manager-mcp

MCP server for self-hosted Manager.io: ask your AI about invoices, balances, and books.

What is Manager.io?

Manager.io is free, self-hosted accounting software for Windows, macOS, and Linux (also available as Cloud Edition). It covers sales, purchases, banking, payroll, and the full ledger, with an HTTP API (/api2) for automation.

This project wires that API into the Model Context Protocol so Cursor, Claude, VS Code Copilot, and other MCP hosts can query your live books in natural language.

Useful Manager.io links:

What this server does

Default is read-only. You get:

10 read tools - discovery, six searchable collections, seven report shortcuts
Task tools (opt-in) - intent-shaped writes such as record_customer_payment, issue_sales_invoice, record_customer_deposit (register when matching write scopes are set)
Deprecated CRUD tools - per-resource create_* / update_* / delete_* still register under scopes until 0.3.0; prefer task tools
raw escape hatch - restores the full CRUD set for advanced use
Hard denylist - access tokens, chart of accounts forms, tax/currency, email templates, and similar high-risk paths stay blocked even when writes are on

Transport is stdio. No HTTP server. No global install required if you use uv / uvx.

Branding / icons

stdio hosts (Cursor, Claude Desktop via mcp.json): the server advertises Manager branding in MCP serverInfo.icons (embedded PNG data URI, plus a GitHub raw HTTPS fallback).
Cursor plugin: .cursor-plugin/plugin.json uses docs/manager-icon.svg.
Claude Desktop Extension: pack mcpb/ (includes icon.png). See Installation → Claude Desktop below.
Claude.ai remote connectors: Claude.ai ignores serverInfo.icons and uses the root-domain favicon of the connector URL. If you host a remote MCP later, serve docs/favicon.ico at the registrable domain root (e.g. https://acme.com/favicon.ico for https://mcp.acme.com/...).

Requirements

Python ≥ 3.10 (pulled in automatically by uvx)
uv (provides uvx)
A reachable Manager.io API: MANAGER_API_URL + MANAGER_API_KEY

Access token

In Manager, open Settings → Access Tokens.
Create a token and copy the value into MANAGER_API_KEY.
Set MANAGER_API_URL to your API base (desktop often http://127.0.0.1:55667/api2).

manager-mcp sends the token as the X-API-KEY header. Full walkthrough: Access Tokens.

Quick start

Run the PyPI package with uvx:

bash

uvx manager-mcp

Paste a client config below, set MANAGER_API_URL / MANAGER_API_KEY, restart the host, then ask: “Who owes me money?” or “Show bank balances.”

From a git clone (dev): uvx --from git+https://github.com/flumpiey/manager-mcp manager-mcp or uv run --directory /path/to/manager-mcp manager-mcp.

Installation

Configs below pull manager-mcp from PyPI. Leave write-scope env vars unset for read-only.

Cursor

Plugin (Configure UI for URL, key, and scopes): this repo is a Cursor plugin via .cursor-plugin/plugin.json + root mcp.json.

Symlink or copy the clone to ~/.cursor/plugins/local/manager-mcp (Windows: %USERPROFILE%\.cursor\plugins\local\manager-mcp).
Reload the window.
Open Plugins → Configure on manager-mcp. Set Manager API URL and Manager API key. Leave Write scopes / Delete scopes empty for read-only, or paste a CSV such as quotes or quotes,orders.
Confirm the manager MCP server is enabled under Customize / MCP.

Marketplace listing is a separate submit at cursor.com/marketplace/publish.

Manual mcp.json: project .cursor/mcp.json or user-wide ~/.cursor/mcp.json.

From PyPI:

config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "manager": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["manager-mcp"],
      "env": {
        "MANAGER_API_URL": "http://127.0.0.1:55667/api2",
        "MANAGER_API_KEY": "your-token"
      }
    }
  }
}

Local editable (dev):

config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "manager": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "uv",
      "args": ["run", "--directory", "/path/to/manager-mcp", "manager-mcp"],
      "env": {
        "MANAGER_API_URL": "http://127.0.0.1:55667/api2",
        "MANAGER_API_KEY": "your-token"
      }
    }
  }
}

Optional scoped writes in the env block:

json

"MANAGER_MCP_WRITE_SCOPES": "quotes",
"MANAGER_MCP_DELETE_SCOPES": "quotes"

Restart Cursor after saving. Confirm manager under MCP settings.

