Overview
What is Lunchmoney MCP Server?
A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that lets you interact with your Lunchmoney transactions and budgets through Claude and other AI assistants. It enables natural‑language queries about your spending, budget analysis, and financial insights while keeping your API token local.
How to use Lunchmoney MCP Server?
Install Node.js, obtain a Lunchmoney API token from your developer settings, then add the server configuration to Claude Desktop’s Developer settings (Settings → Developer → Edit Config) as a JSON entry with the npx command and the LUNCHMONEY_TOKEN environment variable. Restart Claude Desktop after configuration changes.
Key features of Lunchmoney MCP Server
- View recent transactions from the past N days.
- Search transactions by keyword in payee names or notes.
- Analyze spending in specific categories.
- Get detailed budget summaries with spending and remaining amounts.
Use cases of Lunchmoney MCP Server
- “Show me my recent transactions from the past week.”
- “Search for all transactions at Amazon.”
- “How much did I spend on restaurants last month?”
- “Show me my budget summary for this month.”
FAQ from Lunchmoney MCP Server
What does “human‑in‑the‑loop” security mean?
All actions require user approval; you will be asked to approve each request to access your Lunchmoney data.
Where is my Lunchmoney API token stored?
The token stays on your local machine and is never sent to Claude or any external service.
What date formats are required for budget data?
Budget dates must use month boundaries (e.g., 2024-01-01 to 2024-01-31). Transactions can use any date range.
Why does Claude say it can’t connect to the server?
Ensure the configuration in Claude’s Developer settings is correct, restart Claude Desktop after changes, and verify that your API token is valid.
What runtime is required?
Node.js must be installed on your computer to run the server via npx.
