Finance Tracker MCP Server

AI-powered personal finance analysis through Claude AI using the Model Context Protocol (MCP).

What This Does

This MCP server connects Claude AI to financial transaction data, enabling natural language queries about your finances:

• "Show me my spending this month"
• "Find all my subscriptions"
• "What were my top 10 expenses?"
• "Show spending trends for the last 3 months"
• "Search for all Starbucks transactions"
• "Check my budget: Dining $500, Shopping $300"

Features

• 6 Financial Analysis Tools

  • Monthly spending summaries
  • Subscription detection (recurring charges)
  • Budget tracking & alerts
  • Spending trend analysis
  • Top expenses ranking
  • Transaction search

• Plaid Integration

  • Connect to 10,000+ banks (sandbox mode for testing)
  • Real-time transaction data (when connected to real accounts)
  • Secure API access

• Privacy First

  • All data stays local on your machine
  • No external data storage
  • Encrypted API connections

Quick Start

Prerequisites

• Python 3.9 or higher
• Claude Desktop app
• Plaid account (free at https://dashboard.plaid.com)

Installation

1. Clone the repository

   git clone https://github.com/yourusername/finance-plaid-mcp.git
   cd finance-plaid-mcp

2. Create virtual environment

   python -m venv venv
   
   # Activate it:
   # Windows:
   venv\Scripts\activate
   # Mac/Linux:
   source venv/bin/activate

3. Install dependencies

   pip install -r requirements.txt

4. Set up Plaid API keys

   Copy .env.example to .env and add your Plaid keys from https://dashboard.plaid.com

   PLAID_CLIENT_ID=your_client_id_here
   PLAID_SECRET=your_sandbox_secret_here
   PLAID_ENV=sandbox
   DATA_DIR=./data

5. Generate sample data (for testing)

   python generate_sample_data.py

6. Configure Claude Desktop

   Add this to your Claude Desktop config file:

   Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

   Mac: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

   {
     "mcpServers": {
       "finance-tracker": {
         "command": "python",
         "args": [
           "/FULL/PATH/TO/finance-plaid-mcp/src/server.py"
         ]
       }
     }
   }

Important: Use the full absolute path to your project!

7. Restart Claude Desktop

8. Test it!

   In Claude, ask: "Find all my subscriptions"

📁 Project Structure

finance-plaid-mcp/ ├── src/ │ ├── server.py # MCP server (main entry point) │ ├── plaid_client.py # Plaid API integration │ ├── analyzer.py # Transaction analysis logic │ └── config.py # Configuration & environment variables ├── data/ │ └── sample_transactions.json # Generated test data ├── screenshot.png # Demo screenshot ├── .env # Your API keys (NOT committed to git) ├── .env.example # Template for API keys ├── .gitignore # Prevents committing secrets ├── requirements.txt # Python dependencies └── README.md # This file

🔧 Available Tools

Claude can call these tools when analyzing your finances:

Tool	Description
monthly_summary	Get spending/income summary for any month
find_subscriptions	Detect recurring charges (Netflix, Spotify, etc.)
spending_trends	Analyze spending patterns over time
budget_check	Compare actual spending vs budget limits
top_expenses	Get largest expenses ranked
search_transactions	Search by merchant or category

🏦 Connecting Real Bank Accounts

Currently in Sandbox Mode (test data only)

To connect real banks:

1. Switch to Development mode in Plaid dashboard
2. Update .env: PLAID_ENV=development
3. Implement Plaid Link UI (web interface for bank login)

For portfolio/demo purposes, sandbox mode is recommended to avoid exposing real financial data.

📊 Sample Output

Finding Subscriptions: 19 subscriptions found totaling $18,123/year Top subscriptions:

Comcast Internet: $130.71/mo ($915 total) Apple Store: $180.05/mo ($900 total) Verizon Phone Bill: $110.75/mo ($886 total) Electric Bill: $119.86/mo ($839 total) Zara: $151.91/mo ($760 total)

Monthly Summary: Monthly total: $1,510 Income: $5,000 Expenses: $3,490 Net: $1,510 Spending by category:

Groceries: $644 Shopping: $900 Utilities: $886 Dining: $450 Transportation: $380

🛠️ Tech Stack

• Python 3.14
• MCP SDK - Model Context Protocol
• Plaid API - Bank connection & transaction data
• Pandas - Data analysis
• Claude AI - Natural language interface

🔐 Security & Privacy

• ✅ API keys stored in .env (never committed)
• ✅ All data processed locally
• ✅ No external logging or analytics
• ✅ Plaid provides bank-level encryption

⚠️ Important: Never commit your .env file or API keys to GitHub!

🤝 Contributing

Contributions welcome! Feel free to:

• Report bugs
• Suggest features
• Submit pull requests

📝 License

MIT License

🙏 Acknowledgments

• Built with Anthropic's MCP
• Powered by Plaid

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