mcp-expense-tracker

An MCP (Model Context Protocol) server for tracking expenses. Expenses are stored in a local JSON file, and the server exposes tools for adding expenses and summarizing totals by day or month.

Two equivalent implementations are included:

• src/ — TypeScript/Node, stdio transport. Use this with Claude Code or Claude Desktop.

• server.py — Python (FastMCP). Use this to deploy on FastMCP Cloud so it's reachable as a remote connector from claude.ai.

Tools

• add_expense — record an expense (amount, category, optional description, optional date defaulting to today)

• list_expenses — list expenses, optionally filtered by start_date, end_date, category

• delete_expense — delete an expense by id

• summarize — get the total (and per-category breakdown) for a day, month, or all time, anchored on an optional date

Related MCP server: Expense Tracker MCP Server

Deploy on FastMCP Cloud (for claude.ai)

FastMCP Cloud deploys directly from this GitHub repo. When it asks for an entrypoint, use:

server.py

(FastMCP Cloud auto-detects the mcp object in server.py; you'd only need server.py:mcp if the variable were named something else.) It installs requirements.txt automatically. Once deployed, add the resulting https://<your-app>.fastmcp.app/mcp URL as a custom connector in claude.ai's connector settings.

Storage caveat: server.py stores expenses in a local data/expenses.json file. Confirm your FastMCP Cloud plan gives that container a persistent disk — if storage is ephemeral/rebuilt on redeploy, expenses will reset. If you hit that, swap server.py's file-backed storage for a hosted database.

Node/TypeScript setup

npm install
npm run build

Run standalone

npm start

The server communicates over stdio, so it's meant to be launched by an MCP client rather than used directly in a terminal.

Use with Claude Code

claude mcp add expense-tracker -- node /absolute/path/to/mcp-tracker/build/index.js

Use with Claude Desktop

Add to claude_desktop_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "expense-tracker": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/absolute/path/to/mcp-tracker/build/index.js"]
    }
  }
}

Run the Python version locally

pip install -r requirements.txt
python server.py

Data storage

Expenses are stored in data/expenses.json (created automatically). Set EXPENSE_DATA_DIR to change where data is stored. This applies to both implementations.