@gravv-infra/mcp

MCP server for the Gravv payments API. Connects an AI assistant to Gravv so it can onboard customers, run KYC, open accounts, add recipients, move money, issue cards, and exchange currency — using your own API key.

Works with Claude, Cursor, VS Code, and any MCP-compatible client.

Quick start

Requires Node.js 20 or later. Check with node --version.

GRAVV_API_KEY=grvSec_sandbox_... npx @gravv-infra/mcp

Get an API key from your Gravv dashboard. Start with a sandbox key — the key itself decides which environment you reach.

To confirm it's wired up, ask your assistant:

What Gravv accounts do I have?

It should call listAccounts and come back with real data. If you have no accounts yet, try "Search the Gravv docs for how to open an account" — the documentation tools work even before you have any.

Any MCP-compatible client works — the server speaks stdio and negotiates protocol version 2025-06-18, falling back to 2024-11-05 for older clients.

claude mcp add gravv --env GRAVV_API_KEY=grvSec_sandbox_... -- npx -y @gravv-infra/mcp

VS Code uses servers, not mcpServers, and requires an explicit type. Put this in .vscode/mcp.json to share with your team, or run MCP: Open User Configuration for a personal one:

{
  "servers": {
    "gravv": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@gravv-infra/mcp"],
      "env": { "GRAVV_API_KEY": "grvSec_sandbox_..." }
    }
  }
}

Or from the CLI:

code --add-mcp '{"name":"gravv","command":"npx","args":["-y","@gravv-infra/mcp"],"env":{"GRAVV_API_KEY":"grvSec_sandbox_..."}}'

codex mcp add gravv --env GRAVV_API_KEY=grvSec_sandbox_... -- npx -y @gravv-infra/mcp

Or in ~/.codex/config.toml:

[mcp_servers.gravv]
command = "npx"
args = ["-y", "@gravv-infra/mcp"]

[mcp_servers.gravv.env]
GRAVV_API_KEY = "grvSec_sandbox_..."

Verify with codex mcp list.

These use the mcpServers shape:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "gravv": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@gravv-infra/mcp"],
      "env": { "GRAVV_API_KEY": "grvSec_sandbox_..." }
    }
  }
}

The server is a plain stdio MCP process. Point any client at:

command: npx
args:    ["-y", "@gravv-infra/mcp"]
env:     GRAVV_API_KEY=grvSec_sandbox_...

To try it without a client:

GRAVV_API_KEY=grvSec_sandbox_... npx -y @gravv-infra/mcp

then paste a JSON-RPC frame on stdin:

{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":1,"method":"initialize","params":{"protocolVersion":"2025-06-18","capabilities":{},"clientInfo":{"name":"manual","version":"1"}}}

Keep the key out of source control. Several clients support environment-variable substitution or secret prompts — prefer those over pasting a live key into a file you might commit. A sandbox key is the right thing to start with either way.

Related MCP server: M-Pesa MCP Server

What you get

Documentation tools — searchGravvDocs and getGravvDocPage search all 177 pages of the Gravv documentation. They need no API key, so you can explore Gravv before you have credentials.

API tools — 87 tools covering customers, KYC, accounts, transfers, cards, wallets, FX, collections, payment links, webhooks, and approvals.

Both matter. The API tools execute calls, but they can't tell you what has to happen first — that an account needs a KYC-verified customer, or that a new recipient must reach active before you can pay them. That's what the guides are for, so they're reachable from the same connector. Ask the assistant how to do something and it can look it up, write your integration, then run it against sandbox to prove it works.

npx @gravv-infra/mcp     # with GRAVV_API_KEY: docs + API tools
npx @gravv-infra/mcp     # without it: docs tools only, still useful

Safety model

Gravv moves real money, and sandbox and live share one base URL — only your key differs. Nothing in a request visually signals danger, so the server signals it.

Money-moving tools take two calls. createTransfer, withdrawFromCard, createFxOrder, createCollection, chargeSavedCard, approveTransfer, and approveFxOrder return a preview on the first call and execute only when called again with confirm: true. The unconfirmed call never reaches the API.

Approving is included because releasing a held instruction has the same consequence as initiating one. Rejecting is not gated — it only prevents execution.

> Send $50 from acc_1 to acc_2

  createTransfer({ amount: 50, ... })
  -> { status: "confirmation_required",
       willDo: "Transfer 50 USD from acc_1 to internal_account acc_2.
                Once submitted this cannot be reversed from the API." }

  [assistant shows this to you, you agree]

  createTransfer({ amount: 50, ..., confirm: true })
  -> { data: { transfer_id: "trf_1", status: "pending" } }

A live key needs a second independent signal. Money movement on a grvSec_live_ key is refused unless GRAVV_ALLOW_LIVE_WRITES=true is also set. Confirmation alone is not enough. An unrecognised key format is treated as live — it fails closed.

Cardholder data is never exposed. The endpoints returning card PAN, CVV, and PIN are not registered as tools under any configuration, and responses are scanned for card_number / cvv / pin and redacted on the way out. Use the client-side decryption flow for those.

Idempotency is automatic. Every write that needs an Idempotency-Key gets one, and the key used is returned with the result so a deliberate retry can reuse it.

--read-only disables every non-GET tool, for reporting deployments.

Toolsets

Everything except account-applications loads by default. Account onboarding carries large schemas and is an infrequent, deliberate flow, so it is opt-in.

npx @gravv-infra/mcp                                       # default
npx @gravv-infra/mcp --toolsets=customers,accounts,cards   # specific groups
npx @gravv-infra/mcp --toolsets=all                        # everything

Tool reference

* marks a tool that moves money and therefore requires confirm: true.

