Tally MCP

An MCP (Model Context Protocol) server that connects Claude directly to TallyPrime, using Tally's built-in XML-HTTP gateway. Point Claude Desktop or Claude Code at your Tally instance and ask it to read ledgers, pull a trial balance, summarise a day book, or draft (and, once you approve, post) vouchers — all without manual export/import.

Built and open-sourced by a Chartered Accountancy firm in India that uses it for their own client accounting workflows. Not officially affiliated with Tally Solutions or Anthropic.

What you can do with it

Once connected, you can ask Claude things like:

• "Show me the trial balance as on 31-03-2026"

• "Pull the ledger for ABC Traders and summarise the last 10 entries"

• "List all stock items with GST rate 18%"

• "Create a sales voucher dated today: Debtor XYZ ₹1,18,000, Sales ₹1,00,000, Output CGST ₹9,000, Output SGST ₹9,000" — Claude shows you a preview first; nothing is written to Tally until you approve it.

⚠️ Safety model — read this before use

This connector can have full read/write access to whichever Tally company is open. Three layers of protection are built in:

1. Dry-run by default. Every write tool (tally_create_voucher, tally_create_ledger, tally_create_stock_item) returns a preview of the exact XML it would send and does nothing to Tally unless called with "confirm": true. The tool descriptions instruct Claude to always show you the preview and get your go-ahead first — but read what it shows you before approving; don't rely on Claude alone as the control point.

2. Company lock. .env requires TALLY_COMPANY_NAME. Before any write, the server re-checks that this exact company is the one open in Tally. If a different company has been opened since the server started, the write is blocked, not silently redirected.

3. Audit log. Every tool call — read or write, dry-run or real — is appended to audit/tally-mcp-audit.log as JSON lines: timestamp, tool, inputs, XML sent, Tally's response, and status.

There's also a global kill switch: set DRY_RUN_ONLY=true in .env to force every write tool into preview-only mode regardless of confirm — useful while testing against real data for the first time.

This is a template for a safety-conscious integration, not a guarantee. Review the code, especially src/tallyClient.ts and src/tools/writeTools.ts, before pointing it at production accounting data.

Prerequisites

• Node.js 18+

• TallyPrime with ODBC/HTTP connectivity enabled (Gateway of Tally → F1 (Help) → Settings → Connectivity → enable HTTP, default port 9000)

• The company you want to connect to must be open in Tally before you start the MCP server

Setup

git clone https://github.com/<your-username>/tally-mcp.git
cd tally-mcp
npm install
cp .env.example .env

Edit .env:

TALLY_URL=http://localhost:9000
TALLY_COMPANY_NAME=<exact company name as shown in Tally>
DRY_RUN_ONLY=false

Build:

npm run build

Smoke-test it starts cleanly:

npm start
# Expect: [tally-mcp] Connected. Tally URL: ..., Company lock: "...", DRY_RUN_ONLY: false
# Ctrl+C to stop.

Connect to Claude Desktop

Add to your Claude Desktop MCP config (claude_desktop_config.json):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "tally": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/absolute/path/to/tally-mcp/dist/index.js"],
      "env": {
        "TALLY_URL": "http://localhost:9000",
        "TALLY_COMPANY_NAME": "Your Company Name",
        "DRY_RUN_ONLY": "false"
      }
    }
  }
}

Restart Claude Desktop. You should see "tally" listed under connected tools/MCP servers.

Connect to Claude Code

claude mcp add tally -- node /absolute/path/to/tally-mcp/dist/index.js

Set env vars via your shell, a wrapper script, or .env in the working directory (loaded automatically via dotenv).

Tool reference

Read (no confirmation needed)

Write (dry-run by default, needs "confirm": true)

Architecture

Claude (Desktop/Code)
      │  MCP protocol (stdio)
      ▼
tally-mcp server (Node.js/TypeScript)
      │  XML over HTTP
      ▼
TallyPrime (XML-HTTP gateway, default port 9000)

src/
├── index.ts              # MCP server entry point, tool registry
├── config.ts              # .env loading + validation
├── types.ts                # Shared TypeScript types
├── tallyClient.ts         # HTTP transport to Tally + company-lock check
├── zodToJsonSchema.ts     # Zod → MCP tool schema converter
├── xml/
│   ├── builder.ts         # Builds Tally XML requests
│   └── parser.ts          # Parses Tally XML responses
├── tools/
│   ├── readTools.ts       # Read-only tool handlers
│   └── writeTools.ts      # Write tool handlers (dry-run/confirm gate)
└── audit/
    └── auditLogger.ts     # Append-only JSONL audit trail

Known limitations / roadmap

• tally_alter_voucher types exist but the tool isn't wired up yet — altering an existing voucher needs an extra lookup-by-voucher-number step in Tally's XML schema. PRs welcome.

• No dedicated GST report tool (GSTR-1/3B summary) yet — tally_get_daybook + tally_get_ledger cover most reconciliation needs today, but a purpose-built GST summary tool would be a good addition.

• Credentials are plain .env. Fine for local/single-user use; if you're deploying this for a team or multiple client instances, consider wiring in a proper secrets manager instead.

• Single company per running server instance — the TALLY_COMPANY_NAME lock in .env assumes one server process per Tally company. Multi- company support (company name as a per-call parameter instead of an .env lock) is a reasonable Phase 2 if there's interest.

Contributions on any of the above are welcome — see CONTRIBUTING.md.

License

MIT — see LICENSE. This software connects to a live accounting system; you are responsible for reviewing dry-run previews and securing your own Tally connection. See SECURITY.md for operational guidance.