What is Spendesk MCP?
Spendesk MCP (Model Context Protocol) connects your Spendesk financial data to the AI tools your team already uses — through a secure interface with controlled read and write access.
No more manual exports. No more switching between dashboards. Just ask a question in natural language and get an answer about your financial operations.
In one sentence:Get your Spendesk data anywhere you need it, the way you want it — through a prompt.
Instead of navigating Spendesk to pull a report, you can simply ask your AI assistant:
"Show me spend by cost center for Q1 2026"
"What invoices from supplier X haven't been exported to our ERP yet?"
"What are our top 10 suppliers this quarter?"
And get the answer directly in your AI tool of choice.
How MCP, your AI assistant and your data work together
MCP stands for Model Context Protocol, an open standard that lets an AI assistant use tools connected to another service — here, Spendesk.
Spendesk MCP is not an AI model. It is a controlled bridge between your AI assistant and Spendesk:
You ask your AI assistant a question or request an action.
The assistant calls a Spendesk MCP tool.
Spendesk runs it with the signed-in user's permissions and the permissions enabled on the connection, and returns only what that user is allowed to see or do.
Spendesk MCP cannot give your assistant more access than the signed-in user has. Your prompts and the assistant's answers, including the Spendesk data it retrieves, are processed by the AI tool you choose (Claude, ChatGPT, Dust or Langdock). Before connecting Spendesk, review that provider's settings for privacy, data retention, workspace sharing and model training.
Who is this for?
Spendesk MCP is designed for people who need fast access to financial data — without navigating Spendesk manually. To use it, you need the Account Owner or Controller role in Spendesk (see below):
Persona | What they can do |
CFOs & FP&A | Cross-period comparisons, supplier analysis, spend by cost centre |
Controllers | AP ageing, cash flow forecasting, payment schedules |
Accounting teams | Invoice tracking, VAT breakdown, month-end checks |
Account Owners | Spend analytics and financial reporting across the company |
Role & access:
Account Owners and Admins can create and manage MCP connections and their permissions.
Account Owners and Controllers can use MCP, subject to their existing Spendesk permissions and the permissions they approve when connecting. Admins can set up a connection but cannot use MCP themselves.
MCP cannot grant a user more access than they already have in Spendesk.
MCP supports read tools and selected write tools. Write permissions are off by default: they must be enabled on the MCP connection, then ticked by each user when they connect.
MCP read tools are generally available to all customers, at no cost for 2026; Write Tools are in Beta. Use the in-app path below to create or manage your MCP connection.
⚠️ Write Tools are in Beta. Write permissions are off by default and must be enabled on the connection by an Account Owner or Admin. Write Tools can change real Spendesk data and some actions cannot be undone. See the MCP Write Tools guide before enabling them.
Multi-Entity Support
If your organisation has multiple entities in Spendesk, MCP respects your entity structure. With an organisation-level connection, you can query data across your entities.
Without MCP: If your group has 3 entities (e.g. France, Germany, UK), getting a consolidated view of spend means logging into each entity separately, exporting the data, and manually combining everything in a spreadsheet — every single time.
With Spendesk MCP: Simply ask "What is the total spend across all our entities in Q1 2026?" — the assistant goes through each entity and combines the answer for you.
This makes Spendesk MCP especially useful for groups and multi-subsidiary companies.
Organisation-level MCP: When you connect, the Spendesk approval screen lets you connect one company or all the companies of your organisation. Choose all companies to query every entity in a single conversation. The assistant only sees the entities where you are an Account Owner or Controller.
Supported AI Tools
Spendesk MCP is currently available with:
AI Tool | Status |
Claude (Anthropic) | ✅ Available now |
ChatGPT (OpenAI) | ✅ Available now |
Dust | ✅ Available now |
Langdock | ✅ Available now (connects itself from the server URL) |
Step-by-step admin instructions for each tool, including Claude Team and Enterprise and ChatGPT Business and Enterprise, are in the Spendesk developer documentation.
