Connect External MCP Clients to BillForecast

Finance answers without copy-pasting numbers

What if checking your budget was as simple as asking "Am I on track this month?" — and getting a real answer backed by your actual data?

BillForecast includes a full Model Context Protocol (MCP) server for external clients. It can read scoped finance context, prepare reviewed changes, and keep your ledger behind BillForecast's confirmation flow. No CSV exports, no copy-pasting balances between tools.

What can a connected client do?

BillForecast exposes 27 finance tools plus confirmation utilities across three practical groups:

Read tools (instant answers)

• get_balances — Account balances and net worth across all accounts
• get_forecast — Cash flow projection with confidence intervals
• get_budget_status — How your budget is tracking this month
• get_upcoming_bills — Bills due soon, sorted by urgency
• get_spending_breakdown — Where your money goes, by category or tier
• search_transactions — Find any transaction with full-text search
• list_categories — All your categories with IDs and types
• list_transactions — Browse transactions by date range
• get_monthly_summary — Monthly income, expenses, net flow at a glance
• get_approvals, list_accounts, list_recurring, and pending-entry tools — Review the work queue and supporting records

Write tools (with your approval)

• record_expense — Log an expense through conversation
• record_income — Record income
• record_transfer — Move money between accounts
• adjust_balance — Reconcile account balances
• rename_category — Rename a spending category
• set_budget — Set or update a monthly budget
• create_category, recurring-item tools, pending-entry approvals, transaction updates, and transaction deletion — Prepare richer finance changes through the same preview flow

Confirmation utilities

• confirm_command — Execute a prepared write command after you review it
• cancel_command — Cancel a prepared write command

Every write operation uses a review-first flow: the connected client prepares a preview of what will happen, and BillForecast only changes records after you approve.

Set up in 2 minutes

1. Create a token — Go to Settings → Developer → API Tokens and create a token with read (and optionally write) scope.
2. Add the URL — Copy the ready-to-paste config into your external MCP client. The Developers page includes setup cards for Claude Desktop, Claude.ai, ChatGPT, Cursor, Windsurf, VS Code, and generic MCP clients.
3. Ask a finance question — Ask "What are my account balances?" or "How much did I spend on food this month?" Read actions answer immediately; write actions wait for review.

Which MCP clients work?

Any client that supports the Model Context Protocol. That includes:

• Claude Desktop and Claude.ai — MCP-capable client connections
• Claude Code — CLI-based MCP client setup
• ChatGPT — with MCP connector support
• Cursor — editor MCP settings
• Windsurf — editor MCP settings
• VS Code Copilot — MCP-compatible setup when available

If your tool supports MCP, it works with BillForecast. One standard, one URL.

Prefer to stay inside BillForecast?

Use Money Helper for everyday questions and quick capture inside the app. It can use the same finance context, prepare expense drafts, and keep write actions behind review without requiring an external client.

Privacy and security

API tokens use bcrypt-hashed storage with granular scopes. A read-only token cannot trigger write operations. Tokens can be revoked instantly, and every usage is tracked with last-used timestamps. The raw token is shown exactly once at creation — we never store it in plaintext.

Try it now

Head to Settings → Developer to create your first token, or visit the Developers page for the full setup guide with copy-paste configs for every supported client.