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Set up Atto MCP

Give an MCP-compatible assistant access to balances, payment history, and live events. When you want it to pay for a service or complete a purchase, you can approve a spending allowance without putting a recovery phrase in the conversation.

For capabilities and the approval flow before setup, see the Atto MCP overview.

Before you begin​

You need Node.js 24.15.0 or newer, an MCP client that supports local stdio servers, and an accessible OS password store. The current package is in beta; use the latest Node.js 24.x release. See the package requirements.

macOS uses Keychain and Windows uses Credential Manager. On Linux, install secret-tool and use an unlocked Secret Service provider, such as GNOME Keyring or KWallet, in your desktop D-Bus session. Start the MCP client as the same OS user with access to that session.

Connect with read-only access​

Run setup in your own interactive terminal:

npx --yes @attocash/mcp@latest setup
  1. Choose Dedicated MCP wallet (default) for a separate agent wallet.
  2. Create or import the wallet in the terminal and choose read-only access.
  3. Save any recovery phrase privately, offline. Never paste it into an agent conversation or client configuration.
  4. Add the server to your client's MCP settings using the mcpServers configuration printed by setup. If your client uses a different configuration format, keep the same command and args, including --data-dir and its absolute path.
  5. Restart or reconnect the client. It starts the server; the setup terminal does not need to stay open.

The --yes option accepts npm's package-install prompt only. It does not approve wallet creation or spending.

For a first read-only action, ask:

Show my wallet status, balances, and current access and spending limits. Do not change anything.

The corresponding tools are wallet_status, balances_get, and limits_get. If something cannot connect, ask for the doctor report.

Share a CLI wallet​

Setup also offers Existing CLI wallet. Both interfaces must select the same absolute directory to share funds, payment request IDs, history, and spending limits. Check the CLI's directory with atto wallet status, then preserve the directory in the generated MCP configuration.

Omitting --data-dir selects the dedicated MCP wallet, not the CLI's default wallet. Set up the CLI if you also want direct terminal access.

Approve a spending allowance​

Read-only access supports queries, personal labels, watches, and limit proposals. It cannot send or receive funds, change representatives, or configure the wallet. Watching an incoming payment does not receive it.

When you are ready to allow payments:

  1. Ask the assistant to propose a per-payment cap, a rolling spending cap, and the permitted source accounts using limits_propose.
  2. Review the proposed changes. A proposal alone grants nothing.
  3. Run one of the returned approval.commands yourself in a local terminal, preserving its profile path, proposal ID, and shell quoting.
  4. Check the wallet, network, access, amount limits, account indexes, and consolidation setting before confirming.

There is no MCP tool that approves its own proposal. Approved sending limits apply across CLI and MCP payments in the same profile. Receiving and representative changes require MCP spending access but do not consume the sending allowance. See the approval reference for the full policy and approval flow.

Keep the boundary clear

MCP limits constrain these wallet tools, not arbitrary programs running as your OS user. Unrestricted shell access is a separate permission. Keep recovery material out of chat and use a dedicated wallet when you want separate funds.

Next steps​