monarch-mcp-server
by robcerda
README.md
[](https://mseep.ai/app/robcerda-monarch-mcp-server)
# Monarch Money MCP Server
A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server for integrating with the Monarch Money personal finance platform. This server provides seamless access to your financial accounts, transactions, budgets, and analytics through Claude Desktop and Claude Code.
My MonarchMoney referral: https://www.monarchmoney.com/referral/ufmn0r83yf?r_source=share
**Built with the [MonarchMoneyCommunity Python library](https://github.com/bradleyseanf/monarchmoneycommunity)** - An actively maintained community fork of the Monarch Money API with full MFA support.
<a href="https://glama.ai/mcp/servers/@robcerda/monarch-mcp-server">
<img width="380" height="200" src="https://glama.ai/mcp/servers/@robcerda/monarch-mcp-server/badge" alt="monarch-mcp-server MCP server" />
</a>
## š Quick Start
If you plan to use this MCP server locally / on the same computer as Claude Desktop or similar, start with the [`Local Installation` section](#1-local-installation).
For other deployment scenarios - like containerized deployment or cloud hosting - start with the [`Containerized Deployment` section](#containerized-deployment).
### 1. Local Installation
1. **Clone this repository**:
```bash
git clone https://github.com/robcerda/monarch-mcp-server.git
cd monarch-mcp-server
```
2. **Install dependencies**:
**Using `uv`** (recommended):
```bash
uv sync --locked
```
`--locked` installs exactly what `uv.lock` pins, verified against the
hashes it records, and refuses to re-resolve. Without it, `uv sync` is free
to pick up whatever versions happen to satisfy the ranges today.
**Using `pip`**:
```bash
pip install -r requirements-lock.txt --require-hashes
pip install -e . --no-deps
```
`requirements-lock.txt` is generated from `uv.lock` and pins every transitive
dependency with hashes, so `--require-hashes` gives the pip path the same
guarantee as the uv one. `--no-deps` on the second command stops pip
re-resolving what the first command just pinned.
`pip install -r requirements.txt` still works and installs exactly the same
set. That file is now a one line include of `requirements-lock.txt`, kept so
existing setups and scripts do not break. The pins moved out of it because a
root `requirements.txt` gets resolved as an independent manifest, which had
started producing a pinned set that disagreed with `uv.lock`.
3. **Configure Claude Desktop**:
Add this to your Claude Desktop configuration file:
**macOS**: `~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json`
**Windows**: `%APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json`
```json
{
"mcpServers": {
"Monarch Money": {
"command": "/opt/homebrew/bin/uv",
"args": [
"run",
"--locked",
"--project",
"/path/to/your/monarch-mcp-server",
"monarch-mcp-server"
]
}
}
}
```
**Important**: Replace `/path/to/your/monarch-mcp-server` with your actual path!
`uv run --locked --project` resolves dependencies from the repo's
`uv.lock`, and `monarch-mcp-server` is the console script declared in
`pyproject.toml`. `--locked` matters: without it, a lockfile that has
drifted from `pyproject.toml` is silently re-resolved against PyPI and the
recorded hashes stop being enforced. With it, drift is a startup error.
Earlier versions of this README used `uv run --with 'mcp[cli]'`, which
builds a fresh unpinned environment on every launch and silently picks up
whatever the newest release happens to be. That is what broke every install
when the MCP SDK published 2.0, and the client only reported it as the
server disconnecting. Pinning the launch to the lockfile means a new
upstream release cannot change what your server runs.
4. **Restart Claude Desktop**
**OR**
3. **Configure Claude Code** (CLI):
Add this to your Claude Code configuration file:
**Global** (all projects):
**macOS/Linux**: `~/.claude.json`
**Windows**: `%USERPROFILE%\.claude.json`
```json
{
"mcpServers": {
"Monarch Money": {
"command": "/opt/homebrew/bin/uv",
"args": [
"run",
"--locked",
"--project",
"/path/to/your/monarch-mcp-server",
"monarch-mcp-server"
]
}
}
}
```
**Project-level** (specific directory):
Create `.mcp.json` in your project directory:
```json
{
"Monarch Money": {
"command": "/opt/homebrew/bin/uv",
"args": [
"run",
"--locked",
"--project",
"/path/to/your/monarch-mcp-server",
"monarch-mcp-server"
]
}
}
```
**If installed via `pip`** instead of `uv`, use:
```json
{
"command": "python",
"args": ["/path/to/your/monarch-mcp-server/src/monarch_mcp_server/server.py"]
}
```
**Important**: Replace `/path/to/your/monarch-mcp-server` with your actual path!
4. **Restart Claude Code**
### 2. One-Time Authentication Setup
**Important**: For security and MFA support, authentication is done outside of Claude.
Open a terminal and run:
```bash
cd /path/to/your/monarch-mcp-server
uv run python login_setup.py # or: python login_setup.py
```
The script offers three login paths:
#### Option 1 (recommended): Session cookies from your browser
Long-lived sessions, supports SSO accounts, and sidesteps Cloudflare CAPTCHA gates on programmatic login. Steps:
1. Log in to https://app.monarch.com in Chrome or Firefox.
2. Open DevTools (F12) ā Network tab.
3. Click any request whose Name starts with `graphql` (or any request to `api.monarch.com`).
4. Scroll to Request Headers, find the `cookie:` header, and copy the full value.
5. Save it to the cookie file for your platform (recommended), then re-run the script ā it reads the file automatically:
**macOS / Linux** ā `~/.config/monarch-mcp/cookie.txt` (respects `$XDG_CONFIG_HOME`):
```bash
mkdir -p ~/.config/monarch-mcp
# paste the cookie value into the file with your editor, then:
chmod 600 ~/.config/monarch-mcp/cookie.txt
```
**Windows** ā `%APPDATA%\monarch-mcp\cookie.txt`:
```powershell
New-Item -ItemType Directory -Force "$env:APPDATA\monarch-mcp" | Out-Null
notepad "$env:APPDATA\monarch-mcp\cookie.txt" # paste the cookie value, save, close
```
Files under your user profile are already ACL-restricted to your account on Windows; no `chmod` equivalent is needed for typical single-user machines.
To use a different location on any platform, set the `MONARCH_MCP_COOKIE_FILE` environment variable to the full path.
Alternatively, paste the value at the interactive prompt ā but note that
POSIX terminals silently truncate pasted input at the canonical-mode
buffer limit (`MAX_CANON`, 1024 bytes on macOS/Linux), and real Monarch
cookie headers are usually longer than that, so the prompt path fails
with a confusing auth error for most users. The cookie file has no
length limit and survives repo updates.
The script verifies the cookies against the live API before saving them to your system keyring. The cookie file is only read at setup time; the running MCP server uses the keyring session.
#### Option 2: Email and password
Standard interactive login. The script handles:
- Email verification codes (Monarch may send one for a new device session even when MFA is off).
- TOTP MFA codes if you have MFA enabled.
- Cloudflare CAPTCHA detection: if Monarch blocks programmatic login, the script tells you to switch to option 1.
The resulting long-lived session token is saved to your system keyring.
#### Option 3: Legacy session token paste
Kept for users with an existing token captured before the May 2026 API change. Monarch may no longer accept token-only auth on the GraphQL endpoint; if the verification call returns 401, fall back to option 1.
### 3. Start Using
Once authenticated, use these tools directly in Claude Desktop or Claude Code:
- `get_accounts` - View all your financial accounts
- `get_transactions` - Recent transactions with filtering
- `get_budgets` - Budget information and spending
- `get_cashflow` - Income/expense analysis
## Containerized Deployment
The Docker image uses Astral's uv/Python 3.12 slim base, installs from `uv.lock`,
and defaults to HTTP on `0.0.0.0:8000` inside the container.
### Build the image
```bash
docker build -t monarch-mcp-server .
```
### Authenticate
Authenticate once using a persistent session volume:
```bash
docker run --rm -it \
-v monarch-session:/home/app/.monarch-mcp-server \
monarch-mcp-server python login_setup.py
```
The login script supports a cookie file for browser-cookie authentication.
To use it, also mount your cookie file at `/tmp/monarch-cookie.txt:ro` and set `MONARCH_MCP_COOKIE_FILE=/tmp/monarch-cookie.txt` for the login container.
The file must be readable by the container's uid `10001`, which conflicts with
the `chmod 600` advised for the local flow: a 0600 file owned by your host user
is not readable by uid 10001 inside the container. For the container login,
either `chown 10001 cookie.txt` and keep it at 0600, or run the login container
with `--user $(id -u)` so it reads the file as you. Do not widen it to 0644.
Delete the file once the login has succeeded.
Once saved, the session volume is sufficient for normal server launches.
> [!IMPORTANT]
> **The session is stored unencrypted in that volume.** This differs from a
> local install, and the difference is easy to miss.
>
> On macOS and Windows the session goes to the system keyring. A container has
> no keyring backend, so storage falls back to a file. That file is encrypted
> at rest only on Windows, through DPAPI, so in a Linux container it holds your
> Monarch session in plaintext. Permissions are as tight as a file can be, mode
> 0600 inside a 0700 directory owned by uid 10001, but file permissions do not
> help against anyone who can reach the volume from outside the container.
>
> Treat `monarch-session` as a secret. It can be read by root on the Docker
> host, by any user in the `docker` group, by any other container that mounts
> the same volume, by `docker cp` and `docker exec`, and by anything that backs
> up `/var/lib/docker`. A Monarch session grants full read and write access to
> your accounts and does not expire on its own, so a copy of this volume is a
> lasting credential. Back it up only to somewhere you would keep a password,
> and delete the volume with `docker volume rm monarch-session` when you are
> done with it.
>
> The cookie file described below is the same kind of secret. Delete it once
> the login has succeeded; it is only needed for that one run.
