Productivity

Expensify

expensify-pp-cli

File expenses and submit reports to Expensify from the command line

Printed by @mvanhorn (Matt Van Horn)

Install

npx — recommended

npx -y @mvanhorn/printing-press-library install expensify

Installs the CLI binary and the agent skill (Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, Gemini CLI, Copilot, and more). Add --cli-only or --skill-only for one half. Requires Node.

Hermes

hermes skills install mvanhorn/printing-press-library/cli-skills/pp-expensify --force

From the Hermes CLI. Inside a chat session use /skills install with the same path.

OpenClaw

Install the pp-expensify skill from https://github.com/mvanhorn/printing-press-library/tree/main/cli-skills/pp-expensify. The skill defines how its required CLI can be installed.

Paste this to your OpenClaw agent — the skill describes how to install its CLI.

Claude Desktop

This CLI ships an MCPB bundle. Download the latest release .mcpb and double-click it — Claude Desktop walks you through the install.

View source on GitHub →

File expenses and submit reports to Expensify in one line. Every command an agent should need, with a local cache so searches stay offline.

expensify-pp-cli turns the Expensify web app into a terminal. Log in once, and every filing/reviewing/submitting task that used to require clicking through forms becomes a single command. A local SQLite store gives you offline search, rollups, dupe detection, and missing-receipt alerts that no other Expensify tool has.

Learn more at Expensify.

Created by @mvanhorn (Matt Van Horn).

Authentication

Two ways to authenticate: (1) expensify auth login opens a browser, you log in, the CLI captures your session token — works immediately for all filing/submitting commands; (2) expensify auth set-keys stores your Integration Server partner credentials (get them at https://www.expensify.com/tools/integrations/) — required only for export/admin commands. Most users only need option 1.

Quick Start

# Check auth + connectivity before anything else
expensify-pp-cli doctor

# Capture your Expensify session straight from Chrome — no token paste
expensify-pp-cli auth login --from-chrome

# Pull workspaces, expenses, and reports into the local cache
expensify-pp-cli sync

# File your first expense in one line
expensify-pp-cli expense quick "Dinner at Maya $42.50"

# See the month's total expensed/pending/approved at a glance
expensify-pp-cli damage

Unique Features

These capabilities aren't available in any other tool for this API.

Filing at thought speed

expense quick — File an expense with one line: amount, merchant, and category parsed from a short prompt — no forms, no web UI.

When a user tells an agent 'I just expensed dinner at Maya for $42.50,' the agent should file it in one call — not walk through six fields.
```
expensify-pp-cli expense quick "Dinner at Maya $42.50" --agent
```
report draft — Create a report and auto-attach every un-reported expense from a date range in a single command.

End-of-month submission turns from 45 clicks into one command.
```
expensify-pp-cli report draft --since 2026-04-01 --title "April expenses" --policy YOUR_POLICY_ID
```
expense from-line — Paste a raw bank or card CSV row and the CLI extracts date/merchant/amount/currency and files the expense.

Reconciling AmEx? Paste a row, file an expense. No copy-paste-copy-paste.
```
expensify-pp-cli expense from-line "2026-04-18 DOORDASH*JOES $14.25" --category Meals
```

Local state that compounds

damage — Single-glance summary: total expensed, pending, approved, paid for the current month (or a custom range).

Agents asked 'how much did I expense this month' get one answer in one call.
```
expensify-pp-cli damage --month current --json
```
expense search — FTS5 search over all your expenses by merchant, comment, category, or tag. Regex-friendly.

Agents asked 'did I expense that Starbucks last month' get an answer in one local query.
```
expensify-pp-cli expense search "coffee" --since 2026-01-01 --json
```
expense missing-receipts — Lists expenses without attached receipts so you can catch them before submitting a report.

Submit-report-and-get-bounced feels bad; surface missing receipts upfront.
```
expensify-pp-cli expense missing-receipts --json
```
expense rollup — Pivot-table expenses by category, tag, or merchant for any time range.

Build your own spending dashboard without burning API budget.
```
expensify-pp-cli expense rollup --month 2026-04 --by category
```
expense dupes — Finds expenses that look like duplicates by (merchant, amount, date±window).

Accidental double-file is a top AP pain point; surface it before submission.
```
expensify-pp-cli expense dupes --window 3d --json
```

Agent-native plumbing

expense bulk — File a whole list of expenses in a single Expense_Create request.

Reach for this when filing many expenses at once instead of looping create — it is one atomic request.
```
expensify-pp-cli expense bulk --input rows.jsonl --dry-run
```
report submit — Submit a report and optionally poll until it leaves SUBMITTED.