Claude Desktop

Desktop Extension (.mcpb): download mcpb.mcpb from GitHub Releases. Use v0.2.6 or later.

Open Claude Desktop → Settings → Extensions.
Open Advanced settings → Install Extension…
Select mcpb.mcpb. Review permissions, enter Manager API URL and Manager API key, then click Install.
Leave Write scopes and Delete scopes empty for read-only.
Restart Claude Desktop if tools do not appear.

Build your own bundle from a clone:

Terminal

npx @anthropic-ai/mcpb pack mcpb

On Windows, double-click often does nothing and dragging the file into chat attaches it to the conversation instead of installing it. Use Install Extension… in Settings.

Manual mcp.json config: edit the Claude Desktop config, then restart the app.

OS	Path
macOS	`~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json`
Windows	`%APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json`

config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "manager": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["manager-mcp"],
      "env": {
        "MANAGER_API_URL": "http://127.0.0.1:55667/api2",
        "MANAGER_API_KEY": "your-token"
      }
    }
  }
}

Local clone:

config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "manager": {
      "command": "uv",
      "args": ["run", "--directory", "/path/to/manager-mcp", "manager-mcp"],
      "env": {
        "MANAGER_API_URL": "http://127.0.0.1:55667/api2",
        "MANAGER_API_KEY": "your-token"
      }
    }
  }
}

Claude Code

Add via CLI:

Terminal

claude mcp add manager --env MANAGER_API_URL=http://127.0.0.1:55667/api2 --env MANAGER_API_KEY=your-token -- uvx manager-mcp

Or edit ~/.claude.json / project MCP config:

config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "manager": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["manager-mcp"],
      "env": {
        "MANAGER_API_URL": "http://127.0.0.1:55667/api2",
        "MANAGER_API_KEY": "your-token"
      }
    }
  }
}

VS Code / GitHub Copilot

Create .vscode/mcp.json in the project root:

config.json

{
  "servers": {
    "manager": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["manager-mcp"],
      "env": {
        "MANAGER_API_URL": "http://127.0.0.1:55667/api2",
        "MANAGER_API_KEY": "your-token"
      }
    }
  }
}

Local editable:

config.json

{
  "servers": {
    "manager": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "uv",
      "args": ["run", "--directory", "/path/to/manager-mcp", "manager-mcp"],
      "env": {
        "MANAGER_API_URL": "http://127.0.0.1:55667/api2",
        "MANAGER_API_KEY": "your-token"
      }
    }
  }
}

Reload the window. Open Copilot Chat and confirm the manager tools are available.

Windsurf

Edit ~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json (macOS/Linux) or the Windsurf MCP settings UI:

config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "manager": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["manager-mcp"],
      "env": {
        "MANAGER_API_URL": "http://127.0.0.1:55667/api2",
        "MANAGER_API_KEY": "your-token"
      }
    }
  }
}

Restart Windsurf after saving.

Zed

Add under context_servers in Zed settings.json (Agent Panel → settings also works):

config.json

{
  "context_servers": {
    "manager": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["manager-mcp"],
      "env": {
        "MANAGER_API_URL": "http://127.0.0.1:55667/api2",
        "MANAGER_API_KEY": "your-token"
      }
    }
  }
}

Cline

Edit the Cline MCP settings file (cline_mcp_settings.json via the Cline MCP UI):

config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "manager": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["manager-mcp"],
      "env": {
        "MANAGER_API_URL": "http://127.0.0.1:55667/api2",
        "MANAGER_API_KEY": "your-token"
      }
    }
  }
}

