Xero MCP Server

What is Xero MCP Server about?

Enables developers to interact with Xero's accounting platform through standardized MCP commands, handling authentication, CRUD operations, and reporting without writing direct Xero API calls.

How to use Xero MCP Server?

1. Install the package via npx (no global install required):

   {
     "mcpServers": {
       "xero": {
         "command": "npx",
         "args": ["-y", "@xeroapi/xero-mcp-server@latest"],
         "env": {
           "XERO_CLIENT_ID": "<YOUR_CLIENT_ID>",
           "XERO_CLIENT_SECRET": "<YOUR_CLIENT_SECRET>",
           "XERO_CLIENT_BEARER_TOKEN": "<YOUR_BEARER_TOKEN>"
         }
       }
     }
   }
   

2. Set the required environment variables for authentication (client‑id/secret for custom connections or bearer token for token‑based flow).
3. Run the server (it will listen for MCP requests) and invoke commands such as list‑invoices, create‑contact, or approve‑payroll‑timesheet via an MCP‑compatible client (e.g., Claude Desktop).

Key Features of Xero MCP Server

• OAuth2 custom connections for development and third‑party MCP clients.
• Bearer‑token mode for multi‑tenant scenarios.
• Comprehensive command set covering contacts, invoices, payments, payroll, reports, and chart of accounts.
• Built with Node.js (v18+), supporting npm or pnpm workflows.
• MIT‑licensed and includes scripts for building and publishing.

Use Cases of Xero MCP Server

• Integrating Xero data into AI assistants or chat‑based tools via MCP.
• Automating financial workflows (invoice creation, payment reconciliation) in custom applications.
• Generating on‑demand financial reports (profit‑and‑loss, balance sheet) through standardized commands.
• Managing payroll timesheets and employee leave programmatically.
• Providing a unified API layer for multiple Xero organisations within a SaaS platform.

FAQ

Q: Which authentication method should I choose? A: Use custom connections (client ID/secret) for development and when embedding the server in a controlled environment. Use bearer‑token mode when you need to support many Xero accounts at runtime.

Q: Do I need a Xero developer account? A: Yes. Create an account, register an app, and obtain the client credentials or bearer token.

Q: Can I run the server on Windows? A: Absolutely. Ensure Node.js is installed and set the command to npx (or provide the full path to npx if using NVM).

Q: How do I add the server to Claude Desktop? A: Add the configuration shown above to claude_desktop_config.json under mcpServers.xero.

Q: Is the source code open source? A: Yes, it is hosted on GitHub under the MIT license.

Xero MCP Server

This is a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server implementation for Xero. It provides a bridge between the MCP protocol and Xero's API, allowing for standardized access to Xero's accounting and business features.

Features

• Xero OAuth2 authentication with custom connections
• Contact management
• Chart of Accounts management
• Invoice creation and management
• MCP protocol compliance

Prerequisites

• Node.js (v18 or higher)
• npm or pnpm
• A Xero developer account with API credentials

Docs and Links

• Xero Public API Documentation
• Xero API Explorer
• Xero OpenAPI Specs
• Xero-Node Public API SDK Docs
• Developer Documentation

Setup

Create a Xero Account

If you don't already have a Xero account and organisation already, can create one by signing up here using the free trial.

We recommend using a Demo Company to start with because it comes with some pre-loaded sample data. Once you are logged in, switch to it by using the top left-hand dropdown and selecting "Demo Company". You can reset the data on a Demo Company, or change the country, at any time by using the top left-hand dropdown and navigating to My Xero.

NOTE: To use Payroll-specific queries, the region should be either NZ or UK.

Authentication

There are 2 modes of authentication supported in the Xero MCP server:

1. Custom Connections

This is a better choice for testing and development which allows you to specify client id and secrets for a specific organisation. It is also the recommended approach if you are integrating this into 3rd party MCP clients such as Claude Desktop.

