About Hermes Grocy MCP
Hermes Grocy MCP connects MCP clients to Grocy, a self-hosted household ERP, through a documented set of household inventory and shopping tools. It supports both read operations and direct changes to stock, lists, chores, tasks, and generic entities.
Key features
- 01Inspect products, stock, and stock entries
- 02Search or look up products by barcode
- 03Manage shopping list items
- 04Add, consume, and inventory stock
- 05Read and modify chores, tasks, and entities
Use cases
- 01Check due, expired, or missing products
- 02Update household stock after purchases or use
- 03Add products to a shopping list
- 04Review chores and mark them complete
MCP support
Exposes Grocy status, product, stock, shopping list, chore, task, and entity operations as MCP tools. Write-capable tools mutate Grocy data and private or write access requires GROCY_API_KEY.
Configuration
Local server config is the same for every client. Copy it into your client’s MCP config file.
uvx hermes-grocy-mcpGROCY_BASE_URLGrocy base URL, with or without /apiGROCY_API_KEYSecretGrocy API key for private instances or write accessLocal servers need a runtime on your machine (e.g. Node.js 18+). Config file locations differ by client; see your client’s docs.
Tools
Local servers expose tools only once running on your machine, and the maintainer has not provided a tool list.
Details
From the project READMEGrocy MCP
A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server for Grocy, the self-hosted household ERP for groceries, inventory, chores, batteries, recipes, tasks, and shopping lists.
This server focuses on AI-friendly household operations that are awkward through generic REST clients:
- Inspect Grocy system/version status
- List, search, and inspect products
- Read current stock, volatile stock, product stock details, and individual stock entries
- List current shopping list items and add/remove products from shopping lists
- Look up products by barcode/Grocycode
- List and inspect any
/api/objects/{entity}entity - Create/update generic entity objects from JSON
- Add, consume, and inventory product stock
- Add/remove product amounts from shopping lists
Why this exists
Grocy has a strong REST API, but MCP coverage is sparse and usually either incomplete or tightly coupled to one client's workflow. This package gives Hermes, Claude Desktop, Cursor, and other MCP clients a small, explicit, documented tool surface.
Installation
pipx install git+https://github.com/rusty4444/grocy-mcp.git
Or from a checkout:
python -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate
pip install -e .
Configuration
The server reads configuration from environment variables:
| Variable | Required | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
GROCY_BASE_URL | No | https://demo.grocy.info | Grocy base URL, with or without /api |
GROCY_API_KEY | No for public/demo read-only instances, yes for private/write access | unset | Grocy API key sent as GROCY-API-KEY |
GROCY_TIMEOUT | No | 20 | HTTP timeout in seconds |
Grocy API keys are managed in Grocy under Manage API keys. The API accepts the GROCY-API-KEY header.
MCP client config
{
"mcpServers": {
"grocy": {
"command": "grocy-mcp",
"env": {
"GROCY_BASE_URL": "https://grocy.example.com",
"GROCY_API_KEY": "your-api-key"
}
}
}
}
Tools
| Tool | Purpose |
|---|---|
grocy_system_info | Grocy version and runtime details |
grocy_list_products | List configured products |
grocy_search_products | Search products by name/description |
grocy_get_product | Fetch one product object |
grocy_lookup_product_by_barcode | Resolve a barcode/Grocycode |
grocy_stock_overview | Current stock rows |
grocy_volatile_stock | Due, overdue, expired, or missing products |
grocy_product_stock_details | Detailed stock state for one product |
grocy_product_stock_entries | Individual stock entries in next-use order |
grocy_common_entities | Common generic entity names useful with CRUD tools |
grocy_list_shopping_lists | Configured shopping lists |
grocy_list_shopping_list_items | Current shopping list rows, optionally filtered by list id |
grocy_list_entity | List any generic Grocy entity |
grocy_get_entity_object | Fetch any generic entity object |
grocy_create_entity_object | POST a generic entity object from JSON |
grocy_update_entity_object | PUT a generic entity object from JSON |
grocy_add_stock | Add product amount to stock |
grocy_consume_stock | Consume/remove product amount from stock |
grocy_inventory_product | Set product inventory amount |
grocy_add_product_to_shopping_list | Add a product to a shopping list |
grocy_remove_product_from_shopping_list | Remove a product from a shopping list |
grocy_set_userfields | Set userfield values on an entity object |
grocy_list_chores | List chores including computed next-due times |
grocy_execute_chore | Execute (mark done) a chore, optionally backdated |
grocy_list_tasks | List tasks |
Development and validation
python -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate
pip install -e '.[dev]'
ruff check .
pytest
python scripts/live_readonly_test.py
The live read-only test defaults to https://demo.grocy.info, avoiding mutations on shared infrastructure. It has been validated against Grocy API 4.6.0. Use a private Grocy instance plus GROCY_API_KEY for write-path testing.
Safety
Write-capable tools directly mutate Grocy data. Prefer read-only tools when using public demos. Keep GROCY_API_KEY in MCP client environment config or a secret manager, never in source control.
Comments
New to MCP?
From what the protocol is to installing your first server, these answers cover most first questions.
An open protocol that defines how AI applications connect to external tools and data in a uniform way. Clients talk to the model; MCP servers provide tools, resources and prompt templates. They exchange standard messages, so one server can be reused by many clients.