Quanta Mcp

Track time in Quanta from Claude, Cursor, or any other MCP client. Start and stop timers, log work you've already done, and ask where your hours went, without leaving the conversation.

Requires a paid Quanta plan (Individual or Team).

Setup

1. Create an API key

In Quanta, go to Settings → API Keys and create a key. It is shown once, at creation, so copy it before closing the panel. The key acts as you: it sees exactly what your account sees and can change exactly what you can change.

2. Add the server to Claude Desktop

Open Settings → Developer → Edit Config, which opens the config file for you. Or edit it directly:

• macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
• Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

The file may not exist yet. If it does not, create it with exactly this:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "quanta": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "quanta-mcp"],
      "env": { "QUANTA_API_KEY": "qta_live_..." }
    }
  }
}

If the file already exists, add the "quanta" block inside your existing "mcpServers" object rather than replacing the file. It is JSON, so remember the comma between entries.

Then quit Claude Desktop completely and reopen it. MCP servers are only started at launch, so closing the window or reloading is not enough: use Cmd+Q on macOS, or quit from the tray on Windows.

To check it worked, ask Claude "what am I working on?". It should answer from your Quanta timer rather than guessing.

If Quanta does not appear, it is almost certainly PATH. Claude Desktop is launched by the operating system, not from your shell, so it does not inherit your PATH. If you installed Node through nvm, asdf, Homebrew or Volta, the bare npx above will not resolve and the server silently fails to start.

Fix it by using the full path. Run which npx in a terminal, then use what it prints:

"command": "/Users/you/.nvm/versions/node/v22.21.1/bin/npx",
"args": ["-y", "quanta-mcp"]

Claude Desktop writes logs to ~/Library/Logs/Claude/ on macOS if you need to see the actual error.

3. Other clients

Claude Code runs from your shell, so npx resolves normally:

claude mcp add quanta --env QUANTA_API_KEY=qta_live_... -- npx -y quanta-mcp

Cursor and other MCP clients take the same shape as the Claude Desktop config above: command npx, args ["-y", "quanta-mcp"], and QUANTA_API_KEY in the environment.

git clone [email protected]:Stackfee/quanta-mcp.git
cd quanta-mcp
npm install
npm run build          # produces dist/index.js

claude mcp add quanta --env QUANTA_API_KEY=qta_live_... -- node /absolute/path/to/quanta-mcp/dist/index.js

Configuration

Tools

Every endpoint of the public API is covered.

Things worth knowing

Say names, not ids. Every tool that takes a project, task, client, user or tag accepts the plain name — "log two hours on Quanta, Dev task". Opaque ids (proj_…) work too, so anything read from list_projects can be passed straight back. A name that matches nothing, or matches more than one thing, comes back asking which you meant rather than guessing.

Reports need a permission, and see everyone. get_time_report, get_detailed_report and get_recent_changes span the whole workspace, so they check the report permissions. A key carries its creator's permissions, so if that person cannot open the report in Quanta, the tool is refused and says which permission is missing.

list_time_entries only ever shows your own work. That is the API's behaviour, not a setting. To see what someone else did, use get_detailed_report with user.

Timers are exclusive. Starting a timer stops whatever was already running, matching how the web and desktop apps behave.

Entries are attributed to you, and marked as API-created. Anything the assistant logs appears under your name, with its source recorded as Api so you can tell it apart from web and desktop entries in the detailed report and Excel export.

Examples

"Start a timer on the Northwind portal, I'm doing the checkout flow."

"Stop the timer."

"I spent about three hours this morning on the Acme migration. Log it."

"What did I work on yesterday, and how much of it was billable?"

Development

npm install
npm run build          # tsc -> dist/
npm run dev            # tsc --watch

QUANTA_API_KEY=qta_live_... QUANTA_API_URL=https://localhost:44301 node dist/index.js

The server talks only to Quanta's public /api/v1 surface, the same one documented at api.quanta.is/docs. If a tool needs data the public API doesn't expose yet, the API is what needs extending.

Security

Keys are stored hashed. Quanta can't show you an existing key again, only mint a new one. If a key leaks, revoke it in Settings → API Keys; anything using it stops working immediately.

Keys carry your permissions, not more. A key created by someone who can't see billing still can't see billing.