equivalent click path for me instead.
- Plain English. Define jargon the first time it appears.
- One step at a time, then wait for me to confirm before the next one.
- Tell me what success looks like at each step, and diagnose any error before moving on.
Follow the instructions below with those rules applied.
I want to set up the Allocator Excel Desk. Demo it on public sample data I can show in a meeting. Run it on an internal workbook that must stay on my machine. Walk me through it step by step, one question at a time, and wait for my answer before moving on. I am an allocator, a hedge PM, or a PE operating partner, not a developer. Define every term once. Keep me to one action per message. Pin Claude Opus 5.
## What this produces
A public demo that is safe to screenshot, and a Desk Output sheet inside my own .xlsx for the internal run: DPI, TVPI, IRR, Kaplan Schoar PME, a residual check, and a PASS or BLOCK. Hedge mode writes name weights and a concentration BLOCK. Default tools are openpyxl and pandas on my machine. This does not pull Burgiss or Aladdin. The internal book does not go in the browser tool.
## Step one, ask me this first, nothing else
"Do you want the public demo first (safe to show), or are you scoring an internal workbook that must stay on this machine?"
Wait for my answer. Then continue, one step per message.
## Step two, get the desk script onto my machine
desk.py is a file I download. Claude does not install it and it is not on my machine yet. Give me this block, then wait until I confirm the file landed. Do not move to a scoring command before I have it.
```
mkdir -p ~/ExcelDesk
cd ~/ExcelDesk
curl -O https://consultance.ai/library/freebies/allocator-excel-desk/desk.py
ls -l desk.py
```
The last line should show a file named desk.py of roughly 11 KB. Every command after this one runs from that folder. If I open a fresh terminal window later, tell me to run `cd ~/ExcelDesk` before anything else.
If I would rather click than type, open https://consultance.ai/library/freebies/allocator-excel-desk/desk.py in a browser. It saves to my Downloads folder and I move it into ~/ExcelDesk.
## Step three, the public demo
From the same folder:
```
python3 desk.py book.xlsx --sample --mode cashflows
```
`--sample` writes a public stub workbook named book.xlsx and scores it. Nothing of mine touches it.
Success looks like this, and the final line names the file it wrote:
```
mode=cashflows verdict=BLOCK
calls: 150.0000
dists: 60.0000
nav: 110.0000
residual: 20.0000
tvpi: 1.1333
pme: 0.8959
irr: 0.0417
verdict: BLOCK
wrote Desk Output -> book.xlsx
```
BLOCK is the correct answer on the sample. The stub NAV of 110 does not tie to calls minus dists of 90, so the desk refuses to report TVPI. Explain that to me before we move on, because it is the whole point of the tool.
The browser version at /library/freebies/allocator-excel-desk-tool.html is the version with nothing to install, for a live meeting. Do not let me paste a live blotter or capital account into it.
## Step four, the internal run
Same folder, my file:
```
python3 desk.py {{MY FILE}}.xlsx --mode cashflows
python3 desk.py {{MY FILE}}.xlsx --mode blotter
```
Cashflows sheet needs date, type (CALL, DIST, NAV), amount, and exactly one NAV row at the as of date. Blotter sheet needs ticker, qty, price. If my workbook has no Index sheet with date and level columns, add `--public-cagr 0.08` and tell me plainly that a flat 8 percent path is a stub, not a licensed series. Open Desk Output on the laptop. I may load only that sheet into Claude.
## When it fails, these are the real errors
Match my error text to one of these. Do not guess a fifth.
1. `can't open file ... desk.py: [Errno 2] No such file or directory`
I am in the wrong folder. Have me run `cd ~/ExcelDesk` then `ls -l desk.py`, then run the command again.
2. `ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'pandas'`, or the same line naming openpyxl
The two libraries are missing. First try `pip install openpyxl pandas`. If that returns `error: externally-managed-environment`, my Python is managed by the system or by Homebrew and will not take a global install. Use a local environment inside the same folder:
```
cd ~/ExcelDesk
python3 -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate
pip install openpyxl pandas
```
Then run the scoring command again. Every new terminal needs the `source .venv/bin/activate` line first, and I should see (.venv) at the start of my prompt when it is on.
3. `Missing workbook: book.xlsx`
Nothing by that name is in this folder. On the demo I dropped `--sample`. On my own file the filename is wrong, and `ls` in the folder shows me what is actually there.
4. `Need an Index sheet (date, level) or --public-cagr`
My workbook has no public path to compare against. Add `--public-cagr 0.08` to the command, or add an Index sheet with date and level columns.
If the shell reports that python3 is not found at all, tell me to install Python 3 from python.org, then stop and wait. Do not have me install anything with sudo.
## Rest of the path
Create a Claude Project named Excel Desk. Paste the house rules: never invent a cash flow, never pull a licensed feed, never put the internal book in a public demo, never report TVPI if residual is not zero, a named human signs. Run prompt 04 or 05 on Desk Output. Finish on prompt 08, the trust gate.
## The first session drill
By the end of this session I should have: the public sample scored and shown, then one internal workbook scored locally, a Desk Output sheet with PASS or BLOCK, and a six line note. Then show me the one line command so next month is a checklist.
Before you tell me it is done, re derive residual, TVPI, and PME. Do not say it is ready until those match the sheet. I sign it.