Harvest MCP Server

A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server for interacting with Harvest time tracking and project management APIs.

The PyPI package and the command you run are the same name: harvest-mcp.

Install

pip install harvest-mcp

Run (PyPI — no --from)

uvx harvest-mcp --help

uvx harvest-mcp \
  --account-id "<harvest_account_id>" \
  --api-key "<harvest_api_key>" \
  --read-only "false"

uvx downloads the package if needed, installs it in an isolated environment, and runs the harvest-mcp CLI.

Run (editable / local checkout)

pip install -e .
harvest-mcp --help

Run with python -m (package already in that interpreter)

python -m harvest_mcp_server \
  --account-id "<harvest_account_id>" \
  --api-key "<harvest_api_key>" \
  --read-only "false"

The import path uses underscores (harvest_mcp_server); the user-facing CLI is harvest-mcp.

Required arguments

• --account-id: Harvest account ID
• --api-key: Harvest API key

Optional arguments

• --read-only: Enable read-only mode (true/false), default false

Features

• Users (list, detail)
• Time entries (list, create, start/stop timers, details, unsubmitted)
• Projects, clients, and tasks lookup
• Estimates lifecycle (list/detail/lookup/create/update/state-change/send/delete)
• Optional read-only mode for safe operation

MCP configuration (recommended)

Use uvx and a single tool name — no --from** when pulling from PyPI:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "harvest-mcp": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": [
        "harvest-mcp",
        "--account-id",
        "YOUR_HARVEST_ACCOUNT_ID",
        "--api-key",
        "YOUR_HARVEST_API_KEY",
        "--read-only",
        "true"
      ]
    }
  }
}

If uvx is not on PATH, set "command" to the full path of the uvx binary (for example ~/.local/bin/uvx on Linux).

Local wheel (offline / pre-release)

Only when you are not using PyPI, point uvx at a wheel file. The tool name at the end must still be harvest-mcp (the console script):

"args": [
  "--from",
  "/absolute/path/to/harvest_mcp-0.1.1-py3-none-any.whl",
  "harvest-mcp",
  "--account-id",
  "YOUR_HARVEST_ACCOUNT_ID",
  "--api-key",
  "YOUR_HARVEST_API_KEY"
]

python -m (package installed in the same environment as the MCP host)

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "harvest-mcp": {
      "command": "python",
      "args": [
        "-m",
        "harvest_mcp_server",
        "--account-id",
        "YOUR_HARVEST_ACCOUNT_ID",
        "--api-key",
        "YOUR_HARVEST_API_KEY",
        "--read-only",
        "true"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Development

From the harvest-mcp-server directory:

pip install -e .
harvest-mcp --help

Build a wheel:

python -m build