How to Set Up the Maple Budget MCP Server (From Scratch)

A complete, step-by-step guide to connecting Claude to your Maple Budget account using the Model Context Protocol (MCP). By the end of this guide, you'll be able to ask things like "What did I spend on groceries this month?" or "Add a $50 transaction for dinner" to Claude and other AI tools and it will read and write directly to your Maple Budget data.

This guide assumes you're starting from zero: no Claude, no Python, nothing. We'll walk through every single step.

Table of Contents

1. What Is MCP?
2. What You'll Need
3. Step 1: Install Python
4. Step 2: Install Claude Desktop
5. Step 3: Download the MCP Server File
6. Step 4: Install Python Dependencies
7. Step 5: Create a Maple Budget API Key
8. Step 6: Configure Claude Desktop
9. Step 7: Restart Claude and Verify
10. The Real Power of MCP
11. What You Can Do
12. Troubleshooting

What Is MCP?

The Model Context Protocol (MCP) is an open standard that lets AI assistants like Claude connect to external tools and data sources. Think of it like giving Claude a set of superpowers, instead of just chatting, it can actually do things on your behalf.

In this case, we're setting up an MCP server that acts as a bridge between Claude and the Maple Budget API. Once connected, Claude can:

• Read your transactions, budgets, and categories on Maple Budget
• Add, update, or delete transactions
• View your investment portfolio and net worth on Maple Finance
• Check live market prices for stocks in your portfolio on Maple Finance
• And much more!

The MCP server runs locally on your computer. Your API key never leaves your machine. Claude talks to the local server, and the server talks to Maple Budget's API.

What You'll Need

• A computer running macOS or Windows
• A Maple Budget account (sign up at app.maplebudget.com if you don't have one)
• An internet connection (Wi-Fi or data works)
• About 10 minutes

Step 1: Install Python

The MCP server is written in Python, so we need Python installed first.

macOS

Option A: Download from python.org (Recommended for beginners)

1. Go to python.org/downloads
2. Click the big yellow "Download Python 3.x.x" button
3. Open the downloaded .pkg file
4. Click through the installer. The defaults are fine
5. When it finishes, open Terminal (search for "Terminal" in Spotlight, or find it in Applications → Utilities)

Option B: Install via Homebrew (if you already have it)

brew install python

Windows

1. Go to python.org/downloads
2. Click the big yellow "Download Python 3.x.x" button
3. Run the downloaded .exe installer
4. Important: Check the box that says "Add python.exe to PATH" at the bottom of the first screen
5. Click "Install Now"
6. When it finishes, open Command Prompt (search for "cmd" in the Start menu)

Verify Python Is Installed

Open your terminal (Terminal on macOS, Command Prompt on Windows) and run:

python3 --version

You should see something like Python 3.12.x. If python3 doesn't work, try:

python --version

> Note: Throughout this guide, we'll use python3 and pip3. If those don't work on your system, try python and pip instead.

Step 2: Install Claude Desktop

Claude Desktop is Anthropic's desktop app for Claude. It's what will actually connect to the MCP server.

1. Go to claude.ai/download
2. Download the version for your operating system (macOS or Windows)
3. macOS: Open the downloaded .dmg file and drag Claude to your Applications folder
4. Windows: Run the downloaded installer
5. Open Claude Desktop and sign in with your Anthropic account (create one if needed at claude.ai)

Once you can open Claude and send a message, you're good to move on.

Step 3: Download the MCP Server File

The MCP server is a single Python file that you'll save to a specific folder on your computer.

Download the File

1. Go to the Maple Budget API Keys page: app.maplebudget.com/menu/api-keys
2. Under Setup, click the mcp-server.py download button
3. The file will download to your Downloads folder

Move It to the Right Location

We need to put the file in a folder called .maple-budget in your home directory. This is where Claude will look for it.

macOS: Open Terminal and run:

mkdir -p ~/.maple-budget
mv ~/Downloads/mcp-server.py ~/.maple-budget/mcp-server.py

Windows: Open Command Prompt and run:

mkdir "%USERPROFILE%\.maple-budget"
move "%USERPROFILE%\Downloads\mcp-server.py" "%USERPROFILE%\.maple-budget\mcp-server.py"

Verify the File Is in Place

macOS:

cat ~/.maple-budget/mcp-server.py | head -5

Windows:

type "%USERPROFILE%\.maple-budget\mcp-server.py" | more

You should see the first few lines of the file, starting with:

"""\nMaple Budget MCP Server\n...