Use --wait when a downstream step depends on the report actually being approved/rejected, not just submitted.
```
expensify-pp-cli report submit --report-id 1587860702457827 --wait --timeout 1h
```

Recipes

File a quick expense

expensify-pp-cli expense quick "Lunch at Joe's $18.50"

One line, one call, one expense. Category auto-suggested from your history.

Draft this month's report

expensify-pp-cli report draft --since 2026-04-01 --until 2026-04-30 --title "April" --policy 1234567

Creates a report and attaches every un-reported April expense in a single command.

Submit for approval and wait

expensify-pp-cli report submit --report-id 1587860702457827 --wait --timeout 1h

Blocks until approval arrives — drop this in CI after a closing script.

Find expenses with no receipt

expensify-pp-cli expense missing-receipts --json

Catches receipt gaps before they bounce your report.

Search your offline expense cache

expensify-pp-cli expense search "coffee" --json

FTS5 search over every synced expense — merchant, comment, category, tag — with no network call.

Usage

Run expensify-pp-cli --help for the full command reference and flag list.

Paths & environment variables

This CLI separates local files into four path kinds:

Kind	Contents
`config`	User-editable settings such as `config.toml` and saved profiles
`data`	Durable local data: `credentials.toml`, `data.db`, cookies, browser-session proof files, and other auth sidecars
`state`	Runtime state such as persisted queries, jobs, and `teach.log`
`cache`	Regenerable HTTP/cache files

Each kind resolves independently. The ladder is:

Per-kind env var: EXPENSIFY_CONFIG_DIR, EXPENSIFY_DATA_DIR, EXPENSIFY_STATE_DIR, or EXPENSIFY_CACHE_DIR
--home <dir> for this invocation
EXPENSIFY_HOME for a flat relocated root
XDG env vars: XDG_CONFIG_HOME, XDG_DATA_HOME, XDG_STATE_HOME, XDG_CACHE_HOME
Platform defaults matching existing installs

For containers and agent sandboxes, prefer a single relocated root:

export EXPENSIFY_HOME=/srv/expensify
expensify-pp-cli doctor

Under EXPENSIFY_HOME=/srv/expensify, the four dirs resolve to /srv/expensify/config, /srv/expensify/data, /srv/expensify/state, and /srv/expensify/cache.

MCP servers do not receive CLI flags from the host. Put relocation in the host env block:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "expensify": {
      "command": "expensify-pp-mcp",
      "env": {
        "EXPENSIFY_HOME": "/srv/expensify"
      }
    }
  }
}

Precedence matters in fleets: an ambient per-kind variable such as EXPENSIFY_DATA_DIR overrides an explicit --home for that kind. Use EXPENSIFY_HOME or the per-kind variables for durable fleet relocation; treat --home as the weaker per-invocation lever.

Relocation is one-way. Unsetting EXPENSIFY_HOME does not move files back to platform defaults, and doctor cannot find credentials left under a former root. Move the files manually before unsetting relocation variables.

Existing installs keep working because the platform-default rung matches the legacy layout. On the first auth write, stored secrets leave config.toml and are consolidated into credentials.toml under the data directory. Run expensify-pp-cli doctor --fail-on warn to check path and credential-location warnings in automation.

Commands

admin

Integration Server: policy, employee, and rules admin

expensify-pp-cli admin cards-list - List domain cards (Domain Cards Getter)
expensify-pp-cli admin cards-owners - List card owners (Card Owner Data)
expensify-pp-cli admin employee-add - Add an employee to a policy (Advanced Employee Updater)
expensify-pp-cli admin employee-remove - Remove an employee from a policy
expensify-pp-cli admin employee-update - Update an employee (Advanced Employee Updater)
expensify-pp-cli admin policy-get - Get a policy's full config (Policy Getter)
expensify-pp-cli admin policy-list - List all policies you admin (Policy List Getter)
expensify-pp-cli admin policy-new - Create a new policy (Policy Creator)
expensify-pp-cli admin policy-set-categories - Update categories for a policy from YAML
expensify-pp-cli admin policy-set-fields - Update report fields for a policy
expensify-pp-cli admin policy-set-tags - Update tags for a policy from YAML
expensify-pp-cli admin report-set-status - Force a report status transition (Report Status Updater)
expensify-pp-cli admin rules-new - Create an expense rule (Expense Rules Creator)
expensify-pp-cli admin rules-update - Update an expense rule
expensify-pp-cli admin tag-approvers-set - Set tag approvers (Tag Approvers Updater)

expense

Create, list, and manage personal expenses

expensify-pp-cli expense attach - Attach or replace a receipt on an expense
expensify-pp-cli expense create - Create a new expense
expensify-pp-cli expense delete - Delete an expense
expensify-pp-cli expense edit - Edit an existing expense
expensify-pp-cli expense get - Get expense detail by transaction ID
expensify-pp-cli expense list - List your expenses with filters

