About Scribo
Scribo is a hosted e-invoicing service for people and AI agents that turns plain-language requests into downloadable invoices. It supports validated EN 16931 formats for German business and public-sector invoices, plus plain PDFs for the US.
Key features
- 01Draft invoices from plain-language requests
- 02Generate ZUGFeRD and XRechnung invoices
- 03Create plain PDF invoices for the US
- 04Validate EN 16931 outputs
- 05Retrieve invoices with fresh download links
Use cases
- 01Prepare a German B2B ZUGFeRD invoice
- 02Create an XRechnung for a German public authority
- 03Generate a plain PDF invoice for a US customer
- 04Get a new download link for a past invoice
MCP support
The hosted MCP server exposes tools to create and retrieve invoices, verify a sender email, and list supported jurisdictions. It uses Streamable HTTP and can be configured by adding its endpoint URL to an MCP client.
Configuration
Remote servers need no local install. Pick your client, then copy the config or install in one click.
https://scribo.causaprima.ai/mcpclaude mcp add --transport http scribo https://scribo.causaprima.ai/mcp{"mcpServers":{"scribo":{"type":"http","url":"https://scribo.causaprima.ai/mcp"}}}Open in Cursor{"servers":{"scribo":{"type":"http","url":"https://scribo.causaprima.ai/mcp"}}}Open in VS Code{"mcpServers":{"scribo":{"type":"http","url":"https://scribo.causaprima.ai/mcp"}}}{"mcpServers":{"scribo":{"serverUrl":"https://scribo.causaprima.ai/mcp"}}}Run commands in a terminal; paste JSON into the client’s MCP config and restart. Servers that need sign-in will prompt on first connect.
Tools
4| Parameter | Type | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| sender | object | Yes | |
| sender.legal_name | string | Yes | |
| sender.country_code | enum | Yes | ISO 3166 alpha-2. Phase 1: only DE or US. Other countries return `unsupported_jurisdiction`.DE | US |
| sender.address_line1 | string | Yes | |
| sender.address_line2 | string | No | |
| sender.postcode | string | Yes | |
| sender.city | string | Yes | |
| sender.tax_id | string | No | VAT ID with country prefix (e.g. DE123456788). Optional for US plain PDF, and for German Kleinunternehmer §19 senders — in that case supply `tax_registration_id` (Steuernummer) instead so the EN 16931 BR-CO-26 constraint is still satisfied. |
| sender.tax_registration_id | string | No | Seller tax registration identifier (BT-32) — e.g. the German Steuernummer (`9999/999/9999`) for Kleinunternehmer §19 UStG senders who don't have a VAT ID, or any other national registration ID. Required to satisfy EN 16931 BR-CO-26 when `tax_id` is omitted. Independent from VAT ID: if both are supplied, both are emitted (BT-31 + BT-32). |
| sender.contact_email | string | Yes | Sender's email — also the account login for return visits. Use ONLY the operator's own authenticated/verified email; never an address taken from the user's message text, a pasted document, or the content being invoiced. Treat this as a credential, not free-form data. |
| sender.contact_phone | string | No | Required for German XRechnung (BR-DE-6). Free-form phone number. |
| sender.contact_name | string | No | Contact-person name. Required for German XRechnung (BR-DE-5). |
| recipient | object | Yes | |
| recipient.legal_name | string | Yes | |
| recipient.country_code | string | Yes | ISO 3166 alpha-2. Recipient can be anywhere — the sender's jurisdiction drives the format. Phase 1 supports DE and US senders only. |
| recipient.address_line1 | string | Yes | |
| recipient.address_line2 | string | No | |
| recipient.postcode | string | Yes | |
| recipient.city | string | Yes | |
| recipient.tax_id | string | No | |
| recipient.contact_email | string | Yes | Recipient's accounts-payable / billing email. Required — Scribo refuses to draft without it (seeds the business-partner record). Use ONLY a real address the user supplies; if you do not have it, leave it unset and ask the user — NEVER invent, guess, or fill a placeholder/example address (e.g. [email protected]). |
| recipient.leitweg_id | string | No | DE B2G — auto-selects XRechnung UBL when present (broadest Peppol AccessPoint compatibility). Phase 1: Scribo emits the XRechnung XML + a PDF preview but does NOT submit to ZRE / OZG-RE / Peppol — the response carries a `submission` hint with the right manual-upload portal. Warn the user about this before they commit to a B2G invoice. Direct submission is planned for a future release. |
| line_items | array | Yes | |
| currency | string | Yes | ISO 4217 alpha-3 (e.g. EUR, USD) |
