The full upstream README, mirrored here for reference. Install config, tool schemas, adoption signals, and an original overview live on the Freeagent MCP Server listing page.
A Model Context Protocol server for FreeAgent accounting. Gives Claude (or any MCP client) the ability to reconcile bank transactions with receipts, claim expenses and mileage, raise and chase invoices, record supplier bills, log time against projects, and read the company's financial position.
The FreeAgent OAuth credentials grant full access to the connected FreeAgent account. This server uses that access to:
| Action | Tools that use it |
|---|---|
| Read bank accounts | freeagent_list_bank_accounts |
| Read bank transactions and explanations | freeagent_list_transactions |
| Update transaction explanations (category, description, project, rebilling, VAT, approval, attachments) | freeagent_explain_transaction |
| Read, create, amend and delete expense claims | freeagent_list_expenses, freeagent_create_expense, freeagent_create_mileage_expense, freeagent_update_expense, freeagent_delete_expense |
| Read the chart of accounts | freeagent_list_categories |
| Read, create, amend and delete projects | freeagent_list_projects, freeagent_create_project, freeagent_update_project, freeagent_delete_project |
| Read, create, amend and delete contacts | freeagent_list_contacts, freeagent_create_contact, freeagent_update_contact, freeagent_delete_contact |
| Read, raise, edit and change the status of invoices | freeagent_list_invoices, freeagent_get_invoice, freeagent_create_invoice, freeagent_update_invoice, freeagent_update_invoice_status |
| Read, record and amend supplier bills | freeagent_list_bills, freeagent_get_bill, freeagent_create_bill, freeagent_update_bill |
| Read, log and amend time against project tasks | freeagent_list_tasks, freeagent_create_task, freeagent_update_task, freeagent_list_timeslips, freeagent_create_timeslip, freeagent_update_timeslip |
| Read accounting reports | freeagent_profit_and_loss, freeagent_trial_balance, freeagent_aged_debtors, freeagent_aged_creditors, freeagent_tax_timeline, freeagent_company_summary |
| Delete expenses, invoices, bills, contacts, projects, tasks and timeslips | freeagent_delete_expense, freeagent_delete_invoice, freeagent_delete_bill, freeagent_delete_contact, freeagent_delete_project, freeagent_delete_task, freeagent_delete_timeslip |
FreeAgent does not offer granular OAuth scopes — authorising an app grants access to all of the above.
Destructive operations. The delete tools are flagged destructiveHint: true so your MCP client can prompt before running them, as is freeagent_update_invoice_status (its mark_as_cancelled transition voids an issued invoice). The three whose loss is unrecoverable — freeagent_delete_expense, freeagent_delete_contact and freeagent_delete_project — additionally require confirm: true, so a client that auto-approves tool calls still cannot trigger them by accident. The server never deletes bank transactions, and never emails anything to your clients — status transitions change status only.
Outbound fetches. freeagent_explain_transaction, freeagent_create_expense, freeagent_update_expense, freeagent_create_bill and freeagent_update_bill each accept a fileUrl to download a receipt or invoice. That URL is treated as untrusted input: only http/https are allowed, hosts resolving to loopback, link-local, or private addresses are refused (on the initial request and on every redirect), and downloads are capped at 10 MB.
Local file reads. Those same tools accept a filePath, and the server reads that file from the host it runs on. The path must be absolute, and symlinks are resolved before the check. Over stdio the server runs as you, so this is no more access than the client already has. In HTTP mode the caller is remote, so local paths are refused outright unless you set FREEAGENT_ATTACHMENT_ROOTS to the directories that may be read (colon-separated); anything outside them is refused. Set it in stdio mode too if you want to bound what a prompt-injected model can attach.
Truncation. List tools page through results and report mayHaveMore; when true, any total they return covers only the records fetched and is named totalOutstandingForReturned. The freeagent_aged_debtors and freeagent_aged_creditors reports page to exhaustion and return complete: true — treat complete: false as an incomplete figure. Records whose due date is missing or unparseable are counted in a separate unknown_due_date bucket rather than being assumed not yet due.