### Start the HTTP server
Reuse the session volume when starting the server:
```bash
$ docker run -d --name monarch-mcp --restart unless-stopped \
-p 127.0.0.1:8000:8000 \
-v monarch-session:/home/app/.monarch-mcp-server \
monarch-mcp-server
```
Connect your MCP client to `http://127.0.0.1:8000/mcp` using Streamable HTTP.
See [HTTP transport configuration](#http-transport-configuration) for all settings.
### Connect from another machine
> [!WARNING]
> This MCP server is not multi-user or multi-account. All connected clients share the same session and permissions.
> Ensure that you understand the security implications before exposing the server to a network.
To connect from another machine, **put the container behind an authenticated HTTPS reverse proxy or a private network with access controls**, publish the port on the appropriate interface, and allow the hostname used by the client:
```bash
docker run -d --name monarch-mcp --restart unless-stopped \
-p 127.0.0.1:8000:8000 \
-e MONARCH_MCP_ALLOWED_HOSTS=mcp.example.com \
-v monarch-session:/home/app/.monarch-mcp-server \
monarch-mcp-server
```
Here a reverse proxy on the Docker host forwards `https://mcp.example.com/mcp` to `http://127.0.0.1:8000/mcp`, preserving the public Host header.
The proxy must support streaming responses without buffering.
For direct access on a private network, allow the client's Host value including the port, such as `server.lan:8000`.
Let me stress this point: **This is a single-account server!**
All connected clients share the *same* saved Monarch session and permissions, including enabled write tools.
Basic Host/origin checks protect against DNS rebinding; they do not authenticate callers.
Use one server and session volume per Monarch account if you need to.
### Use STDIO instead
To run the Docker image over STDIO instead:
```bash
docker run --rm -i \
-e MONARCH_MCP_TRANSPORT=stdio \
-v monarch-session:/home/app/.monarch-mcp-server \
monarch-mcp-server
```
## HTTP Transport Configuration
The server supports MCP Streamable HTTP at `/mcp` but only when explicitly selected:
```bash
uv run --locked monarch-mcp-server --transport http --host 127.0.0.1 --port 8000
```
Connect an MCP client using Streamable HTTP to `http://127.0.0.1:8000/mcp`.
| Setting | CLI flag | Environment variable | Default outside Docker |
| ---------------------------------- | ------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------- |
| Transport | `--transport` | `MONARCH_MCP_TRANSPORT` | `stdio` (`http` aliases `streamable-http`) |
| Listen address | `--host` | `MONARCH_MCP_HOST` | `127.0.0.1` |
| Listen port | `--port` | `MONARCH_MCP_PORT` | `8000` |
| Additional allowed Host headers | `--allowed-host` (repeatable) | `MONARCH_MCP_ALLOWED_HOSTS` (comma-separated) | None; loopback hosts are always allowed |
| Additional allowed browser Origins | `--allowed-origin` (repeatable) | `MONARCH_MCP_ALLOWED_ORIGINS` (comma-separated) | None; HTTP loopback origins are always allowed |
CLI flags override their environment settings.
Host entries include the port when clients send one; `server.lan:*` allows any port.
Origin entries include the scheme, for example `https://client.example.com`.
Clients without an Origin header are supported.
Browser clients may additionally require CORS handling at the reverse proxy.
## Meta Muse
Works great with Meta Muse, Meta's AI assistant, alongside Claude Desktop and
Claude Code. Muse speaks MCP, so it connects the same way as any other client:
give it the stdio launch command from the installation section, or point it at
the Streamable HTTP endpoint if you are running the container.
Using Muse? Ask it to install this server from this repo. Muse can handle the
install and register the server with itself, but authentication is a step only
you can do: run login_setup.py once and paste a browser cookie, or enter your
password and MFA. After that, ask Muse to list your Monarch accounts to confirm
it is working.
Check out Muse, your personal AI agent. Redeem my code in Settings within 48
hours of joining and we'll both get 1 billion Muse tokens.
