🧾 Laravel MCP Expense Tracker

A comprehensive expense tracking system built with Laravel and Model Context Protocol (MCP). This project demonstrates how to create MCP servers for AI-powered expense management.

🚀 Features

Core Functionality

• ✅ Add Expenses - Create new expense records
• ✅ Get Expenses - Retrieve and filter expenses
• ✅ Update Expenses - Modify existing expense records
• ✅ Delete Expenses - Remove expense records
• ✅ Advanced Filtering - Filter by date range, payment method, search terms
• ✅ Summary Statistics - Total amounts, counts, and averages

MCP Integration

• 🤖 AI-Powered - Designed for AI assistant integration
• 🔧 MCP Tools - Four comprehensive MCP tools
• 📊 JSON Responses - Structured data for AI consumption
• ✅ Validation - Robust input validation and error handling

🛠️ Technology Stack

• Backend: Laravel 12
• Database: MySQL/SQLite
• Testing: Pest PHP
• MCP: Laravel MCP Package
• Code Quality: Laravel Pint

📋 Requirements

• PHP 8.4+
• Composer
• MySQL or SQLite
• Node.js (for MCP Inspector)

🚀 Installation

1. Clone the Repository

git clone https://github.com/yourusername/mcp-expense-tracker.git
cd mcp-expense-tracker

2. Install Dependencies

composer install
npm install

3. Environment Setup

cp .env.example .env
php artisan key:generate

4. Database Configuration

Update your .env file:

DB_CONNECTION=mysql
DB_HOST=127.0.0.1
DB_PORT=3306
DB_DATABASE=expense_tracker
DB_USERNAME=your_username
DB_PASSWORD=your_password

5. Run Migrations

php artisan migrate

6. Start the Server

php artisan serve

🧪 Testing

Run All Tests

php artisan test

Run MCP Tests

php artisan test tests/Feature/ExpenseTrackerMcpTest.php

🤖 Testing with AI Assistants

Cursor IDE (Recommended) ✅

Step 1: Configure MCP Server Create .cursor/mcp.json in your project root:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "expense-tracker": {
      "command": "php",
      "args": [
        "artisan",
        "mcp:start",
        "expense-tracker"
      ],
      "cwd": "."
    }
  }
}

Step 2: Restart Cursor IDE

• Close and reopen Cursor IDE
• Check MCP panel for "expense-tracker" server (should show green status)

Step 3: Test Commands In Cursor chat, try these commands:

Add a 450 rupee grocery expense paid with debit card today
Show me all expenses from this month
Find all credit card expenses over 500 rupees
Update expense ID 5 to 475 rupees
Delete expense ID 3

Expected Result: Cursor will use your MCP tools directly to interact with your expense tracker.

MCP Inspector (Limited Support) ⚠️

Known Issues & Solutions:

Issue 1: Path Separator Problems (Windows)

Error: Could not open input file: D:projectsuserlaravelmcp-demoartisan

Root Cause: MCP Inspector uses forward slashes (D:/projects/user/...) but Windows expects backslashes (D:\projects\user\...)

Issue 2: SSE Connection Errors

Error: Error POSTing to endpoint (HTTP 500): SSE connection not established

Root Cause: Server-Sent Events connection fails between MCP Inspector and local MCP servers

Issue 3: Command Spawn Errors

Error: spawn mcp-server-everything ENOENT

Root Cause: MCP Inspector tries to spawn non-existent commands

Why It Works in Cursor but Not Inspector:

• ✅ Cursor IDE: Uses proper Windows path handling and direct MCP integration
• ❌ MCP Inspector: Has cross-platform compatibility issues, especially on Windows

My Testing Experience:

I tested this MCP server in both Cursor IDE and MCP Inspector:

• ✅ Cursor IDE: Works perfectly! All MCP tools function correctly
• ❌ MCP Inspector: Encountered various connection errors when clicking "Connect"

🎯 Quick Test Commands

For Cursor IDE:

"Add a 100 rupee expense for snacks paid with cash today"
"Show me all my expenses"
"Find expenses paid with credit card"
"Update expense ID 2 to have amount 10 rupees"
"Delete expense ID 3"

🏗️ Project Structure

app/
├── Mcp/
│   ├── Servers/
│   │   └── ExpenseServer.php
│   └── Tools/
│       ├── AddExpenseTool.php
│       ├── GetExpensesTool.php
│       ├── UpdateExpenseTool.php
│       └── DeleteExpenseTool.php
├── Models/
│   └── Expense.php
database/
├── factories/
│   └── ExpenseFactory.php
├── migrations/
│   └── create_expenses_table.php
└── seeders/
    └── ExpenseSeeder.php
tests/
└── Feature/
    └── ExpenseTrackerMcpTest.php
routes/
├── web.php
└── ai.php

🧪 Testing Coverage

• ✅ CRUD Operations - All create, read, update, delete operations
• ✅ Validation - Input validation and error handling
• ✅ Filtering - Date range, payment method, search filtering
• ✅ Edge Cases - Invalid IDs, missing fields, boundary conditions
• ✅ Database - Database assertions and data integrity

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Built with ❤️ using Laravel and MCP