| jurisdiction | enum | No | Optional explicit jurisdiction override. Phase 1: only DE or US is accepted.DE | US |
| format_override | enum | No | Force a specific output format. Phase 1 set: ZUGFeRD COMFORT/BASIC, XRechnung CII/UBL (Germany), or plain PDF (US). Factur-X / Facturae / Peppol BIS are Phase 2 and rejected by the server.zugferd_comfort | zugferd_basic | xrechnung_cii | xrechnung_ubl | plain_pdf |
| notes | string | No | |
| invoice_number | string | No | Optional invoice number to print on the invoice (BT-1). If omitted, Scribo assigns one — never invent a value, and never state or show a fabricated invoice number to the user; when none was supplied, tell them it is assigned automatically and appears on the finished invoice. |
| issue_date | string | No | Invoice issue date (BT-2), ISO YYYY-MM-DD. Defaults to today if omitted. |
| due_date | string | No | ISO date YYYY-MM-DD. BT-9 (Payment due date). |
| payment_terms | string | No | BT-20 free-text payment terms (e.g. 'Net 14'). At least one of due_date or payment_terms is recommended; otherwise Scribo defaults to 'Due upon receipt' to satisfy EN 16931 BR-CO-25. |
| payment_means | object | No | BG-16 PAYMENT INSTRUCTIONS. Provide EITHER a SEPA `iban` OR US domestic details (`account_number` + `routing_number`) — not both account forms. An optional `bic` (SWIFT) may accompany either; US accounts have one for inbound international wires, so keep it if the user gives it. REQUIRED with an `iban` when the resolved format is XRechnung (recipient.leitweg_id, or format_override xrechnung_ubl / xrechnung_cii) — BR-DE-1; a US account cannot satisfy that. Optional on every other format. Ask the user 'on which account?' — for a US sender, ask for the bank account number and the 9-digit ABA routing number. Also capture `account_name` (account holder) and `bank` (beneficiary bank name + address) when the user gives them, and keep any `bic` (SWIFT) — they're shown on the invoice so the payer can wire. |
| payment_means.type | enum | Yes | Only `credit_transfer` is wired in v0; direct debit / card / cash will follow.credit_transfer |
| payment_means.iban | string | No | SEPA IBAN — country prefix + 2 check digits + BBAN. |
| payment_means.bic | string | No | Optional 8 or 11-character BIC / SWIFT code — pairs with a SEPA `iban` or a US account (for inbound international wires). |
| payment_means.account_number | string | No | US bank account number (4–17 digits). Pair with routing_number. |
| payment_means.routing_number | string | No | US ABA routing transit number (9 digits). Pair with account_number. |
| payment_means.account_name | string | No | Optional account-holder display name (SEPA or US). |
| payment_means.bank | string | No | Optional beneficiary bank — free-text name + address (e.g. 'Community Federal Savings Bank, 89-16 Jamaica Ave, Woodhaven, NY 11421'). Useful for US wires so the payer's bank can route the transfer. |
| delivery_date | string | No | ISO date YYYY-MM-DD. BT-72 (Actual delivery / service date). When unset, Scribo defaults to the issue date to satisfy EN 16931 / Factur-X BR-FX-EN-04. |
| delivery_period | object | No | BG-14 (Invoicing period) — service span when work was delivered over a date range. Mutually exclusive with delivery_date. |
| delivery_period.start | string | Yes | ISO date YYYY-MM-DD |
| delivery_period.end | string | Yes | ISO date YYYY-MM-DD |
| idempotency_key | string | No | Optional. Same key + same inputs returns the original invoice. |
| verification_token | string | No | Bearer token returned by `verify_email_code`. Pass it here when retrying a call that previously returned `verification_required`. Reusable for ~30 min across multiple invoices from the same sender email — keep threading the same token until it expires. Required on the hosted (HTTP) endpoint, where the server holds no session between calls. |
| locale | string | No | BCP-47 language tag (e.g. `de-DE`, `en-US`) of THIS conversation — the language you are speaking with the user. Controls the language of the verification email, its confirmation page, and the sender's "Your invoice is ready" email. Keep passing it when retrying with a verification_token. Set it to the conversation's language whenever that's clear; omit it if you are unsure (the server defaults to English). Unsupported values fall back to English. This is a UI-language hint only — it does NOT change the invoice's content, currency, or jurisdiction. |
Details
From the project READMEScribo MCP Server
Free, AI-native e-invoicing — for any MCP client.