Code: O63W0U
https://muse.ai/join
## āØ Features
### š Account Management
- **Get Accounts**: View all linked financial accounts with balances and institution info
- **Get Account Holdings**: See securities and investments in investment accounts
- **Refresh Accounts**: Request real-time data updates from financial institutions
### š° Transaction Access
- **Get Transactions**: Fetch transaction data with filtering by date, account, and pagination
- **Create Transaction**: Add new transactions to accounts
- **Update Transaction**: Modify existing transactions (amount, description, category, date)
### š·ļø Category Management
- **Get Categories**: List all transaction categories with groups, icons, and metadata
- **Get Category Groups**: View category groups with their associated categories
### š Transaction Review
- **Get Transactions Needing Review**: Find transactions that need attention (uncategorized, no notes, flagged)
- **Set Transaction Category**: Assign a category to a transaction
- **Update Transaction Notes**: Add or update notes on transactions (great for receipt links)
- **Mark Transaction Reviewed**: Clear the needs_review flag on transactions
### š¦ Bulk Operations
- **Bulk Categorize Transactions**: Apply a category to multiple transactions at once
### š Tag Management
- **Get Tags**: List all available tags with colors and usage counts
- **Set Transaction Tags**: Apply tags to a transaction
- **Create Tag**: Create a new tag with custom name and color
### š Advanced Search
- **Search Transactions**: Comprehensive search with filters for merchant, category, account, tags, date ranges, and amounts
- **Get Transaction Details**: Retrieve complete details for a single transaction
- **Delete Transaction**: Remove a transaction
- **Get Recurring Transactions**: View upcoming recurring transactions
### š¤ Transaction Rules (Auto-Categorization)
- **Get Transaction Rules**: List all auto-categorization rules
- **Create Transaction Rule**: Create rules with merchant/amount conditions to auto-categorize
- **Update Transaction Rule**: Modify existing rules
- **Delete Transaction Rule**: Remove a rule
### Recurring forecasts and synced bills
`get_recurring_transactions()` includes merchant forecasts **and synced liability
bills** (such as credit cards and loans). Set `include_liabilities=False` to
request only merchant recurring items. Omit both dates for the current calendar
month, or provide both `start_date` and `end_date` in `YYYY-MM-DD` format.
The default response remains a JSON list with the existing merchant fields.
Each item also exposes `account_id`, `category_id`, `amount_diff`, and the stream's
`name` and `merchant_id`. A liability item can have a null merchant. Its
`stream.credit_report_liability_account` contains the liability `id`, linked
`account_id`/`account` name, and `last_statement` with `id`, `due_date`,
`bill_amount`, `minimum_payment_amount`, `payment_status`, and `remaining_balance`.
Missing statements and unknown balances stay null; paid balances stay zero.
**These are not interchangeable amounts.** The item's `amount` and stream's
`amount` are recurring forecasts. `last_statement.bill_amount` is the original
synced statement amount; `remaining_balance` is the remaining synced statement
balance. The latest statement's due date can differ from the forecast item's
`date`. Payment status is returned as supplied by Monarch, not inferred. These
values reflect the latest sync, not a guaranteed real-time amount owed.
Merchant forecasts and liability bills can describe the same payment. The tool
preserves both with their identities: it does not sum, deduplicate, or substitute
forecast amounts for unknown statement balances.
Reads are paginated (`limit=100`, `offset=0` by default). For completeness checks,
use `include_metadata=True` to opt into the standard envelope (`data`, `args`,
`count`, `total_count`, `truncated`, `tool`, `search`):
```python
get_recurring_transactions(
start_date="2026-02-01", end_date="2026-02-28",
include_liabilities=True, limit=100, offset=0, include_metadata=True,
)
```
The API supplies no total, so `total_count` is null and a full page is
conservatively marked `truncated=True` (more rows may exist). Keep the dates and
filters fixed, advance `offset` by `count`, and continue until `truncated=False`.
An exactly full final page requires one more request, which may return an empty
page. The legacy list has no pagination metadata; do not assume one list is the
complete month. Synced bills require bill sync to be available and configured
in Monarch; the tool does not enable it or refresh institutions.
### š Merchant & Recurring Stream Management
- **Get Merchant**: View a merchant's details including recurring transaction stream configuration
- **Update Merchant**: Modify a merchant's name and/or recurring stream settings (frequency, amount, base date)
- **Review Recurring Stream**: Accept, ignore, or reset recurring transaction streams detected by Monarch
### āļø Transaction Splits
- **Get Transaction Splits**: View how a transaction has been split into parts
- **Split Transaction**: Divide a single transaction into multiple parts with different categories or merchants
### šµ Budget Management
- **Get Budgets**: Access budget information including spent amounts and remaining balances by category
- **Set Budget Amount**: Create or modify budget amounts for any category or category group
### š Net Worth Tracking
- **Get Net Worth**: Track total net worth over time with daily snapshots and trend analysis
- **Get Account Balance History**: View historical balance data for any account
- **Get Net Worth by Account Type**: See net worth breakdown across account types (checking, savings, investments, etc.)
### š Financial Analysis
- **Get Cashflow**: Analyze financial cashflow over specified date ranges with income/expense breakdowns
- **Get Transactions Summary**: Quick high-level statistics about your transactions
- **Get Spending Summary**: Spending breakdown by category with totals
### š Secure Authentication
- **One-Time Setup**: Authenticate once, use for weeks/months
- **Email OTP Support**: Handles Monarch's email verification flow for new devices/sessions
- **MFA Support**: Full support for two-factor authentication
- **SSO/Google sign-in**: Use `monarch_login_with_token` to paste a session token from your browser
- **Session Persistence**: No need to re-authenticate frequently
- **Secure**: Credentials never pass through Claude
## š ļø Available Tools
All 58 registered tools. Required parameters are listed first, optional ones
are marked with a trailing question mark. This table is generated from the
live tool registry and the functions' signatures, so it does not drift.