How to Activate Spendesk MCP
Prerequisites
Before connecting, make sure:
You are an Account Owner or Admin on your Spendesk account
You have an account on Claude, ChatGPT, Dust or Langdock — with admin access to its workspace if your team uses a shared workspace
Step 1 — Access the MCP connection page
Log in to your Spendesk account, then use the path that matches your organisation:
Single-entity organisation
Go to Settings → Integrations → MCP.
On the MCP connections page, click New MCP to create a connection, or Manage to open an existing connection.
Multi-entity organisation
Go to Multi-entity Hub → MCP.
On the MCP connections page, click New MCP to create a connection, or Manage to open an existing connection.
If you do not see the MCP option, make sure you are an Account Owner or Admin. If you have a multi-entity organisation, also make sure you have access to the Multi-entity Hub. Contact Spendesk Support if the option is still unavailable.
Step 2 — Generate your MCP credentials
Choose the AI tool you are connecting (Claude, ChatGPT or Dust) and confirm with your second factor.
Click Generate Credentials
Your OAuth Client ID and OAuth Client Secret are generated automatically — copy them, you will need them in the next step
Store these credentials securely. They will not be shown again.
What are OAuth credentials? Your OAuth Client ID and OAuth Client Secret are unique to your organisation and used to authenticate the MCP connection securely. Claude and ChatGPT need them. Dust can use them (Static OAuth, below) or register itself from the server URL without them; Langdock always registers itself and needs none. Keep them safe — treat them like a password, share them only through a secure channel, and never paste them into an AI conversation. The secret cannot be displayed or regenerated later: if it has been exposed, delete the connection (Manage → Remove) and create a new one — this signs out every user of that connection, who then reconnect.
Step 3 — Connect to your AI tool
Note: The screenshots show Claude as an example. The same steps apply to ChatGPT, Dust and Langdock, with their own screens.
If you are using Dust
Requires workspace Admin access.
Dust offers two set-ups: Static OAuth with the credentials generated in Step 2 (steps below), or an automatic set-up where Dust registers itself from the MCP Server URL, without credentials.
In your Dust workspace, go to Spaces → Tools
Click Add Tool
In the panel that opens, click Add MCP Server
Enter the MCP Server URL:
https://public-api.spendesk.com/v1/mcpFor Authentication, select Static OAuth
For Connection type, select Personal accounts
Fill in the OAuth fields shown in the table below.
Click Setup connection
Field | Value |
OAuth Client ID | Generated in Step 2 (in-product flow) |
OAuth Client Secret | Generated in Step 2 (in-product flow) |
OAuth Token Endpoint | |
OAuth Authorization Endpoint |
Once confirmed, add the Spendesk MCP tool to the agents that should use it.
Shared vs Personal accounts:Choose "Personal accounts" if you want each team member to authenticate individually with their own Spendesk credentials.
If you are using Claude (Claude.ai or Claude Desktop)
On Claude Team or Enterprise, an Owner or Primary Owner first adds Spendesk for the whole organisation:
In Claude, open Organization settings → Connectors and click Add.
Choose Custom → Web and paste the MCP Server URL:
https://public-api.spendesk.com/v1/mcpOpen Advanced settings and enter your OAuth Client ID and OAuth Client Secret — generated in Step 2.
Click Add.
Each member then opens Customize → Connectors, finds Spendesk and clicks Connect.
On Claude Free, Pro or Max, each user adds the connector themselves:
In Claude, open Customize → Connectors and click Add custom connector.
Paste the MCP Server URL:
https://public-api.spendesk.com/v1/mcpOpen Advanced settings and enter your OAuth Client ID and OAuth Client Secret — generated in Step 2.
Click Add, then click Connect on the Spendesk connector.
If you are using ChatGPT
Available on ChatGPT Business, Enterprise and Edu (web). Requires a workspace admin or owner.
Turn on developer mode: on Business, each admin turns it on in Settings → Apps → Advanced settings; on Enterprise and Edu, it is granted in Workspace settings → Permissions & Roles → Connected Data, then turned on in Settings → Apps → Advanced settings.
In Workspace settings → Apps, click Create.
Name your app, e.g. "Spendesk MCP", and paste the MCP Server URL:
https://public-api.spendesk.com/v1/mcpChoose OAuth and enter your OAuth Client ID and OAuth Client Secret — generated in Step 2.
