Actual MCP Server

Actual Budget MCP server exposing API functionality

Local serverstdio

What is the Actual MCP MCP server?

Connect Actual MCP to Claude, Cursor or any other MCP client and it stops being a tab you switch to. Actual Budget MCP server exposing API functionality. The actual mcp mcp server is what makes that connection.

What the server does

MCP server for integrating Actual Budget with Claude and other LLM assistants.

The Actual Budget MCP Server allows you to interact with your personal financial data from Actual Budget using natural language through LLMs. It exposes your accounts, transactions, and financial metrics through the Model Context Protocol (MCP).

Available tools

The toolset is worth reading before you wire it up, because it tells you what the integration is really for:

  • Resources — The Resources tool exposed by this server
  • Tools — The Tools tool exposed by this server
  • Categories — The Categories tool exposed by this server
  • Payees — The Payees tool exposed by this server
  • Rules — The Rules tool exposed by this server
  • Prompts — The Prompts tool exposed by this server
  • Prerequisites — The Prerequisites tool exposed by this server
  • Debugging — Since MCP servers communicate over stdio, debugging can be challenging. You can use the [MCP

Credentials and setup notes

Configuration is passed through the environment: ACTUAL_DATA_DIR, ACTUAL_PASSWORD, ACTUAL_SERVER_URL, ACTUAL_BUDGET_SYNC_ID, ACTUAL_BUDGET_ENCRYPTION_PASSWORD, BEARER_TOKEN. Treat anything key-shaped as a real credential — scope it to the minimum the server needs, and rotate it if it ever lands in a shared config.

Installation

Installation goes through your MCP client rather than a global install: point it at version on npm and it is fetched when the client starts. The copy-paste blocks for Claude Desktop, Claude Code and Cursor are further down this page.

Where it fits

This sits in the developer tooling group, where several servers overlap in what they claim to do but differ sharply once you actually set them up. Actual MCP's toolset — Resources, Tools, Categories and 5 more — is a fair guide to whether it matches your workflow. It is maintained by s-stefanov; worth a glance at recent repository activity before you build anything load-bearing on it.

This entry was verified against Actual MCP's own documentation before publication; SyncDev keeps the directory reviewed rather than auto-generated.

Worth knowing first

  • It runs with your machine's permissions. That is convenient and also the reason to think about what you point it at before you approve a tool call.
  • Missing credentials fail quietly in some clients — if no tools show up, check the environment block first.
  • Keep per-call confirmation enabled while you learn its behaviour; it is the cheapest safeguard you have.

Available tools

ToolWhat it does
ResourcesThe Resources tool exposed by this server.
ToolsThe Tools tool exposed by this server.
CategoriesThe Categories tool exposed by this server.
PayeesThe Payees tool exposed by this server.
RulesThe Rules tool exposed by this server.
PromptsThe Prompts tool exposed by this server.
PrerequisitesThe Prerequisites tool exposed by this server.
DebuggingSince MCP servers communicate over stdio, debugging can be challenging. You can use the [MCP Inspector](https://github.com/modelcontextprotocol/inspector):

How to install the Actual MCP MCP server

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "actualBudget": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "actual-mcp", "--enable-write"],
      "env": {
        "ACTUAL_DATA_DIR": "path/to/your/data",
        "ACTUAL_PASSWORD": "your-password",
        "ACTUAL_SERVER_URL": "http://your-actual-server.com",
        "ACTUAL_BUDGET_SYNC_ID": "your-budget-id"
      }
    }
  }
}

### a. Using Node.js (local only):

Configuration as documented by the project. Restart the client after saving.

Configuration

VariableDescriptionRequired
ACTUAL_DATA_DIRFilesystem location the server is allowed to use.Optional
ACTUAL_PASSWORDConfiguration value read at startup.Optional
ACTUAL_SERVER_URLEndpoint or connection string the server talks to.Yes
ACTUAL_BUDGET_SYNC_IDConfiguration value read at startup.Optional
ACTUAL_BUDGET_ENCRYPTION_PASSWORDConfiguration value read at startup.Optional
BEARER_TOKENCredential the server authenticates with.Yes

Example prompts to try

  • Use Actual MCP to Resources.
  • Use Actual MCP to Tools.
  • Use Actual MCP to Categories.

Frequently asked questions

It connects Actual MCP to MCP-compatible AI assistants such as Claude and Cursor, exposing 8 tools (Resources, Tools, Categories, and more) that the assistant can call on your behalf. Instead of copying data back and forth by hand, the assistant works with Actual MCP directly.