Lunchmoney

You can interact with your Lunchmoney data through an MCP server that connects AI assistants like Claude to your transactions and budgets. This server exposes a focused set of tools you can use to view recent activity, search by keyword, analyze category spending, and review budget status, all with user-controlled access and clear data boundaries.

How to use

Connect your MCP client to the Lunchmoney MCP Server using the provided configuration. Once connected, you can ask your assistant to retrieve recent transactions, search for items by payee or note, examine category spending, and display a budget summary. Actions are designed to be human-friendly and require your explicit approval for any data access or changes.

Practical capabilities you can rely on include: retrieving recent transactions within a customizable window, filtering transactions by keyword, summarizing spending by category, and presenting a month-by-month budget status with remaining amounts and recurring items.

How to install

Prerequisites you need before installation:

# Install Node.js and npm if you do not have them yet
# On macOS with Homebrew:
brew install node

# On Debian/Ubuntu:
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install -y nodejs npm

# Verify installations
node -v
npm -v

Install the MCP server via Smithery to enable Claude Desktop integration:

npx -y @smithery/cli install @leafeye/lunchmoney-mcp-server --client claude

Configure the MCP server for Claude Desktop by adding the following MCP configuration snippet. Replace your_token_here with your Lunchmoney API token.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "lunchmoney": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "lunchmoney-mcp-server"],
      "env": {
        "LUNCHMONEY_TOKEN": "your_token_here"
      }
    }
  }
}

Additional notes

API behavior notes: budget data should use month boundaries for dates (e.g., 2024-01-01 to 2024-01-31). Transactions can use any date range. All monetary values are returned in their original currency. Category names are case-insensitive when searching.

Security model: actions are designed to be human-in-the-loop, requiring your confirmation before data is accessed or operations are performed.

Configuration and behavior details

The server exposes four primary tools you can use via your MCP client: get-recent-transactions, search-transactions, get-category-spending, and get-budget-summary. These tools enable you to view recent activity, search by keyword in payee names or notes, analyze spending by category, and obtain a detailed budget overview including remaining amounts and recurring items.

Development and testing notes: you can run the server locally by starting the built index with your Lunchmoney API token. For development testing, you can also attach the MCP Inspector to validate requests and responses.

Notes on usage with Claude Desktop

After configuring the MCP server in your Claude Desktop client, you can ask natural-language questions such as: “Show me my budget summary for this month” or “Search for transactions at Amazon.” The assistant will present results sourced from your Lunchmoney data in the context of your current session.

Available tools

get-recent-transactions

Fetches transactions from the past N days to provide a quick snapshot of recent activity.

search-transactions

Searches your transactions by keyword in payee names or notes to help you locate specific entries.

get-category-spending

Analyzes and reports spending by category, enabling you to identify where your money goes.

get-budget-summary

Returns detailed budget information, including spending, remaining amounts, and recurring items for selected periods.