Click Scan Tools, sign in to Spendesk and click Authorise when Spendesk asks.
Click Create: the app is saved as a draft.
Publish it for your workspace from Workspace settings → Apps → Drafts → Publish.
⚠️ Important: Copy and paste the credentials carefully — avoid adding spaces or editing the values. The Client Secret is shown only once: paste it into ChatGPT before closing the Spendesk page.
When Spendesk adds new tools — as when Write Tools arrived — ChatGPT keeps the list of tools from when the app was published: an admin refreshes the app (Enterprise) or recreates and republishes it (Business).
Step 4 — Verify the connection
Once connected, test the integration with a simple prompt in your AI tool:
"What is the total spend for my company in Q1 2026?"
If you receive a structured response with actual data from your Spendesk account, you are all set.
Dust Screen
Claude Screen
Examples of what you can do with Spendesk MCP
The following examples illustrate some of the ways you can query your Spendesk data. This list is not exhaustive — you can ask anything related to your financial operations in natural language.
Capability | What it helps you do | Use cases | Filters & grouping available | Example prompts |
Check wallet funding | Check wallet balance, available funds, allocated funds, and wallet top-ups. | Check funds, Review top-ups, Track allocation | Date range, top-up method, amount, currency | "What is our current available wallet balance?" "Show recent wallet top-ups." "How much was added to the wallet this month?" "Were there any wallet top-ups by wire transfer last week?" "Do we have enough available balance for upcoming payments?" |
Track payables and settlements | Review payable and settlement details, such as due dates, statuses, and supporting documents. Understand what is unpaid, overdue, upcoming, or already settled. | Track spend, Find documentary evidence | Date range, due date, status, supplier, amount, currency, payable type, settlement status, settlement date | "Show all overdue payables by supplier." "Which payables are due in the next 30 days?" "List unpaid invoices over €5,000." "Find the attachment for this payable." "Which payables were settled this month?" |
Review purchase orders | Track purchase orders, amounts, dates, items, suppliers, and other details. Understand what has been requested or ordered. | Track POs, Review delivery | Date range, status, supplier, requester, amount, currency, item, purchase order ID | "Show purchase orders created this month." "List open purchase orders over €10,000." "Which purchase orders are linked to this supplier?" "What items were included in this purchase order?" "Summarize purchase order activity for Q1." |
Look up suppliers and users | Look up company users and suppliers for reporting, ownership, approval context, supplier analysis, and spend investigations. | Supplier analysis, Spend investigations | User name, user role, user status, supplier name, supplier status | "Find this supplier in Spendesk." "Show supplier details for Acme Ltd." "List suppliers paid this quarter." "Which users are linked to spend in this period?" |
Analyse spend dimensions | Break down spend by reporting dimensions such as cost centres, expense categories, and analytical fields. | Break down spend, Analyse top suppliers | Cost centre, expense category, analytical field, analytical field value, active or inactive status | "Show total spend by supplier in Q1." "Break down spend by cost centre for last month." "Show the top 10 suppliers by spend this year." "Compare travel spend by department." |
What MCP Write Tools cover
MCP Write Tools support selected actions across suppliers, chart of accounts, payables and settlements, purchase orders, analytical fields, expense categories and accounting exports. They are off by default: an Account Owner or Admin enables them on the connection, then each user ticks the write permissions they need when connecting.
The following are not included: creating or approving expenses, managing users or roles, and triggering approval workflows. See the MCP Write Tools guide for the list of supported tools, permission requirements and reversibility guidance.
Security & Data Privacy
Controlled access: read and write actions are available only for the permissions enabled on the MCP connection and approved by the user, and within the user's Spendesk role
Authenticated: each user signs in to Spendesk through OAuth with their own account — your data is never shared with other accounts
Scoped to your organisation: the MCP connection only exposes data belonging to your Spendesk organisation
Traceable: every tool call is recorded in the connection's Action log in Spendesk (Manage → Action log), with the user who made it
Processed by your AI provider: prompts and answers go through the AI tool you chose — see How MCP, your AI assistant and your data work together
You stay in control: an Account Owner or Admin can remove the connection at any time from Settings → Integrations → MCP (Manage → Remove)
For what protects you, what an AI assistant can still get wrong and good habits before letting it act, see Use AI assistants with Spendesk safely. Security teams find the technical details in Using the AI assistant safely.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who needs to activate MCP on the Spendesk side?