Continue

In .continue/config.yaml:

yaml

mcpServers:
  - name: manager
    command: uvx
    args:
      - manager-mcp
    env:
      MANAGER_API_URL: http://127.0.0.1:55667/api2
      MANAGER_API_KEY: your-token

Generic / any stdio MCP host

Any host that can spawn a stdio MCP server:

Field	Value
Command	`uvx`
Args	`manager-mcp`
Env	`MANAGER_API_URL`, `MANAGER_API_KEY` (+ optional write scopes)

bash

uvx manager-mcp

Dev from a clone: uv run --directory /path/to/manager-mcp manager-mcp.

npx only runs npm packages. This is a Python package; use uvx.

Environment

Variable	Required	Notes
`MANAGER_API_URL`	yes	Opaque base URL (include `/api2` when needed)
`MANAGER_API_KEY`	yes	Sent as `X-API-KEY`; never logged
`MANAGER_MCP_WRITE_SCOPES`	no	Comma-separated domains for create/update. Empty = no writes.
`MANAGER_MCP_DELETE_SCOPES`	no	Comma-separated domains for delete only. Never implied by WRITE_SCOPES.

Valid scopes: quotes, orders, parties, items, sales, purchases, banking, payroll, ledger, raw. No wildcards (*, all).

Recommended (covers most bookkeeping without 82 tools):

json

"MANAGER_MCP_WRITE_SCOPES": "banking,sales,parties",
"MANAGER_MCP_DELETE_SCOPES": "sales,banking"

Default with no scopes: 10 tools. All nine domain scopes plus every CRUD verb: up to 82 tools. Use raw only when you need the full CRUD escape hatch.

Legacy MANAGER_MCP_ALLOW_WRITES / ALLOW_WRITES / MANAGER_MCP_WRITES hard-fail if set. Use the scoped vars instead.

See .env.example. Prefer a secret manager for the API key in production configs.

Write scopes and task tools

When a scope is listed in MANAGER_MCP_WRITE_SCOPES, the server registers task tools for that domain plus deprecated CRUD twins. MANAGER_MCP_DELETE_SCOPES enables void_document and delete_* per domain.

Task tools (preferred)

Tool	Scopes	Purpose
`create_customer`, `create_supplier`	parties	Single-resource party setup
`issue_sales_invoice`	sales	Issue invoice with inline lines
`issue_purchase_invoice`	purchases	Issue purchase invoice
`issue_quote`	quotes	Issue sales or purchase quote
`convert_quote_to_invoice`	quotes + sales	Convert quote to invoice
`record_customer_payment`	banking	Receipt + invoice allocation
`record_supplier_payment`	banking	Payment + invoice allocation
`record_expense`	payroll and/or purchases	Expense claim or purchase invoice
`transfer_between_accounts`	banking	Inter-account transfer
`post_journal_entry`	ledger	Generic journal entry
`void_document`	matching delete scope	Void by resource name + key
`record_customer_deposit`	banking	Deposit before invoice exists
`issue_deposit_invoice`	quotes	Deposit document (quote)
`apply_deposit_to_invoice`	ledger	Apply deposit via journal

Bodies for composite tools use Manager-native JSON where noted. Clone get_record templates; do not invent field names.

Deprecated CRUD (0.2.0, removed 0.3.0)

Per-resource create_* / update_* / delete_* still register when their domain scope is enabled. Descriptions are prefixed [DEPRECATED in 0.2.0; use task tools] except create_customer / create_supplier. Set raw in MANAGER_MCP_WRITE_SCOPES to register CRUD without deprecation prefixes.