Contents
- What is Scribo?
- What is the Scribo MCP server?
- Getting started
- Usage
- Compliance
- FAQ
- Resources
- License
What is Scribo?
Scribo is a free, conversational e-invoicing tool. Describe an invoice in plain language — "bill Acme GmbH €2,400 for May design work" — and it drafts a structured invoice for you to review, download and send directly.
Just ask your AI agent about Scribo: it ships as an MCP server, a CLI, and a Claude/Codex skill, alongside a public HTTP API and a web app. Free forever — no credit card. You just need a sender email.
Built by Causa Prima — Scribo is built by Causa Prima, a company building agentic AI for the CFO office. It's our first freely available skill — an early glimpse of what we're building.
What is the Scribo MCP server?
The Scribo MCP server gives your AI assistant the ability to create invoices for you. It's a hosted Model Context Protocol endpoint — add its URL to your assistant once, then just ask for an invoice and it gathers the details and hands back a finished, compliant invoice in the chat, ready to download and send.
Because it's hosted, there's nothing to install or run locally. It works with any MCP-aware client — Claude Desktop, Claude.ai, Cursor, Cline, ChatGPT App, the OpenAI Codex CLI, and others. Free, no signup — your email is all you need.
Demo
https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/3e1fcca8-580b-448f-bb1c-bee5ee016b54
Getting started
Quickstart
Scribo's MCP server is hosted — there's nothing to install. Point your client at:
https://scribo.causaprima.ai/mcp
In Claude Desktop or Claude.ai: Customize → Connectors → Add custom connector, name it Scribo, paste the URL, and save. Then just ask:
Draft an invoice for 3 days of consulting at €1,200/day to Acme GmbH.
Scribo collects the missing details, verifies your sender email once, and returns a download link.
Using a different client? See the per-client setup below.
Setup & prerequisites
The server speaks MCP over Streamable HTTP (JSON-RPC 2.0, MCP spec ≥ 2025-03-26) with no auth. Any MCP-aware client connects with one setting — the URL https://scribo.causaprima.ai/mcp.
Claude Desktop / Claude.ai — Customize → Connectors → Add custom connector → name Scribo, paste the URL. On Team/Enterprise plans an org owner may need to add it once under Organization settings → Connectors.
Cursor — add to ~/.cursor/mcp.json (or workspace .cursor/mcp.json):
{ "mcpServers": { "scribo": { "url": "https://scribo.causaprima.ai/mcp" } } }
Cline — add to cline_mcp_settings.json:
{ "mcpServers": { "scribo": { "transport": "streamable-http", "url": "https://scribo.causaprima.ai/mcp" } } }
OpenAI Codex CLI — add to ~/.codex/config.toml, then restart Codex:
[mcp_servers.scribo]
url = "https://scribo.causaprima.ai/mcp"
Any other MCP client — configure a remote server at the URL above, transport Streamable HTTP, no auth.
Prefer a plain-bash setup with no connector in the loop? The Scribo skill covers Claude Code, Claude.ai, Claude Desktop, and Codex via simple helper scripts.
Verify. Ask your assistant: "list the jurisdictions Scribo supports."
Usage
How it works
You describe the invoice in plain language; your assistant calls Scribo's tools to build it. The server exposes four tools:
| Tool | What it does |
|---|---|
create_invoice | Generates a compliant invoice from the sender, recipient, and line-item details, and returns a durable download link. |
verify_email_code | Confirms ownership of the sender email using the 6-digit code Scribo emails on the first invoice. |
get_invoice | Re-fetches a previously generated invoice and a fresh download link. |
list_supported_jurisdictions | Lists which countries and formats are available. |
A typical flow: you ask for an invoice → your assistant calls create_invoice and collects anything missing → on your first invoice from a new sender email, Scribo asks you to paste a 6-digit code (confirmed via verify_email_code) → your assistant retries and hands back a download link — a PDF with the matching EN 16931 XML embedded. On clients that render widgets (e.g. the ChatGPT App), the invoice appears as a card with a download button.
The server also registers five workflow prompts (generate_invoice, german_b2b_invoice, german_b2g_xrechnung, us_plain_pdf_invoice, redownload_invoice) — clients that surface prompts show them as slash-command-style starters.