The Spendesk Account Owner or Admin must create and manage the connection. On a single-entity account, go to Settings → Integrations → MCP. On a multi-entity account, go to Multi-entity Hub → MCP. From the MCP connections page, click New MCP to create a connection or Manage to open an existing one.
How do existing customers enable Write Tools?
Open the existing connection with Manage, select the Permissions tab, enable the desired permissions in the Access column, then click Save. Confirm the change in the Spendesk mobile app if prompted. Then each user disconnects and connects Spendesk again in their AI tool, and ticks the write permissions they need on the Spendesk approval screen (write permissions are unticked by default). Refreshing the tool list is not enough: new permissions only appear after reconnecting. On ChatGPT Business and Enterprise, a workspace admin first refreshes or recreates the app (see If you are using ChatGPT). You do not need to create a new MCP server connection or generate new OAuth credentials.
My Admin enabled a new write permission — why can't Claude use it yet?
Refreshing the tool list in Claude is not enough: the new tools appear only after you reconnect and approve the new permission.
In Claude, go to Customize → Connectors, open the Spendesk connector and click Disconnect.
Click Connect and sign in to Spendesk.
On the Spendesk approval screen, tick the new write permission. Write permissions are unticked by default, even when your Account Owner or Admin has just enabled them.
To check, open the Spendesk connector in Customize → Connectors: the new tools are listed under Tool permissions.
Who needs to complete the setup on the AI tool side?
Once the Account Owner or Admin has generated credentials in Spendesk, a workspace Admin on your AI tool (Claude, ChatGPT or Dust) completes the MCP server setup via the tool's interface using the provided credentials.
How does each user connect individually?
Once the MCP server is set up in the AI tool, each Controller or Account Owner can start using it. On their first connection (or reconnection), the AI tool prompts them to log in to their Spendesk account and approve the access.
What is the best setup for users on individual Claude plans who are not Account Owners or Admins?
A Controller cannot create the Spendesk MCP connection themselves. One connection is designed to be shared: an Account Owner or Admin generates its OAuth Client ID and OAuth Client Secret and passes them to the Controllers who need access through a password manager or another secure channel — never by email, in a chat message or in an AI conversation. Each Controller adds the Spendesk connector in their own Claude account with these credentials, then signs in with their own Spendesk login: the credentials identify your organisation's MCP connection, while each user's authorisation stays personal and subject to their Spendesk role and permissions. Never share a personal Spendesk password or an OAuth access token.
Can I use Spendesk MCP with other AI tools?
Claude, ChatGPT, Dust and Langdock are supported today. For any other tool, contact your Spendesk account team.
Is there a cost for using MCP?
No. MCP access is free for all customers for 2026. Pricing may change.
Does everybody in my company have access to MCP data?
Once MCP is activated, Account Owners & Controllers will be able to retrieve data. If you want more granular control over what data can be accessed by certain users, you can use the built-in permission groups from your AI tool (Claude, ChatGPT, Dust…).
What can't the assistant do?
Through MCP, the assistant cannot approve or reject requests or invoices, pay an invoice or schedule a payment, create or change cards, users or cost centres, or read budgets: there is no MCP tool for these. It also does not act on its own — it reads and acts only when you ask. For these tasks, use Spendesk directly.
What data can MCP access?
MCP can read your company's financial data in Spendesk: wallet balance and top-ups, payables and their receipts, settlements, invoices and the invoice inbox, purchase orders, suppliers, users, cards, card requests and card transactions, cost centres, expense categories, analytical fields and the chart of accounts. It respects your existing entity and permission structure. The full list of tools, with the permission each needs, is in the MCP tool reference.
Why is the data returned by MCP sometimes not up to date?
Some data is cached for a short time on Spendesk's side, so a very recent change may take a little while to appear in the assistant's answers. The same caching applies to the Spendesk API.
