Rail MCP

Rail is a budget, approval and receipt layer that agents call when they buy something on a human's behalf, dry-run by default, wrapping Stripe Link for settlement rather than issuing cards.

It is not a marketplace, storefront, or outreach tool. Rail owns the budget, the approval gate, and the receipt ledger.

Quickstart

Requires Node.js 20+. Run the published package with npx -y rail-mcp. Default mode is dry-run: no network and no charges.

Claude Desktop and any other host that takes an mcpServers block:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "rail": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "rail-mcp"]
    }
  }
}

Cursor: one-click install (install links). The config value is the base64 of {"command":"npx","args":["-y","rail-mcp"]}.

Install Rail in Cursor

cursor://anysphere.cursor-deeplink/mcp/install?name=rail&config=eyJjb21tYW5kIjoibnB4IiwiYXJncyI6WyIteSIsInJhaWwtbWNwIl19

Grok Bot: add a custom MCP with npx -y rail-mcp.

Do not put Stripe or Link secrets (STRIPE_SECRET_KEY, LINK_ACCESS_TOKEN, or live-spend flags) in this shared snippet. Real charges stay off unless those gates are set on purpose, outside the shared config. See Stripe Link seam.

Ledger files (budget.json, proposals.json, receipts.json) are written to ~/.rail in the user home directory, or to RAIL_DATA_DIR when that is set. They are local state, not part of the npm package. The default does not follow the process working directory, so a host that starts the server from / still writes under the home directory.

Example

Set a budget, propose a purchase, have a human approve it, then read the receipt. Dry-run moves no money off the machine.

1. set_budget → { "amount_usd": 50, "note": "week1" }
2. propose_purchase → { "merchant": "Acme", "amount_usd": 12, "rationale": "need widgets" }
3. get_budget still shows remaining 50.00 and open_proposals: 1. The proposal is pending until a human decides.
4. decide_proposal → { "proposal_id": "prop_…", "decision": "approve" }
5. get_receipts returns one settled_dry_run receipt with a settlement_ref. Remaining budget is 38.00.

Rejecting spends nothing. refund_receipt reverses a dry-run settlement and restores the budget.

Tools

Permission model

Proposing a purchase is cheap. Settling one is not. An agent may record intent without moving money. The human should confirm the call that settles a purchase or reverses a receipt.

Hosts should read title, description, and annotations from tools/list. Every hint is set explicitly. The spec defaults (readOnlyHint false, destructiveHint true, openWorldHint true) would otherwise treat every tool as a destructive open-world write. Rail's ledger is local. Default mode is dry-run: no network and no charge.

destructiveHint is the confirmation signal, and it is true only for decide_proposal and refund_receipt. openWorldHint is false on every tool: dry-run never leaves the ledger, and live Link stays behind separate environment gates. Annotations are hints for the host. They do not themselves move money.

Mode defaults to RAIL_MODE=dry_run. Money is stored as integer cents; tools display USD with 2 decimals. IDs: prop_…, rcpt_…, dry-run Link refs lsrq_dry_… on settlement_ref.

Local checkout

tsx is a dev dependency for dogfood in this repo. npm run smoke runs the TypeScript sources directly and does not need a build. npm start compiles first, then runs dist/index.js (the same file the rail-mcp bin points at).

npm install
npm start          # tsc → dist/, then stdio MCP server
npm run dev        # tsx watch src/index.ts
npm run smoke      # dry-run ledger smoke test; throwaway dirs only (never ./data, ~/.rail, or RAIL_DATA_DIR)

npm run smoke forces RAIL_MODE=dry_run, never enables live charge gates, and writes the ledger only under temporary directories it creates and deletes. ./data, ~/.rail, and RAIL_DATA_DIR are left untouched even when RAIL_DATA_DIR is set in the environment. One check starts the server with its working directory at / and HOME pointed at a temp directory, then calls a tool. That call succeeds, and the ledger for that check is created under the temp home rather than /data or the real ~/.rail. An explicit RAIL_DATA_DIR still overrides the default in that launch.

Stripe Link seam

Rail asks Link for a one-time credential. Rail still decides budget and policy and writes the receipt. This seam does not issue cards and does not render UI.

• RAIL_MODE=dry_run (default, including when unset): createSpendRequest returns a fake Link spend-request id and status dry_run_pending_human. No Stripe or Link HTTP. Approve stores that id as settlement_ref on a settled_dry_run receipt and decrements remaining budget.
• RAIL_MODE=live without gates: throws live mode not enabled — set keys and get explicit human approval unless both STRIPE_SECRET_KEY and RAIL_LIVE=1 are set. The proposal stays pending and no receipt is written.
• Live with those two gates: the POST https://api.link.com/spend_requests body is scaffolded only (see src/stripeLink.ts). Nothing is sent unless RAIL_ALLOW_LIVE_CHARGE=1.
• RAIL_ALLOW_LIVE_CHARGE=1: the only branch allowed to call Link, and only if LINK_ACCESS_TOKEN is also set. STRIPE_SECRET_KEY is a presence gate and is never sent. There is no Stripe Issuing card create. Docs: Link CLI, link-cli, Issuing for agents.
• Live spend stays off until those env vars are set on purpose. A posted Link request is stored as link_pending_human and does not decrement the dry-run budget. CI and npm run smoke stay on dry-run and do not charge.

Explicit non-goals

• No marketplace UI
• No outreach / messaging
• No card issuing
• No real charges in dry-run, CI, or smoke

License

MIT. Copyright 2026 Thomas Stockham.