Home · Setup · VS Code

MCP Expense Tracker in VS Code

Receipts, mileage and expenses that turn into invoice lines. It logs an expense with its own currency and VAT split, records the receipt by path and sha256, and emits invoice lines that are not taxed twice.

The csv or xlsx export lands in the workspace where you can open it and read the month before any of it becomes an invoice line, which is the review step the chat itself does not give you.

What you get in VS Code

You say	Tool
I paid 61.50 EUR at Media Markt for a USB hub, Acme project, billable.	`expense_add`
What did I spend this month, by category?	`expense_summary`
Give me the invoice lines to rebill Acme this month with 10% markup.	`expense_to_invoice`

The EUR 61.50 receipt above stored as amount_minor 6150, vat_rate 23, and rebilled at a net unit_price of 50.00, so the invoice did not tax it twice.

Install it in VS Code

The file is .vscode/mcp.json, and the key inside it is servers.

Scope	Path
This workspace	`<workspace>/.vscode/mcp.json`
Every workspace	`the user profile mcp.json, opened by the MCP: Open User Configuration command`

If you also run Claude Desktop, the shortest path there is one click: expense-tracker.mcpb from the bundle catalog opens as an extension, with no JSON and no terminal. VS Code reads its own config, so here it is:

// .vscode/mcp.json  (the key is "servers")
{
  "servers": {
    "expense-tracker": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/absolute/path/to/mcp-servers/servers/expense-tracker/dist/index.js"]
    }
  }
}

Or from a terminal:

code --add-mcp '{"name":"expense-tracker","command":"node","args":["/absolute/path/to/mcp-servers/servers/expense-tracker/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/expense-tracker

That writes servers/expense-tracker/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:

code --add-mcp '{"name":"expense-tracker","command":"npx","args":["-y","@theluckystrike/mcp-expense-tracker"]}'

VS Code asks you to confirm you trust the server and its capabilities before it starts. Nothing runs until you answer.

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

No install: the hosted endpoint

The same server runs at https://mcp.zovo.one/mcp/expense-tracker over MCP streamable HTTP, no install. Mint a free token with curl https://mcp.zovo.one/mcp/token, or use a Pro key. It has no filesystem, so a file comes back as a one-hour download link.

{
  "servers": {
    "expense-tracker": {
      "url": "https://mcp.zovo.one/mcp/expense-tracker",
      "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer <token>" }
    }
  }
}

VS Code notes worth knowing first

The top-level key is "servers", not "mcpServers". A config pasted from a Claude Desktop or Cursor README parses cleanly, contributes no servers, and gives you no error to read, which makes it the most expensive one-word mistake here. Alongside it an "inputs" array holds secrets. The newer Agent Host reads a workspace .mcp.json instead.

Free: unlimited logging, 30 days of history, 3 projects, 5 rules, 200 CSV rows. Pro is $19 once, verified offline.

Questions

Why does my mcp.json do nothing?

The key is servers, not mcpServers. A config copied from a Claude Desktop README parses cleanly and contributes nothing. Rename it. On the newer Agent Host, use a workspace .mcp.json instead.

Do I have to edit the file at all?

No. code --add-mcp takes the server object on the command line, and MCP: Add Server in the palette asks whether the target is Workspace or Global.

Where do the MCP Expense Tracker tools show up?

In Chat, behind the tools picker, once the server has started. Adding or changing one raises a prompt asking you to confirm you trust it; if the picker is empty, that prompt is usually still waiting.

MCP Expense Tracker in detail · The same server in Cursor and Windsurf · Every server in VS Code · Guides · VS Code docs · Buy Pro

Related guides & tools

Log expenses and mileage in Claude, split VAT, rebill to an invoice · Rebilling client expenses, with a markup and the VAT handled honestly · Categorize and reconcile a bank CSV export from chat