MCP

Conductor’s MCP server lets Claude, ChatGPT, Codex, Cursor, and other AI tools read and write your QuickBooks Desktop data. Ask in plain English about overdue invoices or last month’s sales. Read-only mode blocks writes.

Setup

Most AI tools connect by signing in to Conductor in your browser, so there’s no key to copy. Your AI tool can run anywhere, but QuickBooks Desktop and the Web Connector must be running on the computer you connected to Conductor.

These steps work for claude.ai, Claude Desktop, the Claude mobile apps, and Cowork.

In Claude, open Customize > Connectors and click Add custom connector.
Name it Conductor, paste the URL below, and click Continue.
https://mcp.conductor.is/
Leave Sign in now and Use Claude’s published identity selected, click Add, then click Connect.
Sign in to Conductor, pick your project, and click Allow. This adds an “MCP (Claude)” key to your Conductor project’s API Keys page. If you ever need to revoke access, delete that key.
In a Claude chat, turn on Conductor under + > Connectors. When Claude asks, choose Always allow.

On a Claude Team or Enterprise plan, an Owner adds the connector in Organization settings > Connectors instead, and members click Connect on it to sign in. On a Team plan, the Owner should leave execute at Always allow under Tool permissions, or members can’t choose Always allow in step 5, so Claude asks them before each call. In Cowork, members must approve each task until the Owner turns on Organization settings > Cowork > Permissions > Allow “Always allow” for connector tools, which is off by default.

These steps work for ChatGPT on the web, the ChatGPT desktop app, and the ChatGPT mobile app.

In ChatGPT, open Plugins in the sidebar, click Add, then click Add custom MCP server.
Name it Conductor QuickBooks, paste the URL below, and leave OAuth selected.
https://mcp.conductor.is/
Check I understand and want to continue, click Create as a plugin, then click Connect Conductor QuickBooks.
Sign in to Conductor, pick your project, and click Allow. This adds an “MCP (ChatGPT)” key to your Conductor project’s API Keys page. If you ever need to revoke access, delete that key.
In a new ChatGPT chat, ask your question. If ChatGPT answers without Conductor, type @, pick Conductor QuickBooks, and ask again.

On a ChatGPT Business, Enterprise, or Edu plan, an admin adds and publishes the plugin, so members don’t add it themselves. On a personal ChatGPT plan, if Plugins has no Add custom MCP server, use Codex CLI instead.

These steps work for Claude Code in your terminal.

Run the command below in a terminal to add Conductor for all your Claude Code projects. If you already added Conductor, run claude mcp remove conductor first.
claude mcp add --transport http --scope user conductor https://mcp.conductor.is/
Start Claude Code, type /mcp, pick Conductor, and choose Authenticate.
Sign in to Conductor, pick your project, and click Allow. This adds an “MCP (Claude Code)” key to your Conductor project’s API Keys page. If you ever need to revoke access, delete that key.

On a machine without a browser (over SSH or in a container), skip steps 2 and 3: create a key on your project’s API Keys page in the Conductor Dashboard and add --header "Authorization: Bearer sk_conductor_..." to the command in step 1.

These steps work for Codex CLI in your terminal.

Run the command below in a terminal to add Conductor for all your Codex projects. If you already added Conductor, run codex mcp remove conductor first.
codex mcp add conductor --url https://mcp.conductor.is/
Codex opens Conductor in your browser. Sign in, pick your project, and click Allow. This adds an “MCP (Codex)” key to your Conductor project’s API Keys page. If you ever need to revoke access, delete that key.
Start Codex and approve Conductor when Codex asks.

On a machine without a browser (over SSH or in a container), skip step 2: create a key on your project’s API Keys page in the Conductor Dashboard, add --bearer-token-env-var CONDUCTOR_SECRET_KEY to the command in step 1, and set CONDUCTOR_SECRET_KEY to the key in your shell profile.

These steps work for the agent in Cursor.

