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YNAB MCP

YNAB MCP

Local
github.com/EthanKang1Finance4Updated 80w ago
Repository

About YNAB MCP

YNAB MCP is an MCP server for accessing data from You Need A Budget. It provides tools to retrieve user, budget, category, and settings information, including budget transactions and balances.

Key features

  1. 01Retrieve authenticated user details
  2. 02List accessible budgets
  3. 03Get budget transactions and balances
  4. 04Retrieve budget categories
  5. 05Read budget settings

Use cases

  1. 01Review transactions and balances for a budget
  2. 02List budget categories and groups
  3. 03Check currency and date format settings

MCP support

The server exposes YNAB user and budget data through MCP tools. An API key is configured in the MCP client's server settings.

#ynab#budgeting#mcp-server

Configuration

Local server config is the same for every client. Copy it into your client’s MCP config file.

mcp.json · Universal config
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "ynab": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": [
        "run"
      ],
      "env": {
        "YNAB_API_KEY": "<YNAB_API_KEY>"
      }
    }
  }
}
Run commanduvx run
Environment variables to set
YNAB_API_KEYSecret

Local servers need a runtime on your machine (e.g. Node.js 18+). Config file locations differ by client; see your client’s docs.

Packages
pypirun

Tools

No tool list yet

Local servers expose tools only once running on your machine, and the maintainer has not provided a tool list.

Details

From the project README

YNAB MCP Server

smithery badge

A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server for interacting with YNAB (You Need A Budget). Provides tools for accessing budget data through MCP-enabled clients like Claude Desktop.

MCP Client Configuration

Basic Configuration

Add this to your MCP client's configuration (e.g. cline_mcp_settings.json for Claude Desktop):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "ynab-mcp": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["run", "ynab-mcp"],
      "env": {
        "YNAB_API_KEY": "your-api-key-here"
      }
    }
  }
}
Advanced Configuration

If you're running from a specific directory:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "ynab-mcp": {
      "command": "uv",
      "args": ["--directory", "/path/to/ynab-mcp", "run", "ynab-mcp"],
      "env": {
        "YNAB_API_KEY": "your-api-key-here"
      }
    }
  }
}
Debugging

To debug with the MCP Inspector:

  1. Install the inspector:
npm install -g @modelcontextprotocol/inspector
  1. Update your configuration to use the inspector with uv:
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "ynab-mcp": {
      "command": "uv",
      "args": ["--directory", "/path/to/ynab-mcp", "run", "@modelcontextprotocol/inspector", "ynab-mcp"],
      "env": {
        "YNAB_API_KEY": "your-api-key-here"
      },
      "disabled": false,
      "autoApprove": []
    }
  }
}

The inspector provides:

  • Real-time logs of tool calls and responses
  • Request/response inspection
  • Tool schema validation
  • Interactive testing interface

Available Tools

GetUser

Retrieves information about the authenticated YNAB user, including user ID and email.

ListBudgets

Lists all budgets accessible to the authenticated user, including budget IDs and names.

GetBudget

Retrieves detailed information about a specific budget, including transactions, categories, and balances. Supports optional date filtering and transaction limiting.

Note: Monetary amounts are returned in milliunits (e.g., 1000 = $1.00)

GetBudgetCategories

Retrieves all categories defined in the specified budget, including category groups, names, and IDs.

GetBudgetSettings

Retrieves settings for the specified budget, including currency format, date format, and other preferences.

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