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MCP Stripe Billing in Claude Desktop

Check your Stripe balance and build payment links from chat. stripe_balance reads your live Stripe account balance and stripe_payment_link creates a shareable payment link for a price you name; both call the Stripe REST API directly with the STRIPE_SECRET_KEY environment variable you set — no SDK, no dashboard, the answer lands in the conversation.

The balance check is the one Stripe question people ask away from the desk, and with STRIPE_SECRET_KEY set the answer is a sentence instead of a dashboard login.

What you get in Claude Desktop

You say	Tool
What is my Stripe balance right now?	`stripe_balance`
Create a payment link for 25.00 for the strategy session.	`stripe_payment_link`
Check the balance, then link 120 for the invoice.	`stripe_balance, stripe_payment_link`

The contract suite covers the key-missing path (a structured error telling you to set STRIPE_SECRET_KEY, never a stack trace) and asserts the request shapes against the documented Stripe REST API; live balance reads were verified against a real account during development.

Install it in Claude Desktop

The file is claude_desktop_config.json, and the key inside it is mcpServers.

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

One click, with no JSON. Download stripe-billing.mcpb from the latest release and open it. Claude Desktop installs it as an extension and runs it on the Node runtime it ships with, so neither your PATH nor your node version comes into it, and there is no file to edit. Everything below is the manual route, for when you want the entry in the config file itself.

The config block, which needs both strings absolute:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "stripe-billing": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/absolute/path/to/mcp-servers/servers/stripe-billing/dist/index.js"]
    }
  }
}

If node came from nvm, asdf or homebrew, use the absolute path that which node prints rather than the bare word, because a stdio server started by this app inherits a limited PATH:

"command": "/Users/you/.nvm/versions/node/v22.14.0/bin/node"

The node command above wants a built file. From a clone, once:

git clone https://github.com/theluckystrike/mcp-servers.git
cd mcp-servers && npm install
npm run build -w packages/mcp-license -w servers/stripe-billing

That writes servers/stripe-billing/dist/index.js, and its absolute path is the one argument the config needs.

The npm packages are not published yet, so the form below returns a 404 today. It is here because it is what the entry becomes the day the publish lands, with nothing else changed:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "stripe-billing": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@theluckystrike/mcp-stripe-billing"]
    }
  }
}

Save, then completely quit Claude Desktop and start it again. A window reload is not enough.

Nothing is published to npm yet, so the working install paths are the ones above: the .mcpb bundle from the latest release, a clone and build, or the hosted URL.

No install: the hosted endpoint

There is no hosted endpoint for this one yet. MCP Stripe Billing runs locally over stdio with the config above, which is also the only form in which it reads and writes files on your own disk. Thirty of the servers in this collection are served at https://mcp.zovo.one/mcp/<name> over MCP streamable HTTP; https://mcp.zovo.one/mcp/connect lists them and prints a ready URL for each.

Claude Desktop notes worth knowing first

Two documented facts decide whether the entry works: every path in claude_desktop_config.json must be absolute, and a stdio server started here inherits only a limited, platform-dependent subset of environment variables. If node came from nvm or homebrew, paste what `which node` prints instead of the bare word. The .mcpb route avoids both: Claude Desktop ships a built-in Node.js environment.

Free: Everything: two tools, no metering, no key. Bring your own STRIPE_SECRET_KEY. Pro is $19 once, verified offline.

Questions

Where is claude_desktop_config.json?

macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json. Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json. There is no published Linux path. Settings, Developer, Edit Config opens the right copy and creates it if it does not exist.

I added it and MCP Stripe Billing does not appear.

In order: did you fully quit and restart, not just close the window? Is every path absolute? And is the command resolvable, given the limited environment a stdio server inherits here? If node came from nvm, paste what which node prints.

Can I install it without editing JSON?

Yes. An .mcpb bundle, the format renamed from .dxt, opens with Claude and shows an installation dialog. One you built yourself goes in through Settings, Extensions, Advanced settings, Install Extension.

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