Today we're releasing receiptconverter-mcp — an official Model Context Protocol server that gives Claude, Cursor, Windsurf, and any MCP-compatible AI client a native convert_receipt tool.
What this means in practice
Before today, using the ReceiptConverter API from an AI assistant required the AI to know the endpoint, write the HTTP call, handle the auth header, and parse the response. It worked — but the agent had to figure all of that out.
With the MCP server, the agent just sees a tool called convert_receipt in its tool list. It calls the tool with a file path or URL, and gets back structured JSON. Zero setup from the AI's perspective.
Here's what a session looks like in Claude Desktop:
You: Parse this receipt for me — https://example.com/starbucks.jpg
Claude: [calls convert_receipt]
Claude: Here's what I found:
- Vendor: Starbucks
- Date: March 15, 2024
- Total: $12.50
- Items: Oat Latte ($6.50), Croissant ($4.50)
- Tax: Sales Tax 8.875% ($0.98)
- Tip: $1.50
That's it. No custom code. Claude called the API, parsed the response, and presented it cleanly — all from a single prompt.
Setup takes 2 minutes
1. Get an API key from your dashboard.
2. Add this to your MCP client config:
{
"mcpServers": {
"receiptconverter": {
"command": "npx",
"args": ["receiptconverter-mcp"],
"env": {
"RECEIPTCONVERTER_API_KEY": "sk_live_your_key_here"
}
}
}
}
3. Restart your client. That's it.
See the full setup guides for Claude Desktop, Cursor, and Windsurf.
What's included
The server exposes two tools:
convert_receipt— parse a receipt or invoice from a public URL or local file path. Returns vendor, date, total, subtotal, tip, currency, payment method, expense category, line items, and taxes.check_usage— check remaining conversions and plan limits for your API key.
It accepts every format the API supports: JPG, PNG, WEBP, HEIC, TIFF, BMP, and text-based PDFs.
Why MCP?
MCP (Model Context Protocol) is an open standard by Anthropic that lets AI models call tools defined by third-party servers. Claude Desktop, Cursor, and Windsurf all support it. The MCP directories — mcpmarket.com, glama.ai — are where developers discover new tools for their AI clients. It's moving fast.
Publishing an MCP server means ReceiptConverter shows up in those directories alongside Stripe, GitHub, Notion, and Slack. That's meaningful distribution.
Open source
The full server code is in the receiptconverter-mcp GitHub repo. It's about 150 lines — a thin bridge that translates MCP tool calls into HTTP requests to the ReceiptConverter API.
You can inspect every line before running it.
Get started: MCP Quick Start · npm package · GitHub