Planning Center

You set up this MCP server to connect Planning Center Online (PCO) data to AI assistants, enabling you to query and manage people, services, giving, groups, calendar events, and check-ins across your PCO account through natural language conversations.

How to use

You interact with the MCP server by running it locally or in HTTP mode and then connecting your MCP client (such as Claude) to the provided endpoint. Once connected, you can ask for listings, details, or actions across PCO modules. Examples include listing people, viewing service plans, listing donations, checking group memberships, retrieving upcoming calendar events, and viewing check-in locations. Use natural language prompts like asking for counts, upcoming items, or specific records, and the MCP server will translate your requests into PCO API calls.

How to install

Prerequisites you need before installation: Node.js and npm installed on your machine.

Step 1: Install dependencies and build the server.

npm install
npm run build

Configure and run the MCP server

You will provide a Planning Center Application ID and Secret as environment variables. Configure Claude Desktop to load the MCP server from a local script, then start the server in either stdio (local) mode or HTTP (remote/multi-client) mode.

Configure your MCP client with the following JSON snippet. This runs the MCP server locally and passes your Planning Center credentials via environment variables.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "planning-center": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/path/to/planning-center-mcp-server/dist/index.js"],
      "env": {
        "PCO_APP_ID": "your_application_id",
        "PCO_SECRET": "your_secret"
      }
    }
  }
}

Run in stdio mode (local client)

Start the server in stdio mode using the following command. This runs the MCP server directly with Node.js and uses your environment variables for authentication.

PCO_APP_ID=your_app_id PCO_SECRET=your_secret npm start

Run in HTTP mode (remote/multi-client)

Start the server in HTTP mode to allow multiple clients to connect via a shared HTTP endpoint. This enables you to connect from Claude or other MCP clients over the network.

PCO_APP_ID=your_app_id PCO_SECRET=your_secret TRANSPORT=http PORT=3000 npm start
# Server available at http://localhost:3000/mcp

Additional configuration notes

The server exposes a comprehensive set of tools across modules. You can query and manage people, services, giving, groups, calendar events, and check-ins using natural language prompts through your MCP client.

Development

For development, you can watch for changes and rerun builds as you iterate.

npm run dev
npm run clean

Available tools

pco_list_people

Search or list people with filters such as name, status, gender, or child status.

pco_get_person

Retrieve a full person record including emails, phones, and addresses.

pco_create_person

Create a new person record in Planning Center.

pco_update_person

Update an existing person with sparse updates.

pco_list_person_emails

List email addresses associated with a person.

pco_list_person_phone_numbers

List phone numbers for a person.

pco_list_households

List households.

pco_list_people_lists

List smart lists (saved filters).

pco_list_service_types

List all service types.

pco_list_plans

List plans for a service type with filters for future or past.

pco_get_plan

Get full plan details.

pco_list_songs

List or search the song library.

pco_list_teams

List teams for a service type.

pco_list_series

List sermon series for a service type.

pco_list_donations

List donations with filters by date, method, or status.

pco_get_donation

Get donation details.

pco_list_funds

List giving funds.

pco_list_donation_batches

List donation batches.

pco_list_groups

List or search groups.

pco_get_group

Get group details.

pco_list_group_members

List group members and leaders.

pco_list_group_types

List group types.

pco_list_calendar_events

List events with filters for approved, pending, future, or past.

pco_get_calendar_event

Get event details, including instances.

pco_list_event_instances

List occurrences of a calendar event.

pco_list_calendar_resources

List facility resources or rooms.

pco_list_checkins

List check-in records filtered by date.

pco_list_checkin_events

List check-in events.

pco_list_checkin_locations

List locations for a check-in event.