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Modeleon

Python DSL that compiles to live Excel formulas

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Hi HN. Modeleon is an open-source Python DSL for financial models. You write models in Python with named variables and operator-overloaded arithmetic, and it compiles to a real .xlsx with live formulas — not values, but formulas like =B4*B5 that the CFO can audit in Excel.The architectural bet is "model is the source of truth, spreadsheet is one rendering." We have a Walker/Renderer split so the same model can target Excel today and other backends later.We've been building this for finance + Python developers (CFA candidates with Python skills, FP&A analysts who automate). It's pre-alpha — works, but the API will change before 1.0.Apache 2.0. PyPI: pip install modeleon. Happy to answer questions.

HN · launched May 1, 2026 · 6 upvotes (top 69%) · 0 views

Niche: spreadsheet tools and extensions · 138 launches, 6 in the last 7 days ▼ -67% · Explore this niche →

Category and tags
  • Horizontal
  • Dev tools
  • Developer
  • Not AI
  • Hobby / open-source project

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More like this: all 138 launches in spreadsheet tools and extensions →

Could you build this?

Partial While basic Python AST manipulation is approachable, building a robust financial modeling DSL that translates arbitrary DAG-based computations into valid, audit-ready Excel formula trees requires intricate compiler design.

What it would actually take: The architecture requires an AST/symbolic expression engine in Python (like SymPy or custom operator-overloaded nodes) that builds an execution graph, topological sorter, and an OpenXML/openpyxl formula generator that translates variable references to relative grid coordinates ($A$1). The hardest part is handling cycle detection, multi-dimensional time series alignment, and translating complex financial idioms into valid spreadsheet formula strings. Deep familiarity with compiler symbol tables and spreadsheet formula grammar is necessary.

Discussion

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Competitors

Other products that read as similar to this one : 143 launches clear the similarity bar, closest 8 shown.

Attention rank: #128 of 144 (itself plus its competitors, highest first, normalized so YC and Product Hunt are compared fairly).

Launched 171 days after the earliest competitor.

Related data

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