Scope	Resources (CRUD when enabled)
`quotes`	sales_quotes, purchase_quotes
`orders`	sales_orders, purchase_orders
`parties`	customers, suppliers
`items`	inventory_items, non_inventory_items
`sales`	sales_invoices, credit_notes, delivery_notes
`purchases`	purchase_invoices, debit_notes, goods_receipts
`banking`	receipts, payments, inter_account_transfers, bank_accounts
`payroll`	employees, payslips, expense_claims
`ledger`	journal_entries, depreciation_entries, amortization_entries

Example with recommended scopes only:

json

"MANAGER_MCP_WRITE_SCOPES": "banking,sales,parties",
"MANAGER_MCP_DELETE_SCOPES": "sales"

Denylist (always blocked): access-token forms, chart-of-accounts / *-account-form (except bank-or-cash), bank reconciliation, customer portal, starting balances, tax codes, exchange rates, currencies, custom fields/buttons, themes, email templates/settings.

Customer deposit workflow

A deposit is not revenue. Money received before delivery must not be booked to an income account. Confirm tax/VAT treatment with your accountant.

Ensure a Customer deposits bank/cash account exists in Manager (Settings → Bank and Cash Accounts).
record_customer_deposit - posts cash to that account. If the account is missing, the tool returns precondition_failed with exact setup steps (Option A: guide only, no auto-create).
issue_deposit_invoice (optional) - quote styled as a deposit document for the customer.
issue_sales_invoice when the real invoice is raised.
apply_deposit_to_invoice - journal entry moving deposit balance to the invoice (clone an existing journal via get_record).

Required scopes: banking, quotes (deposit doc), ledger (apply), sales (final invoice via MCP).

Migration from 0.1.x

0.2.0: Task tools added; CRUD tools deprecated but still present under scopes.
0.3.0: CRUD tools removed (except create_customer / create_supplier). Use task tools or raw scope.
Update MANAGER_MCP_WRITE_SCOPES to the recommended narrow set above instead of enabling all domains.

Tools

Read tools

Tool	Purpose	Period (`from_date` / `to_date`)
`list_resources`	Discovery; reports `read_only` + live write/delete scopes	n/a
`list_records`	Search/page a curated collection	n/a
`get_record`	Fetch one record via `{path}-form/{key}`	n/a
`aged_receivables`	Outstanding / aging customers	Accepted; may be unsupported on this view
`aged_payables`	Aging suppliers	Accepted; may be unsupported on this view
`bank_balances`	Bank/cash balances snapshot	Accepted; may be unsupported on this view
`trial_balance`	Trial balance	Forwarded as `fromDate` / `toDate`
`profit_and_loss`	P&L	Forwarded as `fromDate` / `toDate`
`balance_sheet`	Balance sheet	Forwarded as `fromDate` / `toDate`
`tax_summary`	Tax summary	Accepted; may be unsupported on this view

Collections for list_records / get_record: customers, suppliers, sales_invoices, purchase_invoices, chart_of_accounts, bank_accounts.

chart_of_accounts is list/search only (no single-form GET).

Bank dual path (intentional): bank_balances answers “what are my balances?”; list_records / get_record on bank_accounts answers “find account X and show detail.”

Write tools (deprecated)

Registered only for resources in enabled scopes. Prefer task tools above.

Pattern	Requires	Notes
`create_{stem}`	write scope	Deprecated in 0.2.0
`update_{stem}`	write scope	Deprecated in 0.2.0
`delete_{stem}`	delete scope	Deprecated in 0.2.0; use `void_document`

Agent Skill

Companion skill: skills/manager-accounting/SKILL.md.

The Cursor plugin discovers this skill from skills/. Without the plugin, copy or symlink that folder into your agent skills path. It tells the model to call list_resources first, verify after writes, and which report tools to prefer.

Development

bash

uv sync --extra dev
uv run manager-mcp

Offline tests only (respx). No live Manager required:

bash

uv run ruff check src tests
uv run pytest

GitHub Actions matrix: Python 3.10 and 3.12.

Caveats

One process ↔ one MANAGER_API_URL. Multi-instance routing is out of scope.
Multi-business disambiguation on a shared host is unverified. Do not claim multi-business support until validated against a live multi-business setup.
Vendored src/manager_mcp/spec/api2.json is provenance only; runtime always hits the live URL.
ChatGPT Apps need a hosted HTTP MCP endpoint. This package is stdio-only.

License

MIT. See LICENSE.