Is the Xero MCP official?

Yes. It is published by Xero under the XeroAPI GitHub organization and licensed MIT — first-party provenance, unlike most accounting MCPs which are community bridges.

How does authentication work?

Through a Xero OAuth2 custom connection using a client ID and client secret. Scope the connection to the accounts and permissions the agent actually needs.

Xero

Name: Top MCPs — curated MCP directory
Creator: Top MCPs
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Official

Official Xero MCP — invoices, contacts, bank transactions, and accounting from an agent.

Score 76(?)XeroMIT 336Verified Jul 15, 2026Top MCPs for Commerce & Payments →

Install View on GitHub

Quick answer

What it does

Exposes Xero accounting operations as MCP tools: contacts (list/create), invoices (create/update/get), chart of accounts, bank transactions, payments, credit notes, quotes, manual journals, tax rates, tracking categories, and payroll (employees, timesheets, leave).

Best for

Creating and sending Xero invoices from chat
Contact management
Bank-reconciliation assistance
Reading the chart of accounts and financials

Not for

US-centric teams standardized on QuickBooks
Unattended payment posting without approval

Setup recipe

Pick your client, then follow the three steps.

Install

claude_desktop_config.jsonjson

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

Paste under mcpServers. Fully quit and reopen Claude after editing.

CLI or .mcp.jsonshell

# export XERO_CLIENT_ID=your_client_id
# export XERO_CLIENT_SECRET=your_client_secret
claude mcp add xero -- npx -y @xeroapi/xero-mcp-server@latest

Run from your repo. Commit .mcp.json to share with your team.

.cursor/mcp.jsonjson

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

Global path: ~/.cursor/mcp.json. Reload window after editing.

.vscode/mcp.jsonjsonc

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

VS Code uses the "servers" key (not "mcpServers").

~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.jsonjson

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

Open via Cascade → hammer icon → Configure.

cline_mcp_settings.jsonjson

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

Open via the Cline sidebar → MCP Servers → Edit.

~/.continue/config.jsonjson

{
  "experimental": {
    "modelContextProtocolServers": [
      {
        "transport": {
          "type": "stdio",
          "command": "npx",
          "args": [
            "-y",
            "@xeroapi/xero-mcp-server@latest"
          ],
          "env": {
            "XERO_CLIENT_ID": "${XERO_CLIENT_ID}",
            "XERO_CLIENT_SECRET": "${XERO_CLIENT_SECRET}"
          }
        }
      }
    ]
  }
}

Continue uses modelContextProtocolServers with a transport block.

~/.codex/config.tomlshell

# ~/.codex/config.toml
[mcp_servers.xero]
command = "npx"
args = [
  "-y",
  "@xeroapi/xero-mcp-server@latest",
]
env = { XERO_CLIENT_ID = "${XERO_CLIENT_ID}", XERO_CLIENT_SECRET = "${XERO_CLIENT_SECRET}" }

Codex uses TOML. Each server is a [mcp_servers.<name>] subtable.

~/.config/zed/settings.jsonjsonc

{
  "context_servers": {
    "xero": {
      "command": {
        "path": "npx",
        "args": [
          "-y",
          "@xeroapi/xero-mcp-server@latest"
        ]
      },
      "env": {
        "XERO_CLIENT_ID": "${XERO_CLIENT_ID}",
        "XERO_CLIENT_SECRET": "${XERO_CLIENT_SECRET}"
      }
    }
  }
}

Zed calls them "context_servers". Settings live-reload on save.

ChatGPT → Apps directorynone

Xero doesn't ship a hosted HTTPS endpoint today. ChatGPT supports remote MCP servers only — to use this server in ChatGPT you'll need to deploy it to a public HTTPS URL first (e.g. via Cloudflare Workers or Vercel) or wait for an official remote build.

2
Set required secrets
Set XERO_CLIENT_ID, XERO_CLIENT_SECRET in your shell environment before launching your MCP client.
3
Try a minimum working prompt
Minimum working prompt pending verification. Try any prompt from the MCP’s README once installed.

Tools & permissions

Tools list pending verification. The server exposes tools over MCP; we haven’t yet parsed its capability manifest into this page. Check the GitHub repo for the authoritative list.

Security & scope

Access scope: Network
Sandbox: Authenticates with a Xero OAuth2 custom connection (client ID + secret). Access scope matches the connection permissions.
Gotchas: A custom connection grants app-level access to the connected organization — scope it narrowly and rotate the client secret on a schedule.
Invoice creation and payment posting are write operations; keep human approval in the loop for anything that touches live financials.

Agent prompt pack

— copy into Claude, Cursor, or ChatGPT.

Paste into Claude, Cursor, or ChatGPT. Edit the [brackets] before sending.

Recommend the best MCP servers for [task: e.g. commerce & payments work] in [client: Claude].

Constraints:
- Prefer tools that are [official | open-source | read-only] — pick what matters for my use case.
- Exclude MCPs that require [e.g. a paid plan, OAuth-only flows, remote-only transport].
- Return at most 3 picks, ranked.

For each pick include:
1. One-sentence rationale.
2. The ready-to-paste install snippet for my client.
3. Any required secrets I need to create before installing.

Cross-check the top-mcps.com listing: https://top-mcps.com/top-mcps-for-commerce-payments

Compare Xero against a real alternative. Swap the second MCP in [brackets] if you want a different match.

Compare Xero MCP vs [QuickBooks Online MCP] for the following job: [describe the job, e.g. "let an agent create GitHub issues on bug triage"].

Judge them on:
- Setup time and complexity (what a new user hits first).
- Auth model (none / API key / OAuth 2.1) and credential risk.
- Transport (stdio / Streamable HTTP / SSE) and where the server runs.
- Required secrets and the blast radius if they leak.
- Operational risk in an unattended agent loop.
- Which one is "good enough" for a weekend prototype vs. production.

End with one sentence: which should I pick for my scenario, which is: [my scenario].

References:
- https://top-mcps.com/mcp/xero
- top-mcps.com listing for QuickBooks Online

Asks the agent to install and verify. Works inside Claude Code, Cursor Agent, Codex CLI.

Install the Xero MCP server for my [client: Claude] at the default config path for that client.

Use the exact install snippet published at https://top-mcps.com/mcp/xero (fetch https://top-mcps.com/mcp/xero.json for the canonical server.json if you can read URLs).

Before finishing:
1. Create the required secrets (XERO_CLIENT_ID, XERO_CLIENT_SECRET) and put them in the appropriate env block — do not hard-code them.
2. Restart or reload the client so it picks up the new server.
3. Verify the server is connected (green / running state) and at least one tool is listed.
4. If anything fails, read the client's MCP logs and report the exact error — do not silently retry.

Confirm when done and list the tools the server now exposes.

Frequently asked questions

What changed

— 2 updates tracked.

Jul 15, 2026
Refreshed install snippets and fact sheet; verified for 2026.
Apr 1, 2025
Initial directory listing.

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Compared with Xero

Side-by-side breakdowns for the choices people most often weigh against this MCP.

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Exploring Top MCPs for Commerce & Payments? See all Commerce & Payments MCPs →

Quick answer

What it does

Best for

Not for

Setup recipe

Install

Set required secrets

Try a minimum working prompt

Tools & permissions

Security & scope

Agent prompt pack

Full details

Frequently asked questions

Is the Xero MCP official?

What can it do beyond invoices?

How does authentication work?

What changed

More Commerce & Payments MCPs

Stripe

QuickBooks Online

Shopify

Compared with Xero