| Tool | Description | Parameters |
| --------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| `add_transaction_tag` | Add a tag to a transaction, preserving any tags already on it | `transaction_id`, `tag_id` |
| `bulk_categorize_transactions` | Apply the same category to multiple transactions at once | `transaction_ids`, `category_id`, `mark_reviewed`?, `dry_run`? |
| `bulk_update_transactions` | Apply the same edit to many transactions in one request | `transaction_ids`, `category_id`?, `merchant_name`?, `notes`?, `goal_id`?, `needs_review`?, `dry_run`? |
| `categorize_transaction` | Assign a category to a transaction | `transaction_id`, `category_id` |
| `check_auth_status` | Report the stored session and its auth mode | None |
| `create_transaction` | Create a new transaction in Monarch Money | `date`, `account_id`, `amount`, `merchant_name`, `category_id`, `notes`?, `update_balance`? |
| `create_transaction_category` | Create a new transaction category | `group_id`, `transaction_category_name`, `icon`?, `rollover_enabled`?, `rollover_type`? |
| `create_transaction_rule` | Create a new transaction auto-categorization rule | `merchant_criteria_operator`?, `merchant_criteria_value`?, `merchant_criteria_values`?, `merchant_criteria`?, `original_statement_operator`?, `original_statement_values`?, `original_statement_criteria`?, `use_original_statement`?, `amount_operator`?, `amount_value`?, `amount_lower`?, `amount_upper`?, `amount_is_expense`?, `set_category_id`?, `set_merchant_name`?, `add_tag_ids`?, `link_goal_id`?, `hide_from_reports`?, `review_status`?, `account_ids`?, `category_ids`?, `apply_to_existing`? |
| `create_transaction_tag` | Create a new transaction tag | `name`, `color` |
| `debug_session_loading` | Diagnose session loading problems | None |
| `delete_transaction` | Delete a transaction from Monarch Money | `transaction_id` |
| `delete_transaction_rule` | Delete a transaction rule | `rule_id` |
| `get_account_balance_history` | Get historical balance data for a specific account | `account_id` |
| `get_account_holdings` | Get investment holdings for a specific account | `account_id` |
| `get_account_sync_health` | Report the health of each linked institution connection | `stale_after_days`? |
| `get_accounts` | Get all financial accounts from Monarch Money | None |
| `get_budgets` | Get budget information from Monarch Money | `start_date`?, `end_date`? |
| `get_cashflow` | Get cashflow analysis from Monarch Money | `start_date`?, `end_date`? |
| `get_cashflow_by_month` | Get spending trends over time, broken down by category and month | `start_date`, `end_date` |
| `get_category_details` | Get a single category's details including budget amounts for a month | `category_id`, `month`? |
| `get_debt_paydown` | Get the debt paydown plan and the accounts feeding it | `method`? |
| `get_goal_contributions` | Show a goal's budgeted contributions, broken down by funding account | `goal_id`, `month`? |
| `get_goals` | List Monarch savings and debt-paydown goals | None |
| `get_merchant` | Get a merchant's details including recurring transaction stream configuration | `merchant_id` |
| `get_net_worth` | Get net worth history over time | `start_date`?, `end_date`?, `account_type`? |
| `get_net_worth_by_account_type` | Get net worth breakdown by account type over time | `start_date`, `timeframe`? |
| `get_recurring_transactions` | Get upcoming recurring transactions | `start_date`?, `end_date`?, `include_liabilities`?, `limit`?, `offset`?, `include_metadata`? |
| `get_spending_summary` | Get a spending summary broken down by category, category group, and merchant | `start_date`?, `end_date`? |
| `get_transaction_categories` | Get all available transaction categories from Monarch Money | None |
| `get_transaction_category_groups` | Get all transaction category groups (parent groupings for categories) | None |
| `get_transaction_details` | Get full details for a specific transaction | `transaction_id` |
| `get_transaction_rules` | Get all transaction auto-categorization rules from Monarch Money | None |
| `get_transaction_splits` | Get the splits for a transaction | `transaction_id` |
| `get_transaction_tags` | Get all available transaction tags from Monarch Money | None |
| `get_transactions` | Get transactions from Monarch Money | `limit`?, `offset`?, `start_date`?, `end_date`?, `account_id`?, `search`?, `category_ids`?, `category_group_ids`?, `account_ids`?, `tag_ids`?, `has_notes`?, `is_split`?, `is_recurring`?, `wide_search`?, `search_scan_limit`? |
| `get_transactions_needing_review` | Get transactions that need review based on various criteria | `needs_review`?, `days`?, `uncategorized_only`?, `without_notes_only`?, `limit`?, `offset`?, `account_id`? |
