Click on "Install Server".
Wait a few minutes for the server to deploy. Once ready, it will show a "Started" state.
In the chat, type
@followed by the MCP server name and your instructions, e.g., "@Planning Center Online MCP ServerWhat service plans are scheduled for next Sunday?"
That's it! The server will respond to your query, and you can continue using it as needed.
Here is a step-by-step guide with screenshots.
Planning Center Online MCP Server
An MCP (Model Context Protocol) server for the Planning Center Online API. Enables AI assistants like Claude to interact with your PCO account across all major modules.
Covered Modules
Module | Tools |
People | List/search people, get person, create/update person, emails, phone numbers, households, lists |
Services | Service types, plans, songs, teams, series |
Giving | Donations, funds, batches |
Groups | Groups, group types, members |
Calendar | Events, event instances, resources/rooms |
Check-Ins | Check-ins, events, locations |
Authentication
Planning Center uses Personal Access Tokens for single-account access. Get yours at: https://api.planningcenteronline.com/oauth/applications
You'll receive an Application ID and Secret — set these as environment variables.
Setup
1. Build
2. Configure Claude Desktop (or Claude Code)
Add the following to your MCP configuration (~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json on macOS):
3. Run (stdio mode, for Claude Desktop)
4. Run (HTTP mode, for remote/multi-client)
Available Tools
People (/people/v2)
Tool | Description |
| Search/list people with filters (name, status, gender, child) |
| Get full person record with emails, phones, addresses |
| Create a new person record |
| Update an existing person (sparse update) |
| List email addresses for a person |
| List phone numbers for a person |
| List households |
| List smart lists (saved filters) |
Services (/services/v2)
Tool | Description |
| List all service types |
| List plans for a service type (filter: future/past) |
| Get full plan details |
| List/search song library |
| List teams for a service type |
| List sermon series for a service type |
Giving (/giving/v2)
Tool | Description |
| List donations (filter by date, method, status) |
| Get donation details |
| List giving funds |
| List donation batches |
Groups (/groups/v2)
Tool | Description |
| List/search groups |
| Get group details |
| List group members/leaders |
| List group types |
Calendar (/calendar/v2)
Tool | Description |
| List events (filter: approved/pending/future/past) |
| Get event details with instances |
| List occurrences of a calendar event |
| List facility resources/rooms |
Check-Ins (/check_ins/v2)
Tool | Description |
| List check-in records (filter by date) |
| List check-in events |
| List locations for a check-in event |
Example Conversations
Once connected, you can ask Claude:
"Show me all active people added in the last month"
"What plans are scheduled for next Sunday?"
"List all donations received in January over $500"
"How many members does the Young Adults small group have?"
"What calendar events are coming up this week?"
"Show me the children's check-in locations"
Development
Environment Variables
Variable | Required | Description |
| ✅ | Planning Center Application ID |
| ✅ | Planning Center Secret |
| No | Set to |
| No | HTTP port (default: 3000, HTTP mode only) |