LedgerCrossing — MCP server and HTTP API for QuickBooks Desktop

LedgerCrossing gives QuickBooks Desktop (Pro, Premier, Enterprise) an HTTP/qbXML API and an MCP server that your apps and AI agents can reach from anywhere: the same machine, your office network, or the internet through LedgerCrossing Remote.

Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor, VS Code and any other MCP client get six tools covering all 240 qbXML operations. Your own code gets POST /api/v1/qbxml: send qbXML, get qbXML back. No SOAP service to host, and no Web Connector polling.

This repository holds documentation, examples, the MCP Registry entry (server.json) and, in its releases, the Claude Desktop extension bundle (.mcpb). The LedgerCrossing app itself is a commercial Windows app: a one-time purchase, licensed per machine, with unlimited company files. See ledgercrossing.com for pricing. Its source is not in this repository, and nothing here works without the app installed on the QuickBooks machine.

Compatibility: LedgerCrossing works with anything that can make a web request. Off-the-shelf apps that sync through the Web Connector today are controlled by their vendors, and LedgerCrossing is not a replacement underneath them. If you (or your developer) control the integration, switching is straightforward: send the same qbXML you send today as an HTTP POST.

Why QuickBooks Desktop needs this

QuickBooks Desktop has no cloud API. It accepts qbXML only through a COM interface on the machine where it runs. Intuit's official AI connectors cover QuickBooks Online, not Desktop. LedgerCrossing runs beside QuickBooks on that machine and turns it into an endpoint your tools can call.

Related MCP server: QuickBooks Online MCP Server

Connect an AI client

Pick the path by where the AI runs relative to the QuickBooks computer.

The MCP endpoint is http://<machine>:8284/mcp (streamable HTTP). Settings > Allowed Connections in the app shows the exact address and the API key.

Claude Desktop

1. Download ledgercrossing.mcpb from this repository's latest release.

2. In Claude Desktop open Settings > Extensions > Advanced settings > Extension Developer > Install Extension… and pick the file. (Windows has no file association for .mcpb, so double-clicking it won't work.)

3. Leave the settings at their defaults on the QuickBooks computer. On another office computer, set LedgerCrossing address (for example http://qb-server:8284) and paste the API key.

Prefer a config file? See examples/mcp-configs/claude_desktop_config.json (stdio mode, same machine only).

Claude Code, Cursor, VS Code

claude mcp add --transport http quickbooks http://localhost:8284/mcp --header "X-Api-Key: YOUR_KEY"

Cursor and VS Code configs are in examples/mcp-configs/. From another office computer, replace localhost with the machine's name. From anywhere, connect over LedgerCrossing Remote with per-person sign-in, the same way as claude.ai (see /docs/connect).

Then ask: "Which customers are 60+ days overdue?"

The six tools

The agent discovers what it needs on demand (list_operations → get_operation → validate_qbxml → run_qbxml), so the catalog never floods its context.

Before you connect an agent: it can write. On the QuickBooks computer and the office network, run_qbxml can create invoices, payments and edits, with the same power as the HTTP API. Over LedgerCrossing Remote, each person starts read-only until the owner allows changes. Unbounded queries are refused by default, and QuickBooks' Audit Trail records every posted transaction. Connect agents you trust, to company files you mean them to touch.

Call it from your own code

curl -s http://localhost:8284/api/v1/qbxml \
  -H "X-Api-Key: YOUR_KEY" -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"qbxml": "<?xml version=\"1.0\"?><?qbxml version=\"13.0\"?><QBXML><QBXMLMsgsRq onError=\"stopOnError\"><CustomerQueryRq><MaxReturned>10</MaxReturned></CustomerQueryRq></QBXMLMsgsRq></QBXML>"}'

More in examples/: Python, Node.js and PowerShell, plus validating a request before sending it.

Reach it from anywhere

• Same machine: http://localhost:8284.

• Office network: turn on Settings > Allowed Connections > Local network; the app requires an API key first and manages its own firewall rule. Free.

• Internet: LedgerCrossing Remote ($39/mo), a managed HTTPS relay with per-person sign-in, which claude.ai and ChatGPT require (Meta Muse is verified over it too). Or run your own tunnel with the free guide for clients that can send an API key header.

Requirements

• Windows 10 or 11, or Windows Server 2016–2025, with QuickBooks Desktop Pro, Premier or Enterprise.

• QuickBooks running with the company file open (or auto-openable). That is a QuickBooks Desktop constraint.

• LedgerCrossing installed and activated on that machine (1.15.1 or later for Meta Muse).

Links

• Product and pricing: https://ledgercrossing.com

• MCP quickstart: https://ledgercrossing.com/docs/mcp

• Connect Claude to QuickBooks Desktop, every option compared: https://ledgercrossing.com/connect-claude-to-quickbooks-desktop

• claude.ai and ChatGPT setup: https://ledgercrossing.com/docs/connect

• Support: support@ledgercrossing.com

License

The documentation, examples and server.json in this repository are MIT licensed (see LICENSE). The LedgerCrossing app and the .mcpb bundle are commercial software, licensed per machine under the terms at ledgercrossing.com. The MIT license does not cover them.

QuickBooks is a registered trademark of Intuit Inc. LedgerCrossing is an independent product for QuickBooks Desktop and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Intuit. Client names belong to their respective owners.