How can I get the most recent data?
There is no way to bypass the cache. Wait a moment and ask again; if a recent change still does not appear, contact Spendesk Support.
How does multi-entity work with MCP?
When you connect, the Spendesk approval screen lets you connect one company or all the companies of your organisation. With all companies, the assistant can generate consolidated multi-entity reports in a single conversation — no manual aggregation needed.
Why does Dust ask me to approve the connection multiple times when I have several entities?
When you set up Spendesk MCP in Dust with a multi-entity organisation, you may be prompted to approve a connection for each entity separately — so with 7 entities, you'll see 7 approval prompts. This happens when each authorisation covers one entity.
To approve all entities in a single step, choose All my companies on the Spendesk authorisation screen. This issues a single authorisation that covers all your entities, so you only need to authenticate once.
If you do not see the "All my companies" option during the Spendesk authorisation screen, contact Spendesk support to request activation of organisation-level access for your account. Once enabled, disconnect your existing Spendesk MCP tool in Dust and reconnect — you will only be prompted once.
Should I let Claude call Spendesk tools without asking?
By default, Claude asks for your approval each time it wants to use an MCP tool (e.g. "Allow Claude to call get_wallet_summary?"). In Customize → Connectors → your Spendesk MCP connector → Tool permissions, you can switch a tool from Needs approval to Always allow.
💡 Do this for read tools only. Keep Write Tools on Needs approval (or choose Allow once when asked), so that no change is made in Spendesk without your go-ahead.
What is the difference between approving a connection in Dust vs. approving tool calls in Claude?
These are two different types of approvals that serve different purposes:
Dust | Claude | |
What is approved | The OAuth connection to Spendesk (granting Dust access to your data) | Each individual MCP tool call (e.g. querying wallet data) |
When it happens | Once at setup — or once per entity if you did not choose all your companies | Every time Claude uses a tool, unless set to "Always allow" |
How to skip it | Choose all your companies when connecting | Set read tools to "Always allow" in Connector settings |
Once Dust is connected, it calls MCP tools automatically in the background — there are no per-call approval prompts in Dust.
What are Claude skills and how do I install them?
Skills are pre-built instruction files that tell Claude exactly which Spendesk MCP tools to call for specific financial tasks — no coding required. You download a skill from the library, place it in your Claude project folder, and Claude uses it automatically. → See Chapter 1 of the Advanced Usage Guide
Can I automate recurring financial reports with MCP?
Yes. Using Claude's routine feature, you can schedule any question (daily payment priority, weekly cash forecast, monthly closing checklist) to run automatically — without manual intervention each time. → See Chapter 3 of the Advanced Usage Guide
Can I receive Slack alerts based on my Spendesk data?
Yes — by combining a Claude routine with the Slack connector, you can automatically push summaries (overdue invoices, blocked approvals, missing invoices) to any Slack channel on a fixed schedule. → See Chapter 4 of the Advanced Usage Guide
My question returned unexpected results — what should I do?
Try rephrasing your question with more specific parameters (e.g. include a date range, currency, supplier name, or entity). If the assistant says a tool is not found or not available:
Check that the permission is enabled on the connection (Manage → Permissions in Spendesk; Account Owner or Admin).
Disconnect and connect Spendesk again in your AI tool, and tick the permission on the Spendesk approval screen (write permissions are unticked by default). Refreshing the tool list is not enough.
See MCP errors and limits for the error messages and what they mean. If the issue persists, contact support.
How do I disconnect MCP?
An Account Owner or Admin opens the connection in Settings → Integrations → MCP (or Multi-entity Hub → MCP), clicks Manage, then Remove, and confirms with their second factor. Removing the connection ends the access of every user connected through it at once. Each user can also disconnect Spendesk in their AI tool.
🚀 Go further with Claude, ChatGPT & Dust
Once MCP is connected, discover how to install skills, automate reports, build Slack alerts, and use Claude as a financial thinking partner.
→ Advanced MCP Usage Guide — Claude & Dust
Need Help?
In-app chat: Click the chat bubble in the bottom right of your Spendesk account
Email support:support@spendesk.com