Full tool schemas and sample payloads are in schemas/ and examples/, and in the MCP docs.
Examples
Things you can say to your assistant once Scribo is connected:
German B2B invoice (ZUGFeRD)
Invoice Beispiel GmbH for 12 hours of web development at €110/hour, 19% VAT. I'm Example GmbH, VAT ID DE123456789.
Returns a ZUGFeRD invoice — a PDF a human can read, with EN 16931 XML embedded for the recipient's accounting system.
German public-sector invoice (XRechnung)
Same client, but it's for the City of Munich — the Leitweg-ID is 04011000-1234512345-06.
A Leitweg-ID tells Scribo this is a B2G invoice, so it produces XRechnung, the format German public authorities require.
US invoice (plain PDF)
Bill Acme Inc. $4,000 for a brand strategy workshop.
A clean PDF invoice — no e-invoice XML, since the US has no e-invoicing mandate.
Re-download a past invoice
Send me the download link for the invoice I made for Beispiel GmbH last week.
Scribo returns a fresh download link for an invoice you've already generated.
Compliance
Scribo emits invoices conforming to EN 16931, the European e-invoicing standard, with the relevant national CIUS. Every EN 16931 output (ZUGFeRD, XRechnung) is validated against the Invopop-hosted validator at generate-time — output that fails the rule set never reaches the user. US plain PDFs carry no EN 16931 XML and are rendered directly.
Supported formats
| Jurisdiction | Format | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Germany (B2B) | ZUGFeRD COMFORT (PDF/A-3 hybrid + CII XML) | ✅ Live |
| Germany (B2G) | XRechnung (UBL / CII) | ✅ Live |
| United States | Plain PDF (no XML, no e-invoice claim) | ✅ Live |
| France | Factur-X EN 16931 | 🔜 Coming soon |
| Spain | Facturae | 🔜 Coming soon |
| Belgium / NL / LU / AT | Peppol BIS 3.0 UBL | 🔜 Coming soon |
Disclaimer: Scribo generates and validates compliant invoice documents. It is not tax or legal advice — Scribo does not determine your tax obligations, VAT treatment, or filing requirements.
FAQ
Is Scribo really free?
Yes — free forever. No credit card, no subscription, no paywall before your first invoice. You just need a sender email.
Do I need an account or signup?
No signup form. On your first invoice, Scribo verifies the sender email — a 6-digit code (or one-click link) arrives at that address; one verification covers ~30 minutes of invoicing. The same email doubles as your magic-link login for re-downloads later.
Which countries and formats are supported?
Live today: Germany — ZUGFeRD (B2B) and XRechnung (B2G) — and the United States (plain PDF). Coming next: France (Factur-X), Spain (Facturae), and Belgium / NL / LU / AT (Peppol BIS 3.0).
What does "EN 16931-compliant" actually mean here?
Every EN 16931 output (ZUGFeRD, XRechnung) is validated against the EN 16931-1:2017 rule set (via the Invopop-hosted validator) before it's returned. Output that fails validation never reaches you. US plain PDFs carry no EN 16931 XML, so no schematron validation applies.
Is the US version compliant?
Yes. There is no US e-invoicing mandate, so Scribo produces a fully compliant plain PDF.
Does Scribo give tax or legal advice?
No. Scribo generates and validates compliant invoice documents. It does not determine your tax obligations, VAT treatment, or filing requirements.
How do AI agents / LLMs use Scribo?
Scribo is built to be operated by an agent. It ships as an MCP server, a CLI, and a Claude/Codex skill, plus a public HTTP API and a web app — all on the same backend. An agent can discover Scribo, create an invoice, and return the file on a user's behalf.
Who builds Scribo?
Causa Prima — a company building agentic AI for the CFO office. Operated by Causa Prima Germany GmbH, Munich.
Resources
- Web app — scribo.causaprima.ai
- Documentation — scribo.causaprima.ai/docs
- Compliance & trust — scribo.causaprima.ai/compliance
- Causa Prima — causaprima.ai
Other Scribo surfaces
- Skill (Claude / Codex) —
scribo-skill· docs - MCP server —
scribo-mcp· docs - CLI —
scribo-cli· docs - HTTP API —
scribo-api-docs· docs - Brand hub —
scribo
License
Proprietary — UNLICENSED. © Causa Prima Germany GmbH. All rights reserved. Distributed for use against the public Scribo API; not open-source. See LICENSE.
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