How to integrate Xero MCP with Claude Code

Manage your Xero directly from Claude Code with zero worries about OAuth hassles, API-breaking issues, or reliability and security concerns. You can do this in two different ways: Via Composio Connect - Direct and easiest approach Via Composio SDK - Programmatic approach with more control

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Xero is cloud-based accounting software for small businesses, offering invoicing, bookkeeping, and real-time financial reports. It helps you manage business finances efficiently from anywhere.

41 Tools

Introduction

Manage your Xero directly from Claude Code with zero worries about OAuth hassles, API-breaking issues, or reliability and security concerns.

You can do this in two different ways:

  1. Via Composio Connect - Direct and easiest approach
  2. Via Composio SDK - Programmatic approach with more control

Also integrate Xero with

Why use Composio?

  • Only one MCP URL to connect multiple apps with Claude Code with zero auth hassles.
  • Programmatic tool calling allows LLMs to write its code in a remote workbench to handle complex tool chaining. Reduces to-and-fro with LLMs for frequent tool calling.
  • Handling Large tool responses out of LLM context to minimize context rot.
  • Dynamic just-in-time access to 20,000 tools across 1000+ other Apps for cross-app workflows. It loads the tools you need, so LLMs aren't overwhelmed by tools you don't need.

Connecting Xero to Claude Code using Composio

1. Add the Composio MCP to Claude

Terminal

2. Start Claude Code

bash
claude

3. Open your MCP list

bash
/mcp

4. Select Composio and click on Authenticate

Select Composio and click Authenticate

5. This will redirect you to the Composio OAuth page. Complete the flow by authorizing Composio and you're all set.

Composio OAuth authorization page
Composio authorization complete
Ask Claude to connect to your account and authenticate via the link

What is the Xero MCP server, and what's possible with it?

The Xero MCP server is an implementation of the Model Context Protocol that connects your AI agent and assistants like Claude, Cursor, etc directly to your Xero account. It provides structured and secure access to your accounting data, so your agent can retrieve contacts, manage connections, update invoices, and monitor quotes automatically on your behalf.

  • Connection management: Instantly list all active Xero tenant connections linked to your account, making it easy for your agent to select and operate on the right organization.
  • Contact retrieval and lookup: Fetch detailed, up-to-date lists of business contacts including filtering, paging, and incremental updates to keep your records synchronized and actionable.
  • Quote management and tracking: Retrieve, filter, or search through your sales quotes so your agent can help you stay on top of prospective business and follow up faster.
  • Invoice updating and automation: Modify details of existing invoices—such as amounts, due dates, and line items—allowing your agent to keep your invoicing accurate and up to date without manual edits.

Connecting Xero via Composio SDK

Composio SDK is the underlying tech that powers Rube. It's a universal gateway that does everything Rube does but with much more programmatic control. You can programmatically generate an MCP URL with the app you need (here Xero) for even more tool search precision. It's secure and reliable.

How the Composio SDK works

The Composio SDK follows a three-phase workflow:

  1. Discovery: Searches for tools matching your task and returns relevant toolkits with their details.
  2. Authentication: Checks for active connections. If missing, creates an auth config and returns a connection URL via Auth Link.
  3. Execution: Executes the action using the authenticated connection.

Step-by-step Guide

Step by step10 STEPS
1

Prerequisites

Before starting, make sure you have:
  • Claude Pro, Max, or API billing enabled Anthropic account
  • Composio API Key
  • A Xero account
  • Basic knowledge of Python or TypeScript
2

Install Claude Code

bash
# macOS, Linux, WSL
curl -fsSL https://claude.ai/install.sh | bash

# Windows PowerShell
irm https://claude.ai/install.ps1 | iex

# Windows CMD
curl -fsSL https://claude.ai/install.cmd -o install.cmd && install.cmd && del install.cmd

To install Claude Code, use one of the following methods based on your operating system:

3

Set up Claude Code

bash
cd your-project-folder
claude

Open a terminal, go to your project folder, and start Claude Code:

  • Claude Code will open in your terminal
  • Follow the prompts to sign in with your Anthropic account
  • Complete the authentication flow
  • Once authenticated, you can start using Claude Code
Claude Code initial setup showing sign-in prompt
Claude Code terminal after successful login
4

Set up environment variables

bash
COMPOSIO_API_KEY=your_composio_api_key_here
USER_ID=your_user_id_here

Create a .env file in your project root with the following variables:

  • COMPOSIO_API_KEY authenticates with Composio (get it from Composio dashboard)
  • USER_ID identifies the user for session management (use any unique identifier)
5

Install Composio library

npm install @composio/core dotenv

Install the Composio TypeScript library to create MCP sessions.

