Stripe MCP Server

About

The Stripe MCP server is Stripe's official Model Context Protocol integration, and the first thing to know is that it is not a package you install — it is a remote server Stripe hosts at https://mcp.stripe.com, and the documented connection mechanism is OAuth, not an API key. For Claude Code that is `claude mcp add --transport http stripe https://mcp.stripe.com/` followed by `claude /mcp` to complete consent; Cursor and VS Code take the bare URL, and ChatGPT accepts it as a custom connector on Pro, Plus, Business, Enterprise and Education accounts. An administrator has to enable MCP access in the Dashboard first, separately for sandbox and for live mode, which is the usual cause of a connection that refuses to authorise. Rather than one tool per endpoint, four generic tools carry most of the surface — stripe_api_search, stripe_api_details, stripe_api_read and stripe_api_write — so the tool schemas do not consume the context window, alongside dedicated create_refund, get_stripe_account_info, stripe_report, stripe_implementation_planner and search_stripe_documentation tools, plus a Treasury balance summary in public preview. Supported API methods span customers, charges, refunds, PaymentIntents, Checkout Sessions, invoices, subscriptions, coupons, promotion codes, products, prices, payment links, disputes, webhook endpoints, balance and balance transactions, payouts, tax settings and registrations, and Issuing. Clients that cannot do OAuth pass a restricted API key as a bearer token; Connect platforms acting as a connected account must use a restricted key plus a Stripe-Account header, since OAuth cannot express that. Sessions are revocable from Dashboard user settings under OAuth sessions, and Stripe recommends human confirmation of tools given prompt-injection risk.

Installation

claude mcp add --transport http stripe https://mcp.stripe.com/

Connecting to the Stripe MCP server

1. 1.Turn MCP access on first

   An administrator enables MCP access from Dashboard settings, and it is managed separately for sandbox and for live mode. If you enable it in a sandbox and then wonder why the live connection will not authorise, this is why — the two environments do not inherit from each other.

2. 2.Claude Code

   Add it over HTTP transport, then run the /mcp command inside a session to complete the OAuth consent. The command exits successfully before you have authenticated, so a first tool call failing is expected if you skipped the second step.

   shell

   claude mcp add --transport http stripe https://mcp.stripe.com/
   claude /mcp

3. 3.Cursor and VS Code

   Both take the bare URL. Cursor wants { "url": "https://mcp.stripe.com" } under mcpServers in ~/.cursor/mcp.json; VS Code wants { "type": "http", "url": "https://mcp.stripe.com" } under servers in .vscode/mcp.json. Stripe publishes one-click install links for both from its MCP docs page.

   json — ~/.cursor/mcp.json

   {
     "mcpServers": {
       "stripe": {
         "url": "https://mcp.stripe.com"
       }
     }
   }

4. 4.ChatGPT

   Supported on Pro, Plus, Business, Enterprise and Education accounts as a custom connector: server URL https://mcp.stripe.com, connection mechanism OAuth. The same server also works against OpenAI's Responses API when you are building an agent rather than chatting.

5. 5.Clients that cannot do OAuth

   Pass a restricted API key as a bearer token in the Authorization header. Do not embed the key in code — supply it from a secrets vault or an environment variable. This is also the documented path for autonomous agents, where scoping the key to exactly the calls the agent needs is the only real containment you have.

   json

   {
     "stripe": {
       "url": "https://mcp.stripe.com",
       "headers": {
         "Authorization": "Bearer rk_..."
       }
     }
   }

6. 6.Connect platforms acting as a connected account

   OAuth cannot express this, so it is restricted-key only: use a restricted access key with the appropriate Connect permissions and add a Stripe-Account header carrying the acct_ id. This is how you let your own connected accounts make MCP calls through your platform.

   json

   "headers": {
     "Authorization": "Bearer rk_...",
     "Stripe-Account": "acct_xxxxxxxxx"
   }

What the server exposes

The design is deliberately not one tool per endpoint. Four generic API tools cover most of the surface so the tool schemas do not eat your context window, and only a handful of operations get a dedicated tool.

What people use it for

Which one should you use?

Categories

Works With

Frequently Asked Questions

Related Guides