export_resource

Integration Server: export reports to accounting systems (admin)

expensify-pp-cli export-resource download - Download a previously generated export file
expensify-pp-cli export-resource run - Export reports via Report Exporter (Integration Server)

me

Current user profile

expensify-pp-cli me - Get current user profile

recon

Integration Server: corporate card reconciliation (admin)

expensify-pp-cli recon - Export reconciliation data for a domain

report

Create, manage, and submit expense reports

expensify-pp-cli report add - Add expenses to a report
expensify-pp-cli report approve - Approve a report (manager action)
expensify-pp-cli report comment - Add a comment to a report thread
expensify-pp-cli report create - Create a new report
expensify-pp-cli report delete - Delete a draft report
expensify-pp-cli report get - Get report detail
expensify-pp-cli report list - List your reports
expensify-pp-cli report pay - Mark a report as reimbursed
expensify-pp-cli report reopen - Reopen a submitted report back to draft
expensify-pp-cli report submit - Submit a report for approval

workspace

View workspaces (policies) you have access to

expensify-pp-cli workspace get - Get workspace detail
expensify-pp-cli workspace list - List workspaces accessible to your account

Output Formats

# Human-readable table (default in terminal, JSON when piped)
expensify-pp-cli category --policy-id 550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440000

# JSON for scripting and agents
expensify-pp-cli category --policy-id 550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440000 --json

# Filter to specific fields
expensify-pp-cli category --policy-id 550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440000 --json --select id,name,status

# Dry run — show the request without sending
expensify-pp-cli category --policy-id 550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440000 --dry-run

# Agent mode — JSON + compact + no prompts in one flag
expensify-pp-cli category --policy-id 550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440000 --agent

Agent Usage

This CLI is designed for AI agent consumption:

Non-interactive - never prompts, every input is a flag
Pipeable - --json output to stdout, errors to stderr
Filterable - --select id,name returns only fields you need
Previewable - --dry-run shows the request without sending
Explicit retries - add --idempotent to create retries when a no-op success is acceptable
Confirmable - --yes for explicit confirmation of destructive actions
Piped input - write commands can accept structured input when their help lists --stdin
Agent-safe by default - no colors or formatting unless --human-friendly is set

Exit codes: 0 success, 2 usage error, 3 not found, 4 auth error, 5 API error, 7 rate limited, 10 config error.

Health Check

expensify-pp-cli doctor

Verifies configuration, credentials, and connectivity to the API.

Configuration

Run expensify-pp-cli doctor to see the resolved config, data, state, and cache directories. The platform-default config path is ~/.config/expensify-pp-cli/config.toml; --home, EXPENSIFY_HOME, and per-kind env vars can relocate it.

Static request headers can be configured under headers; per-command header overrides take precedence.

Environment variables:

Name	Kind	Required	Description
`EXPENSIFY_AUTH_TOKEN`	per_call	Yes	Set to your API credential.
`EXPENSIFY_PARTNER_USER_ID`	per_call	Yes	Set to your API credential.
`EXPENSIFY_PARTNER_USER_SECRET`	per_call	Yes	Set to your API credential.

agentcookie (optional)

If you use agentcookie to sync secrets across machines, this CLI auto-adopts agentcookie-managed credentials with no extra setup. When the daemon writes to this CLI's config, expensify-pp-cli doctor reports agentcookie: detected and auth-status labels the source as agentcookie. Skip this section if you don't use agentcookie - the CLI works the same as any other.

Troubleshooting

Authentication errors (exit code 4)

Run expensify-pp-cli doctor to check credentials
Verify the environment variable is set: echo $EXPENSIFY_AUTH_TOKEN Not found errors (exit code 3)
Check the resource ID is correct
Run the list command to see available items

API-specific

403 Forbidden on every command — Your session expired. Run expensify-pp-cli auth login again.
429 Too Many Requests — Integration Server enforces 5 req / 10s and 20 req / 60s. The CLI backs off automatically; if you see this, wait 60 seconds before retrying.
export run asks for partner credentials — Export commands use the Integration Server, not your session. Run expensify-pp-cli auth set-keys with credentials from https://www.expensify.com/tools/integrations/.
expense quick can't parse my input — Format: <description> <merchant> $<amount>. Example: "Dinner at Maya $42.50". Use --amount/--merchant/--category flags for explicit control.
Policy/category autocomplete is empty — Run expensify-pp-cli sync to refresh the local cache.

HTTP Transport

This CLI uses Chrome-compatible HTTP transport for browser-facing endpoints. It does not require a resident browser process for normal API calls.

Sources & Inspiration

This CLI was built by studying these projects and resources:

justexpenseit — Go (1 stars)
primrose-mcp-expensify — TypeScript
expensify-mcp-http — JavaScript

Generated by CLI Printing Press