Step 4: Install Python Dependencies

The MCP server needs two Python packages: mcp (the Model Context Protocol SDK) and requests (for making HTTP calls to the Maple Budget API).

Open your terminal and run:

pip3 install mcp requests

If pip3 doesn't work, try:

pip install mcp requests

You should see output showing the packages being downloaded and installed. When it's done, you'll see something like:

Successfully installed mcp-x.x.x requests-x.x.x

> Troubleshooting: If you get a "permission denied" error, try adding --user to the end: > pip3 install mcp requests --user

Step 5: Create a Maple Budget API Key

The API key is what authenticates the MCP server with your Maple Budget account. Think of it like a password specifically for this connection.

1. Log in to Maple Budget and go to the API Keys page: app.maplebudget.com/menu/api-keys
2. Click "Create API Key"
3. Give it a name, something like "Claude Desktop" so you remember what it's for
4. Click "Generate Key"
5. Important: You'll see your API key displayed. It looks something like mbk_abc123.... Copy this key immediately because you won't be able to see it again on Maple Budget.

Keep this key somewhere safe for the next step. You can paste it into a temporary note. We'll need it in just a moment.

> Security Note: Treat this API key like a password. Don't share it publicly or commit it to version control. If you ever suspect it's been compromised, you can revoke it from the API Keys page and create a new one.

Step 6: Configure Claude Desktop

Now we need to tell Claude Desktop where to find the MCP server and how to authenticate it. This is done through a JSON configuration file.

Open the Claude Desktop Config File

macOS:

1. Open Claude Desktop
2. In the menu bar at the top of your screen, click Claude → Settings
3. Click Developer in the left sidebar
4. Click "Edit Config"

This will open a file called claude_desktop_config.json in your text editor. If the file is empty or doesn't exist yet, that's fine.

Windows:

1. Open Claude Desktop
2. Click on the hamburger menu (☰) in the top-left corner, then go to File → Settings
3. Click Developer in the left sidebar
4. Click "Edit Config"

Alternatively, you can navigate to the file directly:

• macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
• Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

Add the MCP Server Configuration

Replace the contents of claude_desktop_config.json with the following. Make sure to replace YOUR_API_KEY_HERE with the actual API key you copied in Step 5:

macOS:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "maple-budget": {
      "command": "python3",
      "args": [
        "~/.maple-budget/mcp-server.py"
      ],
      "env": {
        "MAPLE_BUDGET_API_KEY": "YOUR_API_KEY_HERE"
      }
    }
  }
}

Windows:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "maple-budget": {
      "command": "python",
      "args": [
        "C:\\Users\\YOUR_USERNAME\\.maple-budget\\mcp-server.py"
      ],
      "env": {
        "MAPLE_BUDGET_API_KEY": "YOUR_API_KEY_HERE"
      }
    }
  }
}

> Windows users: Replace YOUR_USERNAME with your actual Windows username (the name of your user folder in C:\Users\).

What This Config Does

If You Already Have Other MCP Servers

If your config file already has other MCP servers configured, just add "maple-budget" alongside them inside the "mcpServers" object:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "some-other-server": {
      "...": "..."
    },
    "maple-budget": {
      "command": "python3",
      "args": [
        "~/.maple-budget/mcp-server.py"
      ],
      "env": {
        "MAPLE_BUDGET_API_KEY": "YOUR_API_KEY_HERE"
      }
    }
  }
}

Save the file and close the text editor.

Step 7: Restart Claude and Verify

1. Fully quit Claude Desktop (not just close the window):
2. macOS: Right-click the Claude icon in the Dock → Quit, or use Cmd + Q
3. Windows: Right-click Claude in the system tray → Quit
4. Reopen Claude Desktop
5. Start a new conversation and look for the MCP tools icon, which looks like a small hammer icon near the text input. Click it and you should see a list of Maple Budget tools.
6. Try asking Claude something like:

> "What's my budget summary for this month?"

If Claude responds with your actual budget data, congratulations, everything is working!

The Real Power of MCP

The examples above just scratch the surface. The real magic happens when you combine Claude's intelligence with Maple Budget's data in ways that would be tedious or impossible to do manually.

