Actual Budget MCP Server

Talk to your budget. An MCP server that connects Actual Budget to Claude. Ask where the money went, get real analysis back, and let it write without holding your breath. Its 37 documented tools cover category, transaction, budget, group. It runs locally over stdio via the published package.

People who work with category, transaction and budget and want it reachable from Claude, Cursor, VS Code, or another MCP client. The project is written in TypeScript.

VERIFIED ACTIVE

LAST COMMIT 2026-09-17 · ★ 6 · #41 OF 318 MAINTAINED FINANCE · VERIFIED 2026-09-18

MIT · TypeScript servers · how we verify → /methodology

01 · Install Actual Budget

before you install - you'll need

Set ACTUAL_SERVER_URL, ACTUAL_PASSWORD, ACTUAL_BUDGET_ID before connecting.

Claude Code

claude mcp add henfrydls-actual-budget-mcp -- npx -y actual-budget-mcp

Claude Desktop / Cursor / VS Code - add to config

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "henfrydls-actual-budget-mcp": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "actual-budget-mcp"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Same JSON for Cursor. For VS Code, rename the top-level key from `mcpServers` to `servers`.

Using another client? Same JSON, different key

Claude Desktop · mcpServers

Cursor · mcpServers

VS Code · servers

Windsurf · mcpServers

Zed · context_servers

Cline · mcpServers

Roo Code · mcpServers

Continue · mcpServers

LibreChat · mcpServers

Gemini CLI · mcpServers

Codex CLI · mcp_servers

Full setup guides: every client.

02 · Evidence

Security posture

What to check before giving this server access to your agent - from the registry, GitHub, and our own probes. We don't score safety; we show what's verifiable.

runs as local process (stdio) - runs on your machine with your user's permissions · container (OCI image) - can be sandboxed away from your filesystem

license MIT - declared in the repository

npm package actual-budget-mcp - unscoped; check the name against the project README before installing

registry namespace io.github.henfrydls is GitHub-verified and matches the repo owner

03 · What Actual Budget can do

Prose above is summarized from the project's README and registry record - no invented capabilities.

What you can build

With this server connected, an agent can add a new transaction, edit an existing transaction, remove a transaction (previews first, see Safety), and move to another category.

Capability map

Tools grouped from the project's README - what Actual Budget lets an agent do.

Category

9 tools - e.g. Category history across months; Spending trends over time; Spending breakdown by category

get_category_balance · category_trends · spending_by_category · create_category · update_category · delete_category…

read & search

5 tools - e.g. All accounts with balances; Transactions with filters; All category groups and categories

list_accounts · get_transactions · get_categories · get_payees · get_rules

Transaction

5 tools - e.g. Add a new transaction; One charge across several categories; Edit an existing transaction

create_transaction · create_split_transaction · update_transaction · delete_transaction · recategorize_transaction

Budget

4 tools - e.g. Budget for a specific month; Executive budget overview; Budgeted vs spent per category

get_budget_month · get_budget_summary · budget_vs_actual · update_budget_amount

Payee

3 tools - e.g. Create a new payee; Rename a payee; Delete a payee (previews first, see Safety)

create_payee · update_payee · delete_payee

Rule

2 tools - e.g. Create a transaction rule; Delete a rule (previews first, see Safety)

create_rule · delete_rule

Account

2 tools - e.g. Create an on- or off-budget account; Delete an account and its history

create_account · delete_account

Balance

1 tool - e.g. Account balance over time

balance_history

Latest releases

v0.9.2 · 2026-09-17

The Claude Desktop extension now carries everything it needs. Install it, fill in three fields, and ask. Patch release: still 37 tools, none of them changed. · The extension · Nothing is compiled and nothing is…

v0.9.1 · 2026-09-15

If you installed the Claude Desktop extension from 0.9.0, update it: it could not connect even with the right password. Patch release, still 37 tools, no tool changes behaviour. · Fixed · The Claude Desktop extension…

v0.9.0 · 2026-09-13

Minor release. Still 37 tools, unchanged. Two things that were not possible before, and one that was fragile. · Added · Servers behind OIDC work now. An Actual server that signs you in through OIDC has no password to…

04 · Who maintains Actual Budget

Actual Budget is maintained by henfrydls. It's the only MCP server we track from this author; the repo dates to Mar 2026.

05 · Facts

category
finance - ranked #41 of 318 actively-maintained finance servers as of 2026-09-18.
release cadence
9 releases in the last 90 days (latest 2026-09-17)
registry
io.github.henfrydls/actual-budget-mcp (active, first published 2026-09-01 · 4 versions)
packages
npm:actual-budget-mcp · oci:ghcr.io/henfrydls/actual-budget-mcp:0.9.2

06 · Actual Budget FAQ

Is Actual Budget still maintained?

Yes - as of 2026-09-18, its last commit was 2026-09-17 and it shipped 9 releases in the last 90 days. We re-verify nightly.

What can Actual Budget do?

With this server connected, an agent can add a new transaction, edit an existing transaction, remove a transaction (previews first, see Safety), and move to another category.

How do I install Actual Budget?

Run `npx -y actual-budget-mcp`. The README documents 3 environment variables (ACTUAL_SERVER_URL, ACTUAL_PASSWORD, ACTUAL_BUDGET_ID) to set first. Set ACTUAL_SERVER_URL, ACTUAL_PASSWORD, ACTUAL_BUDGET_ID before connecting. You can also paste the ready-made client config above.

Does Actual Budget run locally?

Yes - it's a stdio server: it runs on your machine (via npx) with your user's permissions. Your data stays local unless the server itself calls external APIs.

07 · Alternatives to Actual Budget