| `get_transactions_summary` | Get a high-level summary of transactions | None |
| `mark_transaction_reviewed` | Mark a transaction as reviewed (clears the needs_review flag) | `transaction_id` |
| `monarch_login` | Sign in via a secure form in the client UI | None |
| `monarch_login_with_token` | Sign in with a browser copied session token | None |
| `monarch_logout` | Clear the stored session and drop the cached client | None |
| `monarch_whoami` | Report who is signed in and what the account's plan entitles it to | None |
| `refresh_accounts` | Request account data refresh from financial institutions | `account_ids`? |
| `reorder_transaction_rule` | Move a transaction rule to a new position in the evaluation order | `rule_id`, `new_order` |
| `review_recurring_stream` | Set the review status of a recurring transaction stream | `stream_id`, `review_status` |
| `search_transactions` | Search and filter transactions with comprehensive filtering options | `search`?, `limit`?, `offset`?, `start_date`?, `end_date`?, `category_ids`?, `account_ids`?, `tag_ids`?, `has_attachments`?, `has_notes`?, `hidden_from_reports`?, `is_split`?, `is_recurring`? |
| `set_budget_amount` | Set or update a budget amount for a category or category group | `amount`, `category_id`?, `category_group_id`?, `start_date`?, `apply_to_future`? |
| `set_goal_contribution` | Set the budgeted monthly contribution to a goal from one funding account | `goal_id`, `account_id`, `amount` |
| `set_transaction_tags` | Set tags on a transaction | `transaction_id`, `tag_ids` |
| `setup_authentication` | Get setup instructions | None |
| `split_transaction` | Split a transaction into multiple parts with different categories/merchants | `transaction_id`, `splits` |
| `update_account` | Update an account's name, balance, type or visibility settings | `account_id`, `name`?, `balance`?, `account_type`?, `account_sub_type`?, `include_in_net_worth`?, `hide_from_summary_list`?, `hide_transactions_from_reports`?, `dry_run`? |
| `update_category` | Update an existing category's settings | `category_id`, `name`?, `icon`?, `group_id`?, `category_type`?, `exclude_from_budget`?, `budget_variability`?, `rollover_enabled`?, `rollover_start_month`?, `rollover_starting_balance`?, `rollover_frequency`?, `rollover_target_amount`?, `rollover_type`?, `confirm_rollover_reset`?, `dry_run`? |
| `update_merchant` | Update a merchant's name and/or recurring transaction stream settings | `merchant_id`, `name`?, `is_recurring`?, `frequency`?, `base_date`?, `amount`?, `is_active`? |
| `update_savings_goal` | Update a savings goal's target or monthly contribution | `goal_id`, `target_amount`?, `target_date`?, `name`?, `priority`?, `goal_type`?, `is_sinking_fund`? |
| `update_transaction` | Update an existing transaction in Monarch Money | `transaction_id`, `category_id`?, `merchant_name`?, `goal_id`?, `amount`?, `date`?, `hide_from_reports`?, `needs_review`?, `notes`? |
| `update_transaction_notes` | Update the notes/memo for a transaction | `transaction_id`, `notes`, `receipt_url`? |
| `update_transaction_rule` | Update an existing transaction rule | `rule_id`, `merchant_criteria_operator`?, `merchant_criteria_value`?, `merchant_criteria_values`?, `merchant_criteria`?, `original_statement_operator`?, `original_statement_values`?, `original_statement_criteria`?, `use_original_statement`?, `amount_operator`?, `amount_value`?, `amount_lower`?, `amount_upper`?, `amount_is_expense`?, `set_category_id`?, `set_merchant_name`?, `add_tag_ids`?, `link_goal_id`?, `hide_from_reports`?, `review_status`?, `account_ids`?, `category_ids`?, `clear_category`?, `clear_merchant`?, `clear_tags`?, `clear_goal_link`?, `clear_review_status`?, `apply_to_existing`? |
| `upload_account_balance_history` | Upload corrected balance snapshots for an account | `account_id`, `corrections`, `dry_run`? |
## š Usage Examples
### View Your Accounts
```
Use get_accounts to show me all my financial accounts
```
### Get Recent Transactions
```
Show me my last 50 transactions using get_transactions with limit 50
```
`get_transactions` returns a JSON object with `tool`, `args`, `count`, `total_count`, `truncated`, `search`, and `data` so large `agent-tools/<uuid>.txt` responses are self-describing. Transaction rows live in `data` and include `original_statement` / `plaid_description` when Monarch provides the underlying Plaid statement text, plus `currency`, `direction`, `direction_source`, `transaction_type`, `category_group`, and `category_group_id` when those values can be derived from Monarch response data. When Monarch's server-side `search` errors or returns no rows, `wide_search` scans recent transactions locally across merchant, original statement, description, notes, category, account, and tags.
