Setup Guide

Get Spendlog running in under 5 minutes. This guide covers installation for both Claude Desktop and Claude Code.

Requirements

Node.js 18+ — Check with node --version
Claude Desktop or Claude Code — The MCP host

Don't have Node.js? Download it from nodejs.org (LTS version recommended).

Installation

The easiest way to install Spendlog:

npx spendlog

This interactive installer will:

Detect whether you're using Claude Desktop or Claude Code
Add Spendlog to your MCP configuration
Create the local SQLite database in ~/.spendlog/

After installation, restart Claude to load the new MCP server.

Claude Desktop Setup

If the installer didn't work or you prefer manual setup:

Step 1: Find your config file

macOS~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

Windows%APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

Linux~/.config/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

Step 2: Add Spendlog to mcpServers

Open the config file and add (or merge) the following:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "spendlog": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "spendlog", "serve"]
    }
  }
}

Step 3: Restart Claude Desktop

Quit and reopen Claude Desktop. You should see the Spendlog tools available.

Tip: Look for the hammer icon in Claude Desktop — clicking it shows all available MCP tools including Spendlog.

Claude Code Setup

For Claude Code (CLI), you have two options:

Option A: Per-project

claude mcp add spendlog -- npx -y spendlog serve

This adds Spendlog to the current project only.

Option B: Global (recommended)

Edit ~/.claude/settings.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "spendlog": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "spendlog", "serve"]
    }
  }
}

This makes Spendlog available in all your Claude Code sessions.

First Steps

Once installed, try these commands in Claude:

"Track 50€ for hosting"

Records an expense with auto-categorization

"I earned 1200€ from consulting"

Records income

"How was January?"

Shows monthly summary

"What do I spend on software?"

Category breakdown

Spendlog understands natural language in English, German, Spanish, and French.

Cloud Sync (Optional)

By default, all data stays local on your machine. To enable cloud sync and access the web dashboard:

Say "Connect Spendlog" in Claude
You'll receive a magic link via email
Click the link to verify your account
Your data will sync automatically

Cloud sync is optional and free. You can disconnect anytime with "Disconnect Spendlog".

Troubleshooting

Spendlog tools not showing up

Make sure you restarted Claude after adding the config
Check that Node.js 18+ is installed: node --version
Verify the config file syntax is valid JSON

"Command not found: npx"

Node.js is not installed or not in your PATH. Install from nodejs.org.

Permission errors on macOS

If you see permission errors, try:

sudo chown -R $(whoami) ~/.npm ~/.spendlog

Still stuck?

Open an issue on GitHub — we're happy to help.