  • @composio/core provides the core Composio functionality
  • dotenv loads environment variables from your .env file
6

Generate Composio MCP URL

import 'dotenv/config';
import { Composio } from '@composio/core';

const { COMPOSIO_API_KEY, USER_ID } = process.env;

if (!COMPOSIO_API_KEY || !USER_ID) {
  throw new Error('COMPOSIO_API_KEY and USER_ID required in .env');
}

const composioClient = new Composio({ apiKey: COMPOSIO_API_KEY });

const composioSession = await composioClient.create(USER_ID, {
  toolkits: ['xero'],
});

const composioMcpUrl = composioSession?.mcp.url;

console.log(`MCP URL: ${composioMcpUrl}`);
console.log(`\nUse this command to add to Claude Code:`);
console.log(`claude mcp add --transport http xero-composio "${composioMcpUrl}" --headers "X-API-Key:${COMPOSIO_API_KEY}"`);

Create a script to generate a Composio MCP URL for Xero. This URL will be used to connect Claude Code to Xero.

What's happening

  • We import the Composio client and load environment variables
  • Create a Composio instance with your API key
  • Call create() to create a Tool Router session for Xero
  • The returned mcp.url is the MCP server URL that Claude Code will use
  • The script prints this URL so you can copy it
7

Run the script and copy the MCP URL

node --loader ts-node/esm generate_mcp_url.ts
# or if using tsx
tsx generate_mcp_url.ts

Run your TypeScript script to generate the MCP URL.

  • The script connects to Composio and creates a Tool Router session
  • It prints the MCP URL and the exact command you need to run
  • Copy the entire claude mcp add command from the output
8

Add Xero MCP to Claude Code

bash
claude mcp add --transport http xero-composio "YOUR_MCP_URL_HERE" --headers "X-API-Key:YOUR_COMPOSIO_API_KEY"

# Then restart Claude Code
exit
claude

In your terminal, add the MCP server using the command from the previous step. The command format is:

  • claude mcp add registers a new MCP server with Claude Code
  • --transport http specifies that this is an HTTP-based MCP server
  • The server name (xero-composio) is how you'll reference it
  • The URL points to your Composio Tool Router session
  • --headers includes your Composio API key for authentication

After running the command, close the current Claude Code session and start a new one for the changes to take effect.

9

Verify the installation

bash
claude mcp list

Check that your Xero MCP server is properly configured.

  • This command lists all MCP servers registered with Claude Code
  • You should see your xero-composio entry in the list
  • This confirms that Claude Code can now access Xero tools

If everything is wired up, you should see your xero-composio entry listed:

Claude Code MCP list showing the toolkit MCP server
10

Authenticate Xero

The first time you try to use Xero tools, you'll be prompted to authenticate.

  • Claude Code will detect that you need to authenticate with Xero
  • It will show you an authentication link
  • Open the link in your browser (or copy/paste it)
  • Complete the Xero authorization flow
  • Return to the terminal and start using Xero through Claude Code

Once authenticated, you can ask Claude Code to perform Xero operations in natural language. For example:

  • "List all active Xero tenant connections"
  • "Show latest contacts added this week"
  • "Retrieve all open quotes for this month"

Complete Code

Here's the complete code to get you started with Xero and Claude Code:

import 'dotenv/config';
import { Composio } from '@composio/core';

const { COMPOSIO_API_KEY, USER_ID } = process.env;

if (!COMPOSIO_API_KEY || !USER_ID) {
  throw new Error('COMPOSIO_API_KEY and USER_ID required in .env');
}

const composioClient = new Composio({ apiKey: COMPOSIO_API_KEY });

const composioSession = await composioClient.create(USER_ID, {
  toolkits: ['xero'],
});

const composioMcpUrl = composioSession?.mcp.url;

console.log(`MCP URL: ${composioMcpUrl}`);
console.log(`\nUse this command to add to Claude Code:`);
console.log(`claude mcp add --transport http xero-composio "${composioMcpUrl}" --headers "X-API-Key:${COMPOSIO_API_KEY}"`);

Conclusion

You've successfully integrated Xero with Claude Code using Composio's MCP server. Now you can interact with Xero directly from your terminal using natural language commands.