Documentation — always available, no API key needed searchGravvDocs · getGravvDocPage

customers createCustomer · getCustomer · listCustomers · updateCustomer

kyc startCustomerKyc · startCustomerKycS2S · uploadCustomerKycDocument · getCustomerKycDocuments · getCustomerKycStatus

accounts createAccount · getAccount · listAccounts · updateAccountStatus

external-accounts — recipients you pay out to createExternalAccount · getExternalAccount · listExternalAccounts · verifyExternalAccount · listExternalAccountInstitutions

transfers createTransfer* · getTransferRates · listTransferSupportedCurrencies · listTransferSupportedCountries · listTransferSupportedCountriesForAddress

transactions listTransactions · getTransaction · getTransactionsVolume · exportTransactions

cards createCard · getCard · listCards · getCardBalance · updateCardStatus · withdrawFromCard* · createCardApplication · getCardApplication · listCardApplications

wallets createWallet · getWallet · listWallets

fx getFxQuote · listFxRates · listFxCurrencyPairs · createFxOrder* · getFxOrder · listFxOrders · cancelFxOrder · listFxPendingApprovals

collections — taking money in

Card payments go through createCardPaymentIntent. It returns the same hosted payment link as a collection, plus the intent id and the card token that recurring and merchant-initiated charges need. createCollection covers the rails a payment intent cannot express — pix, mobile money, and bank transfer.

createCardPaymentIntent · chargeSavedCard* · listSavedCards · getSavedCard · deleteSavedCard · createCollection* · getCollection

payment-links createPaymentLink · getPaymentLink · listPaymentLinks · updatePaymentLink · updatePaymentLinkStatus · deletePaymentLink · getPublicPaymentLink

features listFeatures · checkFeatureEligibility · activateFeature

webhooks getWebhookHistory · getWebhookEventDetail · getWebhookCallHistory · retryWebhookEvent

approvals — sign off on held instructions approveTransfer* · rejectTransfer · approveExternalAccount · rejectExternalAccount · approveFxOrder* · rejectFxOrder · searchWebhookIngestion

account-applications — opt-in via --toolsets=account-applications createAccountApplication · updateAccountApplication · getAccountApplication · listAccountApplications · listPendingAccountApplications · deleteAccountApplication · submitAccountApplication · processAccountApplication · submitAndProcessAccountApplication · getAccountApplicationHistory · validateAccountApplication · completeAccountApplicationTos

Each tool's description carries its own prerequisites — several operations depend on something else having happened first, and the assistant reads those before calling.

A worked example

Asking an assistant to "pay a supplier in Nigeria 200 USD from my main account":

1. searchGravvDocs("send money to a Nigerian bank account")
   -> finds the remittance guide, learns the recipient must be `active`
      before a transfer will succeed

2. listAccounts()
   -> finds the funded USD account to pay from

3. listExternalAccountInstitutions({ country: "NG" })
   -> resolves the recipient's bank

4. createExternalAccount({ ...recipient details })
   -> returns status "pending" — not yet usable

5. getExternalAccount({ external_account_id })
   -> polls until status is "active"

6. createTransfer({ amount: 200, source, destination })
   -> returns a PREVIEW, does not execute:
      "Transfer 200 USD from acc_1 to external_account ext_9.
       Once submitted this cannot be reversed from the API."

   [you review and agree]

7. createTransfer({ ...same arguments, confirm: true })
   -> executes; returns transfer_id and status

Step 1 is what stops step 6 failing. Without the guides, an assistant tends to create the recipient and immediately transfer to it, before the payment rail has finished setting them up.

Going live

1. Test the whole flow with your sandbox key first. Sandbox and live hold entirely separate data — an id from one does not exist in the other.

2. Swap GRAVV_API_KEY for your live key. The base URL does not change.

3. Reads and non-financial writes work immediately.

4. Money movement stays blocked until you also set GRAVV_ALLOW_LIVE_WRITES=true. This is deliberate: swapping the key alone should not silently arm real payments.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "gravv": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@gravv-infra/mcp"],
      "env": {
        "GRAVV_API_KEY": "grvSec_live_...",
        "GRAVV_ALLOW_LIVE_WRITES": "true"
      }
    }
  }
}

Consider a second, separate entry running --read-only against your live key for reporting, and keep writes on sandbox.

Troubleshooting

The server doesn't start Check node --version is 20 or later. Without GRAVV_API_KEY the server still starts, but only the two documentation tools load — that's expected, not a failure.

401 on every call The key was rejected. Confirm it is current and that you copied the whole value.

404 on an id you know exists You're probably in the other environment. Sandbox and live hold separate data. The environment field in every response tells you which one you're in.

"tool exists but its toolset is not loaded" Restart with --toolsets=all, or name the group the error mentions.

"Not available over MCP" on card PAN, CVV, or PIN Intentional and not configurable. Use the client-side decryption flow.

A transfer returned confirmation_required instead of running Working as designed. Call again with confirm: true after reviewing the preview.

422 mentioning an idempotency key The same key was reused with a different payload. A genuinely new operation needs a new key; the server generates one per call, so this usually means a retry changed the body.

Repeated 429 Lower GRAVV_RATE_PER_MINUTE.

Documentation search returns nothing It's keyword-based, not semantic. Rephrase using the vocabulary the docs use — "transfer" rather than an unusual synonym — or drop the section filter.

Configuration

The client throttles requests locally and backs off on 429. If you hit rate limits, lower GRAVV_RATE_PER_MINUTE. See Rate limits.

Your API key is read from the environment and sent only to the Gravv API. It is never written to disk, logged, or included in tool output.

Notes

If a documentation search comes back empty, rephrase it. Search matches wording rather than meaning, so an unusual phrasing occasionally misses a page that does exist.

License

MIT — see LICENSE.