In Cursor, click View > Command Palette in the menu bar, type Open MCPs, and press Enter.
Click New MCP Server at the bottom of the list. If Cursor asks where to add it, choose User or This computer.
Paste the config below into the file that opens, replacing what’s there, and click File > Save.
~/.cursor/mcp.json
{ "mcpServers": { "conductor": { "url": "https://mcp.conductor.is/" } } }
If the file already lists other servers, keep them and add only the conductor entry inside mcpServers, replacing any old conductor entry.
Back in the MCP list, click conductor, turn it on if it’s off, and click Authenticate.
Sign in to Conductor, pick your project, and click Allow. This adds an “MCP (Cursor)” key to your Conductor project’s API Keys page. If you ever need to revoke access, delete that key.

These steps work for the chat in VS Code.

In VS Code, click View > Command Palette in the menu bar.
Type MCP: Open User Configuration and press Enter.
Paste the config below into the file that opens, replacing what’s there, and click File > Save.
mcp.json
{ "servers": { "conductor": { "type": "http", "url": "https://mcp.conductor.is/" } } }
If the file already lists other servers, keep them and add only the conductor entry inside servers, replacing any old conductor entry.
In mcp.json, click the small Start text just above the conductor line, then click Allow when VS Code asks to sign in.
Sign in to Conductor, pick your project, and click Allow. This adds an “MCP (VS Code)” key to your Conductor project’s API Keys page. If you ever need to revoke access, delete that key.

In the Conductor Dashboard, open your project’s MCP tab, pick Other clients, and click Create key and fill in config.

Add the server URL below to your client, replacing sk_conductor_... with your key.

{
  "url": "https://mcp.conductor.is/",
  "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer sk_conductor_..." }
}

For a client that runs only local (stdio) servers, use the config below in step 2 instead. It needs only Node.js.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "conductor": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "conductor-node-mcp"],
      "env": { "CONDUCTOR_SECRET_KEY": "sk_conductor_..." }
    }
  }
}

To sign in instead of using a key, add https://mcp.conductor.is/ without the header. If your client then shows an authorization error rather than offering to sign in, use your key.

Read-only mode

Read-only mode blocks creates, updates, and deletes before they reach QuickBooks. Use it for a trial, an accountant, or co-workers who should only read. The URL or header below limits the connection, not the Conductor key.

Follow the Claude steps in Setup, but name the connector Conductor read-only and paste the URL below. The Claude Free plan allows only one custom connector, so remove the full-access connector first if you added it.

https://mcp.conductor.is/read-only

The read-only connector’s key is named “MCP (Claude, read-only connection)” on your Conductor project’s API Keys page.

Follow the ChatGPT steps in Setup, but name the plugin Conductor QuickBooks read-only and paste the URL below.

https://mcp.conductor.is/read-only

The read-only plugin’s key is named “MCP (ChatGPT, read-only connection)” on your Conductor project’s API Keys page.

Follow the Claude Code steps in Setup, but run the command below instead. If you already added Conductor, run claude mcp remove conductor first.

claude mcp add --transport http --scope user conductor https://mcp.conductor.is/read-only

Follow the Codex CLI steps in Setup, but run the command below instead. If you already added Conductor, run codex mcp remove conductor first.

codex mcp add conductor --url https://mcp.conductor.is/read-only

Follow the Cursor steps in Setup, but paste the config below in step 3 instead.

~/.cursor/mcp.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "conductor": {
      "url": "https://mcp.conductor.is/read-only"
    }
  }
}

If you already added Conductor, replace its entry. The read-only connection’s key is named “MCP (Cursor, read-only connection)” on your Conductor project’s API Keys page.

Follow the VS Code steps in Setup, but paste the config below in step 3 instead.

mcp.json

{
  "servers": {
    "conductor": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://mcp.conductor.is/read-only"
    }
  }
}

If you already added Conductor, replace its entry.

Add the server URL below to your client, with your key and the read-only header.

