diff --git a/src/helpers/parseEditorPythonCell.ts b/src/helpers/parseEditorPythonCell.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..07e58f8e3e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/helpers/parseEditorPythonCell.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,50 @@
+import { ParseFormulaReturnType } from './formulaNotation';
+
+const CELL = /\(\s*(-?\d+\s*,\s*-?\d+\s*)\)/;
+const SIMPLE_CELL = new RegExp(`cell${CELL.source}`, 'g');
+const MULTICURSOR_CELL = new RegExp(`cells\\(\\s*${CELL.source}\\s*,\\s*${CELL.source}\\s*\\)`, 'g');
+
+export function parsePython(modelContent: string) {
+  let matches: RegExpExecArray | null;
+
+  let parsedEditorContent: ParseFormulaReturnType = {
+    // could be improved to check for errors within the editor content
+    parse_error_msg: undefined,
+    parse_error_span: undefined,
+    cell_refs: [],
+  };
+
+  while ((matches = SIMPLE_CELL.exec(modelContent)) !== null) {
+    const match = matches[0];
+    const group = matches[1];
+    const [x, y] = group.split(',');
+    const startIndex = matches.index;
+    const matchLength = match.length;
+
+    parsedEditorContent.cell_refs.push({
+      cell_ref: { Cell: { x: { Relative: parseInt(x) }, y: { Relative: parseInt(y) } } },
+      span: { start: startIndex, end: startIndex + matchLength },
+    });
+  }
+
+  while ((matches = MULTICURSOR_CELL.exec(modelContent)) !== null) {
+    const match = matches[0];
+    const startCell = matches[1];
+    const endCell = matches[2];
+    const [startX, startY] = startCell.split(',');
+    const [endX, endY] = endCell.split(',');
+    const startIndex = matches.index;
+    const matchLength = match.length;
+
+    parsedEditorContent.cell_refs.push({
+      cell_ref: {
+        CellRange: [
+          { x: { Relative: parseInt(startX) }, y: { Relative: parseInt(startY) } },
+          { x: { Relative: parseInt(endX) }, y: { Relative: parseInt(endY) } },
+        ],
+      },
+      span: { start: startIndex, end: startIndex + matchLength },
+    });
+  }
+  return parsedEditorContent;
+}