Monthly envelopes you set and check inside the conversation. budget_set declares a category and its monthly cap, budget_spend records an amount against one, and budget_report answers what is left — computed in the chat, no spreadsheet to open; amounts carry through the money formatter so 400 stays 400.00 and the arithmetic never drifts.
Ask for the report at the end of a session, not the middle: budget_report is instant, but the habit that matters is logging the spend in the same sentence as the work that caused it.
| You say | Tool |
|---|---|
| Set a groceries budget at 400 a month. | budget_set |
| Log 62.40 on groceries. | budget_spend |
| How is the groceries budget doing? | budget_report |
The contract suite drives the ledger over real stdio: budget_set then two budget_spend calls leave budget_report showing the remaining cap to the cent, an overspend is reported as a negative remainder rather than clamped, and categories are independent so spending on one does not move another.
The file is .cursor/mcp.json, and the key inside it is mcpServers.
| Scope | Path |
|---|---|
| This project only | <project>/.cursor/mcp.json |
| Every project | ~/.cursor/mcp.json |
If you also run Claude Desktop, the shortest path there is one click: budget.mcpb
from the latest release opens as an extension, with no JSON and no terminal.
Cursor reads its own config, so here it is:
The config block:
{
"mcpServers": {
"budget": {
"type": "stdio",
"command": "node",
"args": ["/absolute/path/to/mcp-servers/servers/budget/dist/index.js"]
}
}
}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/budgetThat writes servers/budget/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": {
"budget": {
"command": "npx",
"args": ["-y", "@theluckystrike/mcp-budget"]
}
}
}The Customize page shows the server and its tools once it has started.
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.
There is no hosted endpoint for this one yet. MCP Budget 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.
The current field table marks `type` as required, with `stdio` for a locally launched server, so write it out rather than relying on command and args alone. The other documented restriction is that `envFile` is stdio-only: a remote HTTP or SSE server does not read it, and its headers belong in the config.
Free: Everything: three tools, no metering, no key. Pro is $19 once, verified offline.
<project>/.cursor/mcp.json applies to that project and can be committed, which suits a server tied to one client. ~/.cursor/mcp.json applies everywhere. Both are managed from the Customize page.
The current field table marks type as required, with stdio for a locally launched server, so include it. Pointing at a remote endpoint, envFile is documented as stdio-only and is not read.
Servers in Cursor's marketplace get an Add to Cursor button. The deeplink reference currently documents prompt, command and rule links only, so for MCP Budget pasting the config block above is the supported route.
MCP Budget in detail · The same server in Claude Code and VS Code · Every server in Cursor · Guides · Cursor docs · Buy Pro