### Check Spending vs Budget
```
Use get_budgets to show my current budget status
```
### Set a Budget Amount
```
Set my grocery budget to $600 for this month using set_budget_amount
```
### Apply Budget to All Future Months
```
Set my entertainment budget to $150 and apply it to all future months using set_budget_amount with apply_to_future=true
```
### Track Net Worth Over Time
```
Show my net worth trend for the past year using get_net_worth
```
### View Account Balance History
```
Show me how my savings account balance has changed over time using get_account_balance_history
```
### Net Worth Breakdown by Account Type
```
Show my net worth breakdown by account type using get_net_worth_by_account_type
```
### Analyze Cash Flow
```
Get my cashflow for the last 3 months using get_cashflow
```
### List Available Categories
```
Show me all available categories using get_transaction_categories
```
### Review Uncategorized Transactions
```
Show me transactions from the last 7 days that need review using get_transactions_needing_review
```
### Bulk Categorize Transactions
```
Categorize these three transactions as "Groceries" using bulk_categorize_transactions
```
### Tag a Transaction
```
Add the "Tax Deductible" tag to this transaction using set_transaction_tags
```
### Search for Transactions
```
Find all Amazon transactions from the last month using search_transactions
```
### View Recurring Bills
```
Show me my upcoming recurring transactions using get_recurring_transactions
```
### Create Auto-Categorization Rule
```
Create a rule to automatically categorize Amazon transactions as "Shopping" using create_transaction_rule
```
### Split a Transaction
```
Split this $100 Costco transaction into $60 for Groceries and $40 for Household using split_transaction
```
### Get Transaction Statistics
```
Give me a quick summary of my transactions using get_transactions_summary
```
### View Spending by Category
```
Show my spending breakdown by category for last month using get_spending_summary
```
### Update a Recurring Bill Amount
```
Update PennyMac's recurring stream to $1,460.93 monthly using update_merchant
```
### Review Recurring Streams
```
Approve the Netflix recurring stream using review_recurring_stream
```
## š
Date Formats
- All dates should be in `YYYY-MM-DD` format (e.g., "2024-01-15")
- Transaction amounts: **positive** for income, **negative** for expenses
## š§ Troubleshooting
### Authentication Issues
If you see "Authentication needed" errors:
1. Run the setup command: `cd /path/to/your/monarch-mcp-server && python login_setup.py` (or `uv run python login_setup.py`)
2. Restart Claude Desktop or Claude Code
3. Try using a tool like `get_accounts`
### Email Verification Required
Monarch may require an email one-time code for a new device or session, even if MFA is not enabled. If you see an email-code prompt:
1. Check the email address on your Monarch account
2. Enter the one-time code in `login_setup.py`
3. Let the script finish so it can save the reusable token to your system keyring
### Session Expired or 401 within an hour
If your session dies quickly (under a couple of hours), the most common cause is that Monarch returned a short-lived token. The login script now requests `trusted_device=True` and rejects any short-lived token, so a fresh login produces a long-lived session. If you re-run `login_setup.py` and the issue persists, switch to option 1 (browser cookies); cookie sessions track the lifetime of the underlying browser login.
### Cloudflare CAPTCHA on login
If `login_setup.py` reports "Programmatic login is blocked by Cloudflare CAPTCHA", choose option 1 (browser cookies) instead. Email/password POSTs to Monarch's login endpoint are sometimes gated by Cloudflare for unfamiliar IPs or rapid retries; cookie-based auth bypasses that endpoint entirely.
### `'Context' object has no attribute 'elicit'`
The `monarch_login` and `monarch_login_with_token` tools require the MCP Python SDK 1.10.0 or newer (released June 2025). If your environment cached an older `mcp` install, refresh it:
```bash
uv cache clean mcp
```
Then fully quit and reopen Claude Desktop or Claude Code so it relaunches the server with a fresh resolution. As a fallback while you upgrade, run `python login_setup.py` from the repo to authenticate via the terminal.
### Common Error Messages
- **"No valid session found"**: Run `python login_setup.py` (or `uv run python login_setup.py`)
- **"Monarch sent a one-time code to your email"**: Run `python login_setup.py` and complete email verification
- **"Invalid account ID"**: Use `get_accounts` to see valid account IDs
- **"Date format error"**: Use YYYY-MM-DD format for dates
## šļø Technical Details
### Project Structure
```
monarch-mcp-server/
āāā src/monarch_mcp_server/
ā āāā __init__.py
ā āāā app.py # FastMCP app instance and entry point
ā āāā client.py # Cached MonarchMoney client factory
ā āāā monarch_auth.py # Current Monarch auth compatibility (host, email OTP, device-uuid)
ā āāā secure_session.py # Keyring-backed token storage (file fallback)
ā āāā server.py # Backward-compatibility shim re-exporting the tools
ā āāā tools/ # MCP tools grouped by domain (accounts, transactions, budgets, ā¦)
āāā login_setup.py # Terminal authentication script
āāā pyproject.toml # Project configuration
āāā requirements-lock.txt # Generated from uv.lock, hash pinned
āāā README.md # This documentation
```
### Session Management
- Session tokens are stored securely in the system keyring (with an automatic file fallback for environments without a keyring backend)
- The `device-uuid` captured at login is stored alongside the token so it reloads cleanly
- Sessions persist across Claude Desktop and Claude Code restarts
- No need for frequent re-authentication
### Security Features
- Credentials never transmitted through Claude Desktop or Claude Code
- MFA/2FA fully supported
- Email verification codes are handled only in the terminal setup script
- Session tokens are stored in the system keyring
- Authentication handled in secure terminal environment
### Strongest option: read only mode
Set `MONARCH_MCP_READ_ONLY=1` in the server's environment and the mutating
tools are never registered. They do not appear in the tool list and cannot be
called at all, which is stronger than an approval prompt: a model that was
talked into a write by a merchant name or memo it read back cannot invoke a
tool that is not there.