This server has no email tools. For receipt/invoice search to work automatically, connect one or more of the following MCP servers alongside this one:
mcp__claude_ai_Gmail) — personal emailmcp__claude_ai_microsoft-365) — business emailWhen both are connected, Claude will search all of them automatically for matching receipts before asking you to provide a file manually.
| Tool | Description |
|---|---|
freeagent_list_bank_accounts | List all bank accounts and their IDs |
freeagent_list_transactions | List transactions (unexplained / explained / all / marked_for_review) with date filters |
freeagent_explain_transaction | Update, approve, rebill or attach a receipt to a transaction explanation |
freeagent_list_categories | List the full chart of accounts — all four category groups |
freeagent_list_expenses | List expense claims by date or project, with unbilledOnly for costs queued to bill on and untaggedRebillOnly for project-tagged costs that will never be billed |
freeagent_create_expense | Create an expense claim with optional receipt (local path, URL or base64), project tag with rebill type/factor, EC VAT status and bank-transaction auto-matching |
freeagent_update_expense | Update an existing expense — attach or replace the receipt, set the rebill treatment, retag project/category, correct date, amount or VAT |
freeagent_create_mileage_expense | Create a mileage claim with engine type/size for fuel VAT, optionally rebilled to a project; the rate comes from the account's own mileage settings |
freeagent_delete_expense | Delete an expense filed in error (needs confirm: true) |
| Tool | Description |
|---|---|
freeagent_list_contacts | List clients and suppliers, with an optional name/email filter |
freeagent_create_contact | Create a client or supplier, with VAT registration number and default payment terms |
freeagent_update_contact | Update a contact, add its VAT number, or hide it (status: "Hidden") |
freeagent_delete_contact | Delete a contact (needs confirm: true) |
freeagent_list_invoices | List invoices by view (overdue, open_or_overdue, draft, paid…) with the total outstanding |
freeagent_get_invoice | Fetch one invoice in full, including line items |
freeagent_create_invoice | Raise an invoice with line items and EC VAT status — always created as a draft |
freeagent_update_invoice | Edit a draft invoice — dates, project, VAT status, discount, and add/edit/remove line items |
freeagent_update_invoice_status | Mark an invoice as sent, draft, scheduled or cancelled (no email is sent) |
freeagent_delete_invoice | Delete an invoice |
freeagent_list_bills | List supplier bills with the total outstanding |
freeagent_get_bill | Fetch one bill in full, including line items and their URLs (needed to edit lines) |
freeagent_create_bill | Record a supplier bill, with optional invoice attachment (local path, URL or base64), EC VAT status, project allocation and rebill treatment |
freeagent_update_bill | Update a bill — reference, dates, VAT status, project, rebill treatment, attachment and line items |
freeagent_delete_bill | Delete a bill |
| Tool | Description |
|---|---|
freeagent_list_tasks | List project tasks (time is always logged against a task) |
freeagent_create_task | Create a project task with its billing rate |
freeagent_update_task | Rename a task, change its billing rate, or close it (status: "Completed") |
freeagent_delete_task | Delete a task with no time logged against it |
freeagent_list_timeslips | List logged time for a date range, with totals per project; view: "unbilled" finds uninvoiced work |
freeagent_create_timeslip | Log time against a project task |
freeagent_update_timeslip | Correct a timeslip's hours, date, task or comment |
freeagent_delete_timeslip | Delete a timeslip |
| Tool | Description |
|---|---|
freeagent_list_projects | List projects, for tagging expenses, invoices, bills and time |
freeagent_create_project | Create a project against a client contact — only contact and name are required |
freeagent_update_project | Rename, rebudget, change billing rate or close a project |
freeagent_delete_project | Delete a project with nothing booked against it (needs confirm: true) |
| Tool | Description |
|---|---|
freeagent_profit_and_loss | Income, expenses, operating profit, corporation tax estimate and retained profit |
freeagent_trial_balance | Balance on every nominal account |
freeagent_aged_debtors | Unpaid customer invoices bucketed by age (not yet due, 1–30, 31–60, 61–90, 90+ days) |
freeagent_aged_creditors | Unpaid supplier bills bucketed by age |
freeagent_tax_timeline | Upcoming VAT, corporation tax and Companies House deadlines with amounts due |
freeagent_company_summary | Company details, VAT registration and accounting year end |
http://localhost:8080/callback..mcp.json automatically:The command prompts for your Client ID and Client Secret, opens the FreeAgent authorization page in your browser, listens for the callback, exchanges the code for a long-lived refresh token, and writes everything to .mcp.json in the current directory. If .mcp.json already exists, it updates just the freeagent entry.
