Connect Claude Desktop to your finances
Self-hosted · runs on your machine
Claude Desktop's config has no cwd field, so the command is wrapped in a shell cd. Everything else matches the Claude Code setup.
Pare's MCP server exposes 24 tools — 13 that read (spending summaries, category breakdowns, cash-flow, subscriptions, budget status) and 11 that write (set goals, add categorisation rules, tag transactions). So you can ask about your own money in plain language instead of clicking through dashboards.
Steps
- 01Clone and install Pare, then run it once so the database exists.
- 02Open the config file listed under Configuration below (Settings → Developer → Edit Config opens it for you).
- 03Add the server under mcpServers, replacing the placeholder paths with real absolute ones.
- 04Restart Claude Desktop. The tools appear under the connectors menu.
Configuration
~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
{
"mcpServers": {
"pare-finance": {
"command": "/bin/sh",
"args": ["-c", "cd '/path/to/pare' && exec '/path/to/node' '/path/to/pare/node_modules/tsx/dist/cli.mjs' '/path/to/pare/mcp/server.ts'"],
"env": { "PARE_DB_PATH": "/path/to/pare/data/pare.db" }
}
}
}Paths above are placeholders. Once Pare is running, its /connect page prints this same snippet with the real absolute paths for your machine, ready to copy.
Worth knowing
The shell wrapper isn't decoration. Claude Desktop can't set a working directory, and Pare's migrations resolve via the working directory — without the cd the server starts against the wrong path and finds no database.
What to ask once it's connected
- “Is my grocery spending trending up over the last six months?”
- “Which subscriptions have I paid for over a year without the amount changing?”
- “Everything from this merchant is groceries — make that a rule and re-run it.”
- “If I keep spending at this rate, what's my balance on the 15th?”