```json
{
"mcpServers": {
"Monarch Money": {
"command": "/opt/homebrew/bin/uv",
"args": ["run", "--project", "/path/to/your/monarch-mcp-server", "monarch-mcp-server"],
"env": { "MONARCH_MCP_READ_ONLY": "1" }
}
}
}
```
This leaves 30 of the 58 tools available, covering everything that reads.
Read only is off by default, so existing setups are unaffected. Note that it
also removes the login and logout tools, since those change durable state, so
authenticate with `login_setup.py` before enabling it.
### Recommended: require approval for mutating tools
These tools mutate your Monarch data. The list is every registered tool that writes, checked against the source rather than maintained by hand:
**Accounts**: `update_account`
**Transactions**: `create_transaction`, `update_transaction`, `delete_transaction`, `categorize_transaction`, `update_transaction_notes`, `mark_transaction_reviewed`, `bulk_categorize_transactions`, `bulk_update_transactions`, `split_transaction`, `upload_account_balance_history`
**Tags**: `set_transaction_tags`, `add_transaction_tag`, `create_transaction_tag`
**Rules**: `create_transaction_rule`, `update_transaction_rule`, `delete_transaction_rule`, `reorder_transaction_rule`
**Categories and budgets**: `create_transaction_category`, `update_category`, `set_budget_amount`
**Goals**: `update_savings_goal`, `set_goal_contribution`
**Merchants**: `update_merchant`, `review_recurring_stream`
**Session**: `monarch_login`, `monarch_login_with_token`, `monarch_logout`
`refresh_accounts` is side effecting too, since it posts a refresh request to your institutions, though it does not change your ledger.
Because the LLM can be influenced by data it reads back (a malicious-looking memo or merchant name in a transaction), the safest setup is to configure your MCP client to require manual approval before any mutating tool runs. In Claude Desktop and Claude Code this is the default behavior for unknown tools; keep it that way for the tools listed above rather than allow-listing them.
`bulk_categorize_transactions`, `bulk_update_transactions`, `upload_account_balance_history`, `update_account` and `update_category` accept a `dry_run=True` argument that returns the planned changes without executing them, useful for previewing before approving.
`update_category` additionally requires `confirm_rollover_reset=True` before `rollover_start_month` or `rollover_starting_balance` will be applied. Those two restart a category's rollover period and discard the balance accumulated in it, which cannot be undone, so they cannot ride along unnoticed in a call that otherwise reads like a rename.
## š Acknowledgments
This MCP server is built on top of the [MonarchMoneyCommunity Python library](https://github.com/bradleyseanf/monarchmoneycommunity), an actively maintained community fork of the original [MonarchMoney library](https://github.com/hammem/monarchmoney) by [@hammem](https://github.com/hammem). The community fork provides:
- Updated API endpoints for Monarch Money's current domain
- Secure authentication with MFA support
- Comprehensive API coverage for Monarch Money
- Session management and persistence
Thank you to [@hammem](https://github.com/hammem) for creating and maintaining this essential library!
## š License
MIT License
## š Support
For issues:
1. Check authentication with `check_auth_status`
2. Run the setup command again: `cd /path/to/your/monarch-mcp-server && python login_setup.py`
3. Check error logs for detailed messages
4. Ensure Monarch Money service is accessible
## š Updates
To update the server:
1. Pull latest changes from repository
2. Restart Claude Desktop or Claude Code
3. Re-run authentication if needed: `python login_setup.py`
TDQS
B3.3/5.0
Scored across 11 tools
Disambiguation4/5
Tools are mostly distinct: transactions, accounts, budgets, cashflow, and holdings each target different resources. However, get_accounts and get_account_holdings could be confused despite the holding-specific focus, and debug_session_loading is vaguely defined and might overlap with auth-status checks.
Naming Consistency4/5
The majority follow a consistent verb_noun pattern (get_, create_, update_, refresh_), but debug_session_loading breaks the convention (noun-based) and setup_authentication/check_auth_status use a slightly different style, causing minor inconsistency.
Tool Count5/5
Eleven tools is well-scoped for a personal finance integration. Each tool covers a distinct aspect (read accounts, budgets, cashflow, transactions, holdings, write transactions, auth, refresh) without unnecessary redundancy, making the set feel complete yet focused.
Completeness4/5
The surface covers core finance operations: listing accounts, budgets, cashflow, transactions, and holdings, plus create/update for transactions and refresh. Missing delete_transaction is a minor gap, and there's no tool for managing categories or accounts directly, but the primary workflows are covered.
Maintenance
ActivityActive
ResponsivenessSlow