Key features of this setup:

  • Terminal-native experience without switching contexts
  • Natural language commands for Xero operations
  • Secure authentication through Composio's managed MCP
  • Tool Router for dynamic tool discovery and execution

Next steps:

  • Try asking Claude Code to perform various Xero operations
  • Add more toolkits to your Tool Router session for multi-app workflows
  • Integrate this setup into your development workflow for increased productivity

You can extend this by adding more toolkits, implementing custom workflows, or building automation scripts that leverage Claude Code's capabilities.

TOOLS

Supported Tools

Every Xero action and event your agent gets out of the box.

Create Bank Transaction

Create a bank transaction in Xero.

Create Contact

Create a new contact in Xero.

Create Invoice

Create a new invoice in Xero.

Create Item

Create an inventory item in Xero.

Create Manual Journal

Create one or more manual journals (journal entries) in Xero with journal lines.

Create Payment

Create a payment in Xero to link an invoice with a bank account transaction.

Create Purchase Order

Create a purchase order in Xero to order goods/services from suppliers.

Get Account

Retrieve a specific account from Xero's chart of accounts by its unique ID.

Get Asset

Retrieve a specific asset by ID from Xero.

Get Balance Sheet Report

Retrieve Balance Sheet report from Xero.

Get Budget

Retrieve a budget from Xero.

Get Connections

Tool to list active Xero connections.

Get Contacts

Tool to retrieve a list of contacts.

Get Invoice

Retrieve a specific invoice by ID from Xero.

Get Item

Retrieve a specific item by ID from Xero.

Get Manual Journal

Retrieve a specific manual journal by ID from Xero.

Get Organisation

Retrieve organisation details from Xero.

Get Profit & Loss Report

Retrieve Profit & Loss report from Xero.

Get Project

Retrieve a specific project by ID from Xero.

Get Purchase Order

Retrieve a specific purchase order by ID from Xero.

Get Quotes

Tool to retrieve a list of quotes.

Get Trial Balance Report

Retrieve Trial Balance report from Xero.

List Accounts

Retrieve chart of accounts from Xero.

List Assets

Retrieve fixed assets from Xero.

List Attachments

List all attachments for a specific entity in Xero (invoice, contact, etc.

List Bank Transactions

Retrieve bank transactions from Xero.

List Credit Notes

Retrieve list of credit notes from Xero.

List Files

Retrieve files from Xero Files.

List Folders

Retrieve folders from Xero Files.

List Invoices

Retrieve a list of invoices from Xero.

List Items

Retrieve items (inventory/products) from Xero.

List Journals

Retrieve journals from Xero.

List Manual Journals

Retrieve manual journals from Xero.

List Payments

Retrieve list of payments from Xero.

List Projects

Retrieve projects from Xero.

List Purchase Orders

Retrieve list of purchase orders from Xero.

List Tax Rates

Retrieve tax rates from Xero.

List Tracking Categories

Retrieve tracking categories from Xero.

Update Invoice

Tool to update an existing invoice.

Update Contact

Update an existing contact in Xero.

Upload Attachment

Upload a file attachment to a Xero entity (invoice, contact, etc.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

With a standalone Xero MCP server, the agents and LLMs can only access a fixed set of Xero tools tied to that server. However, with the Composio Tool Router, agents can dynamically load tools from Xero and many other apps based on the task at hand, all through a single MCP endpoint.

Yes, you can. Claude Code fully supports MCP integration. You get structured tool calling, message history handling, and model orchestration while Tool Router takes care of discovering and serving the right Xero tools.

Yes, absolutely. You can configure which Xero scopes and actions are allowed when connecting your account to Composio. You can also bring your own OAuth credentials or API configuration so you keep full control over what the agent can do.

All sensitive data such as tokens, keys, and configuration is fully encrypted at rest and in transit. Composio is SOC 2 Type 2 compliant and follows strict security practices so your Xero data and credentials are handled as safely as possible.

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