Connect an AI assistant

CostCrunch works with AI assistants that support the Model Context Protocol (MCP). Once connected, the assistant can look things up in your CostCrunch data while it answers you:

• "Which invoices need my attention, and what do they add up to?"
• "What did we pay for 5/8 sheetrock in October, and is that a good price?"
• "How much have we spent with Tri-State Lumber on 125 Ditmas Avenue?"

Its answers link back to the documents, suppliers, and projects in CostCrunch.

What you need

1. An API key.
2. uv (brew install uv on a Mac). It runs the CostCrunch connector; there's nothing else to install.

Set up your assistant

• Claude Code
• Claude Desktop
• Cursor
• Other MCP clients (VS Code, Windsurf, and others)

Every setup runs the same command, with your key in the environment:

COSTCRUNCH_API_KEY=cc_live_... uvx --from costcrunch cost mcp

How it works

The connector runs on your computer, started by your assistant. It answers the assistant's requests by calling CostCrunch with your key. It can only read, and only your company's data. See Authentication and security for where the data goes.