Bulk Import From Credit Card Statements

This is one of the most powerful use cases. Instead of manually entering dozens of transactions one by one, you can upload a PDF or screenshot of your credit card or bank statement directly into Claude. Claude will read every line item, parse the merchant names, amounts, and dates, and then use the MCP server to add each transaction into Maple Budget for you automatically.

Just drag and drop your statement into the Claude chat and say something like:

• "Here's my Visa statement for March. Please add all of these transactions to Maple Budget and categorize them."
• "I have a CSV export from my bank. Import all transactions from this file into my budget."
• "Here's a screenshot of my Amex app showing recent charges. Add these to Maple Budget under my Amex payment method."

Claude will go through each transaction, match it to the right category based on the merchant name, and add them all in seconds. What would normally take 20+ minutes of manual data entry becomes a single message.

Smart Analysis and Insights

Because Claude can read all of your financial data at once, it can spot patterns and give you insights that would take a long time to figure out on your own:

• "Compare my spending this month to last month. Where did I overspend?"
• "Am I on track to hit my savings goal this year based on my current spending?"
• "What are my top 5 biggest expense categories over the past 3 months, and how are they trending?"
• "Look at my recurring transactions. Are there any subscriptions I might have forgotten about?"

Portfolio Management

Managing investments becomes conversational. You can log trades, rebalance, and get analysis without navigating through multiple screens:

• "I just bought 15 shares of MSFT at $420. Log that trade in my TFSA account."
• "What's my current asset allocation? Am I overweight in any sector?"
• "Show me how my portfolio has performed against the S&P 500 this year."
• "Take a snapshot of my net worth right now."

Natural Language Everything

The biggest shift is that you no longer need to navigate menus, click buttons, or fill out forms. You just say what you want in plain English, and Claude handles the rest. Want to add a transaction, check your budget, and log a trade all in the same conversation? Go for it. Claude has access to your entire Maple Budget account and can handle multiple requests back to back without missing a beat.

Once connected, Claude has access to over 50 tools across your entire Maple Budget account. Here are some examples of things you can ask:

Budget

• "What did I spend on dining out this month?"
• "Add a $45.00 grocery transaction at Costco for today"
• "Show me my recurring transactions"
• "What's my categorical breakdown for February?"

Investments

• "What's my current portfolio value?"
• "Show me all my investment accounts"
• "Log a trade: bought 10 shares of AAPL at $195"

Net Worth

• "Create a snapshot of my net worth"
• "How has my net worth changed over the past 6 months?"

Market Data

• "What's the current price of AAPL?"
• "Show me my watchlist"
• "How has the S&P 500 performed this year?"

Troubleshooting

Claude Doesn't Show the MCP Tools Icon

• Make sure you fully quit and reopened Claude Desktop (not just closed the window)
• Double-check that claude_desktop_config.json is valid JSON (no trailing commas, matching brackets). You can validate it at jsonlint.com
• Ensure the file path in "args" points to where you actually saved mcp-server.py

"Python not found" or "command not found" Errors

• macOS: Try changing "command" from "python3" to the full path. Run which python3 in Terminal to find it. It's commonly /usr/local/bin/python3 or /opt/homebrew/bin/python3
• Windows: Make sure you checked "Add python.exe to PATH" during installation. If you missed it, reinstall Python and check that box

"ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'mcp'"

The Python packages weren't installed, or were installed for a different Python version. Try:

python3 -m pip install mcp requests

If you have multiple Python versions, make sure the python3 in your config command matches the one you installed packages for.

"Invalid API key" or Authentication Errors

• Make sure you copied the full API key (it starts with mbk_)
• Check that there are no extra spaces or line breaks in the key in your config file
• Verify the key is still active at app.maplebudget.com/menu/api-keys

Claude Says It Can't Access Maple Budget Tools

• Start a new conversation because MCP servers connect at the start of each conversation
• Check Claude Desktop's logs for errors:
• macOS: ~/Library/Logs/Claude/mcp*.log
• Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\logs\mcp*.log

Need to Start Over?

1. Revoke your old API key at app.maplebudget.com/menu/api-keys
2. Create a new one
3. Update the key in claude_desktop_config.json
4. Restart Claude Desktop

Summary

Here's a recap of everything we did:

That's it. Claude now has full access to your Maple Budget data. Ask it anything about your finances, and it'll pull the data directly from your account.