All settings are read from environment variables.
| Variable | Description |
|---|---|
FREEAGENT_CLIENT_ID | OAuth client ID |
FREEAGENT_CLIENT_SECRET | OAuth client secret |
FREEAGENT_REFRESH_TOKEN | Long-lived refresh token |
| Variable | Description |
|---|---|
VENDOR_CATEGORIES | JSON object extending the built-in vendor → category mapping (see below) |
MILEAGE_CATEGORY_URL | FreeAgent category URL for mileage expenses (default /v2/categories/249, the standard Mileage category) |
MILEAGE_RATE_PENCE | Fallback pence-per-mile rate for the estimate, used only when FreeAgent's own mileage settings cannot be read |
HMRC_RATE_HIGH_PENCE | HMRC high-band rate in pence, used as a last-resort fallback (default 45) |
HMRC_RATE_LOW_PENCE | HMRC low-band rate in pence, used as a last-resort fallback (default 25) |
HMRC_THRESHOLD_MILES | Miles per tax year before the low band kicks in (default 10000) |
ORS_API_KEY | OpenRouteService API key for drive-distance lookups |
GOOGLE_MAPS_API_KEY | Google Maps API key for drive-distance lookups (alternative to ORS) |
PORT | If set, serves over HTTP on this port instead of stdio |
FREEAGENT_ATTACHMENT_ROOTS | Colon-separated directories that filePath attachments may be read from. Required for local paths in HTTP mode; optional (and recommended) over stdio |
AUTH_TOKEN | Bearer token required on every HTTP request. Strongly recommended whenever PORT is set |
FREEAGENT_DEBUG | Set to 1 to log every request and error response to stderr. Tokens, credentials and file payloads are redacted |
The server ships with mappings for common vendors, using FreeAgent's standard UK nominal codes:
Check these against your own chart of accounts with freeagent_list_categories — nominal codes can be customised per account. Override or extend via VENDOR_CATEGORIES:
Add to claude_desktop_config.json:
Mileage is a special FreeAgent category: you submit the miles and vehicle type, and FreeAgent calculates the claim value from the mileage rate configured on the account. That figure is what appears in your accounts and HMRC reporting, so the server does not attempt to override it.
The estimate returned alongside the filed amount uses that same rate: the server reads GET /v2/expenses/mileage_settings and applies the band published for the journey's date and vehicle. The response records where the rate came from in estimateSource:
estimateSource | Meaning |
|---|---|
freeagent_mileage_settings | The account's own published rate — the normal case |
argument | A ratePence you passed explicitly, which always wins |
MILEAGE_RATE_PENCE | Settings could not be read; the environment variable was used |
hmrc_defaults | Settings could not be read and no override was set; the built-in HMRC bands were used |
The last two are fallbacks, and the response says so in notes. When the estimate and the filed amount still differ, that is worth a look:
FreeAgent filed £46.20 using the mileage rate configured on the account; the estimate from 84 miles @ 45p/mile (FreeAgent mileage settings) was £37.80.
HMRC's approved rates are 45p/mile for the first 10,000 business miles in the tax year and 25p above it, and anything paid above the approved rate is a taxable benefit.
To reclaim the VAT on the fuel element, pass engineType and engineSize (and haveVatReceipt) — FreeAgent cannot calculate it without them.
Create .mcp.json in your project directory (or ~/.mcp.json for global access):
Set PORT to run as an HTTP server (for webhooks, iPhone Shortcuts, Power Automate):
Always set AUTH_TOKEN when exposing HTTP mode — every request must include Authorization: Bearer <AUTH_TOKEN> or it is rejected with 401. Without AUTH_TOKEN the server starts anyway but prints a warning to stderr and accepts all requests; only do that on a trusted loopback interface.
FREEAGENT_ATTACHMENT_ROOTS names the directories that may be readconfirm: true in addition to the client's own prompt.mcp.json is excluded from git via .gitignoreMIT