Configuring your Xero Developer account

Set up a Custom Connection following these instructions: https://developer.xero.com/documentation/guides/oauth2/custom-connections/

Currently the following scopes are required for all sessions: scopes

Integrating the MCP server with Claude Desktop

To add the MCP server to Claude go to Settings > Developer > Edit config and add the following to your claude_desktop_config.json file:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "xero": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@xeroapi/xero-mcp-server@latest"],
      "env": {
        "XERO_CLIENT_ID": "your_client_id_here",
        "XERO_CLIENT_SECRET": "your_client_secret_here"
      }
    }
  }
}

NOTE: If you are using Node Version Manager "command": "npx" section change it to be the full path to the executable, ie: your_home_directory/.nvm/versions/node/v22.14.0/bin/npx on Mac / Linux or "your_home_directory\\.nvm\\versions\\node\\v22.14.0\\bin\\npx" on Windows

2. Bearer Token

This is a better choice if you are to support multiple Xero accounts at runtime and allow the MCP client to execute an auth flow (such as PKCE) as required. In this case, use the following configuration:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "xero": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@xeroapi/xero-mcp-server@latest"],
      "env": {
        "XERO_CLIENT_BEARER_TOKEN": "your_bearer_token"
      }
    }
  }
}

NOTE: The XERO_CLIENT_BEARER_TOKEN will take precedence over the XERO_CLIENT_ID if defined.

Available MCP Commands

• list-accounts: Retrieve a list of accounts
• list-contacts: Retrieve a list of contacts from Xero
• list-credit-notes: Retrieve a list of credit notes
• list-invoices: Retrieve a list of invoices
• list-items: Retrieve a list of items
• list-organisation-details: Retrieve details about an organisation
• list-profit-and-loss: Retrieve a profit and loss report
• list-quotes: Retrieve a list of quotes
• list-tax-rates: Retrieve a list of tax rates
• list-payments: Retrieve a list of payments
• list-trial-balance: Retrieve a trial balance report
• list-profit-and-loss: Retrieve a profit and loss report
• list-bank-transactions: Retrieve a list of bank account transactions
• list-payroll-employees: Retrieve a list of Payroll Employees
• list-report-balance-sheet: Retrieve a balance sheet report
• list-payroll-employee-leave: Retrieve a Payroll Employee's leave records
• list-payroll-employee-leave-balances: Retrieve a Payroll Employee's leave balances
• list-payroll-employee-leave-types: Retrieve a list of Payroll leave types
• list-payroll-leave-periods: Retrieve a list of a Payroll Employee's leave periods
• list-payroll-leave-types: Retrieve a list of all avaliable leave types in Xero Payroll
• list-aged-receivables-by-contact: Retrieves aged receivables for a contact
• list-aged-payables-by-contact: Retrieves aged payables for a contact
• list-contact-groups: Retrieve a list of contact groups
• create-contact: Create a new contact
• create-credit-note: Create a new credit note
• create-invoice: Create a new invoice
• create-payment: Create a new payment
• create-quote: Create a new quote
• create-credit-note: Create a new credit note
• create-payroll-timesheet: Create a new Payroll Timesheet
• update-contact: Update an existing contact
• update-invoice: Update an existing draft invoice
• update-quote: Update an existing draft quote
• update-credit-note: Update an existing draft credit note
• update-payroll-timesheet-line: Update a line on an existing Payroll Timesheet
• approve-payroll-timesheet: Approve a Payroll Timesheet
• revert-payroll-timesheet: Revert an approved Payroll Timesheet
• add-payroll-timesheet-line: Add new line on an existing Payroll Timesheet
• delete-payroll-timesheet: Delete an existing Payroll Timesheet
• get-payroll-timesheet: Retrieve an existing Payroll Timesheet

For detailed API documentation, please refer to the MCP Protocol Specification.

For Developers

Installation

# Using npm
npm install

# Using pnpm
pnpm install

Run a build

# Using npm
npm run build

# Using pnpm
pnpm build

Integrating with Claude Desktop

To link your Xero MCP server in development to Claude Desktop go to Settings > Developer > Edit config and add the following to your claude_desktop_config.json file:

NOTE: For Windows ensure the args path escapes the \ between folders ie. "C:\\projects\xero-mcp-server\\dist\\index.js"

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "xero": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["insert-your-file-path-here/xero-mcp-server/dist/index.js"],
      "env": {
        "XERO_CLIENT_ID": "your_client_id_here",
        "XERO_CLIENT_SECRET": "your_client_secret_here"
      }
    }
  }
}

License

MIT

Security

Please do not commit your .env file or any sensitive credentials to version control (it is included in .gitignore as a safe default.)