{
  "url": "https://mcp.conductor.is/",
  "headers": {
    "Authorization": "Bearer sk_conductor_...",
    "x-stainless-mcp-client-permissions": "{\"allow_http_gets\":true}"
  }
}

For the local conductor-node-mcp package, add the --code-allow-http-gets flag to its arguments instead.

To test read-only mode, ask the agent to create a test customer in QuickBooks Desktop. If it can’t, read-only mode is on; if it can, the agent still has full access, so check the URL or header above.

Read-only mode is a guardrail, not a security boundary: anyone with the Conductor key can still write through the Conductor API. Give each person their own key, as signing in does, and revoke it when needed.

To limit an AI tool to certain QuickBooks company files, connect it to a Conductor project that has only those files’ QuickBooks Desktop connections. An AI tool can reach every company file connected to its project.

Verify it works

Ask the agent: “Show the 5 most recent invoices using my most recently successful QuickBooks Desktop connection.” If it returns real data, you are set up. A “connected” indicator proves only that the sign-in or config worked; the key is checked on first use.

Troubleshooting

Couldn't reach the MCP server

This means the URL you entered isn’t https://mcp.conductor.is/ or https://mcp.conductor.is/read-only. Remove the connector in Claude or the plugin in ChatGPT, then add it again with the URL from the steps above.

Authorization with the MCP server failed

This means the Conductor sign-in didn’t finish. Sign in with the email your company uses for Conductor (on the Conductor page that opens, click Use a different account), or ask a teammate to add you on the Members page, then connect again.

Claude asks permission on every call

This usually means Claude Desktop still has the old local conductor-node-mcp entry. In Claude Desktop, open Settings > Developer > Edit Config, remove the conductor entry, then fully quit and reopen Claude Desktop. On a Claude Team plan, it can also mean an Owner set execute to Needs approval under Tool permissions.

API key missing or invalid (if you pasted a key)

This means your AI tool isn’t sending a valid Conductor key. Create a new key on your project’s API Keys page in the Conductor Dashboard (for other clients, the MCP tab’s Create key and fill in config fills it into the config for you). Paste the new key or config into your AI tool, then restart it. If the local conductor-node-mcp package fails to start, install Node.js (LTS), then fully quit and reopen your tool.

Can't connect after adding the read-only header

This means the header value isn’t exactly {"allow_http_gets":true}, quote marks included; retyping it can drop them. In the Conductor Dashboard, open your project’s MCP tab, pick Other clients, check Read-only mode, click Create key and fill in config, and use the new config. In any tool that signs in, use the read-only URL from the steps above instead.

Requests to QuickBooks fail

This usually means QuickBooks Desktop or the Web Connector isn’t running on the computer you connected to Conductor. Make sure both are running there. MCP doesn’t need any Web Connector changes.

Can my co-workers use the same key on other computers?

Yes. A key works on any number of computers and AI tools, so co-workers can paste the same key. In any tool that signs in, each co-worker can instead sign in to Conductor with their own account, which creates a separate key for them; they must be members of your Conductor organization. Pricing is per QuickBooks company file, so you aren’t charged extra for more co-workers, keys, or AI tools connecting to the same company file.When someone leaves, remove them on the Members page in the Conductor Dashboard, then delete their keys named “MCP (…)” on the project’s API Keys page; the “Created by” column shows whose each key is. Removing a member doesn’t delete their keys.

I see SEO tools, not QuickBooks (wrong Conductor)

This means you’re connected to the MCP server of an unrelated SEO company at conductor.com. Its tools include ai_brand_insights and keyword_insights, and it returns “couldn’t identify the caller” errors. Remove it and add https://mcp.conductor.is/ instead; ours is at conductor.is and has only the execute and search_docs tools.

Getting Started

Usage

QuickBooks Desktop

Setup

Read-only mode

Verify it works

Troubleshooting

​Setup

​Read-only mode

​Verify it works

​Troubleshooting

Setup

Read-only mode

Verify it works

Troubleshooting