Harvest MCP
A Model Context Protocol server that integrates with the Harvest API v2, enabling time tracking management including listing, creating, updating, and deleting time entries, as well as managing projects, tasks, users and generating reports.
What is Harvest MCP?
Harvest MCP is a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that allows AI assistants like Claude, Cursor, and VS Code to model context protocol server that integrates with the harvest api v2, enabling time tracking management including listing, creating, updating, and deleting time entries, as well as managing projects,...
A Model Context Protocol server that integrates with the Harvest API v2, enabling time tracking management including listing, creating, updating, and deleting time entries, as well as managing projects, tasks, users and generating reports.
This server falls under the Business Applications and Analytics categories on MCPgee, the world's largest MCP server directory with 33,000+ servers.
Features
- A Model Context Protocol server that integrates with the Har
Use Cases
Maintainer
Works with
Installation
Manual Installation
npx harvest-mcp-serverConfiguration
Configuration Details
claude_desktop_config.json
Performance
Response Metrics
Resource Usage
How to Set Up and Use Harvest MCP
The Harvest MCP Server integrates with the Harvest API v2 to bring time tracking, project management, and invoicing capabilities directly into AI assistants. It exposes tools for listing and creating time entries, starting and stopping timers, managing projects, clients, tasks, users, and handling estimates with full lifecycle support. Teams use it to let AI assistants query timesheets, generate reports, and manage Harvest data through natural language without leaving their AI workflow.
Prerequisites
- Python 3.10 or higher with the uv package manager installed
- A Harvest account with API access enabled
- HARVEST_ACCOUNT_ID from your Harvest account settings
- HARVEST_API_KEY (personal access token) from Harvest developer settings
- An MCP-compatible client such as Claude Desktop
Clone the repository
Clone the harvest-mcp-server repository to your local machine.
git clone https://github.com/taiste/harvest-mcp-server.git
cd harvest-mcp-serverObtain your Harvest credentials
Log in to Harvest and navigate to your account settings to find your Account ID. Then go to https://id.getharvest.com/developers to create a personal access token. Both values are required.
Set environment variables
Export your Harvest credentials as environment variables. Optionally set HARVEST_READ_ONLY to true to prevent any write operations.
export HARVEST_ACCOUNT_ID="your_account_id"
export HARVEST_API_KEY="your_personal_access_token"
# Optional: restrict to read-only mode
export HARVEST_READ_ONLY="true"Test the server locally
Run the server using uv to verify your credentials work before connecting a client.
uv run --directory /path/to/harvest-mcp-server harvest-mcp-server.pyConfigure Claude Desktop
Add the Harvest MCP server to your Claude Desktop configuration file at ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json on macOS.
{
"mcpServers": {
"harvest": {
"command": "uv",
"args": ["run", "--directory", "/path/to/harvest-mcp-server", "harvest-mcp-server.py"],
"env": {
"HARVEST_ACCOUNT_ID": "your_account_id",
"HARVEST_API_KEY": "your_api_key"
}
}
}
}Restart Claude Desktop and verify
Restart Claude Desktop and ask it to list your Harvest projects or time entries to confirm the connection is working.
Harvest MCP Examples
Client configuration
Claude Desktop configuration for the Harvest MCP server using uv as the Python runner.
{
"mcpServers": {
"harvest": {
"command": "uv",
"args": [
"run",
"--directory",
"/Users/you/harvest-mcp-server",
"harvest-mcp-server.py"
],
"env": {
"HARVEST_ACCOUNT_ID": "123456",
"HARVEST_API_KEY": "your_harvest_personal_access_token"
}
}
}
}Prompts to try
Natural language prompts that map to Harvest MCP tools for time tracking and project management.
- "Show me my time entries from last week"
- "List all active projects and their clients"
- "Start a timer for project 12345 on the Development task"
- "Get my unsubmitted timesheets for this month"
- "Create a draft estimate for client 6789 with two line items"
- "List all users on my Harvest account"Troubleshooting Harvest MCP
Authentication errors when connecting to Harvest API
Double-check that HARVEST_ACCOUNT_ID and HARVEST_API_KEY are both set correctly. The Account ID is a numeric value found in Harvest account settings, and the API key is a personal access token from https://id.getharvest.com/developers.
Write operations fail even though credentials are correct
Check whether HARVEST_READ_ONLY is set to true in your environment. Remove or set it to false to re-enable create, update, and delete operations.
Server fails to start with uv errors
Ensure uv is installed (pip install uv or brew install uv on macOS) and that you are pointing --directory at the correct cloned repository path where harvest-mcp-server.py resides.
Frequently Asked Questions about Harvest MCP
What is Harvest MCP?
Harvest MCP is a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that model context protocol server that integrates with the harvest api v2, enabling time tracking management including listing, creating, updating, and deleting time entries, as well as managing projects, tasks, users and generating reports. It connects AI assistants to external tools and data sources through a standardized interface.
How do I install Harvest MCP?
Follow the installation instructions on the Harvest MCP GitHub repository. Clone the repo, install dependencies, and add the server config to your AI client.
Which AI clients work with Harvest MCP?
Harvest MCP works with all major MCP-compatible AI clients including Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Cursor, VS Code (GitHub Copilot), Windsurf, and Cline.
Is Harvest MCP free to use?
Yes, Harvest MCP is open source and available under the MIT License license. You can use it freely in both personal and commercial projects.
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