YNAB MCP Server

[](https://mseep.ai/app/calebl-ynab-mcp-server) # ynab-mcp-server [](https://smithery.ai/server/@calebl/ynab-mcp-server) A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server built with mcp-framework. This MCP provides tools for interacting with your YNAB budgets setup at https://ynab.com <a href="https://glama.ai/mcp/servers/@calebl/ynab-mcp-server"> <img width="380" height="200" src="https://glama.ai/mcp/servers/@calebl/ynab-mcp-server/badge" alt="YNAB Server MCP server" /> </a> In order to have an AI interact with this tool, you will need to get your Personal Access Token from YNAB: https://api.ynab.com/#personal-access-tokens. When adding this MCP server to any client, you will need to provide your personal access token as YNAB_API_TOKEN. **This token is never directly sent to the LLM.** It is stored privately in an environment variable for use with the YNAB api. ## Setup Specify env variables: * YNAB_API_TOKEN (required) * YNAB_BUDGET_ID (optional) ## Goal The goal of the project is to be able to interact with my YNAB budget via an AI conversation. There are a few primary workflows I want to enable: ## Workflows: ### First time setup * be prompted to select your budget from your available budgets. If you try to use another tool first, this prompt should happen asking you to set your default budget. * Tools needed: ListBudgets ### Manage overspent categories ### Adding new transactions ### Approving transactions ### Check total monthly spending vs total income ### Auto-distribute ready to assign funds based on category targets ## Current state Available tools: * ListBudgets - lists available budgets on your account * BudgetSummary - provides a summary of categories that are underfunded and accounts that are low * GetUnapprovedTransactions - retrieve all unapproved transactions * CreateTransaction - creates a transaction for a specified budget and account. * example prompt: `Add a transaction to my Ally account for $3.98 I spent at REI today` * requires GetBudget to be called first so we know the account id * ApproveTransaction - approves an existing transaction in your YNAB budget * requires a transaction ID to approve * can be used in conjunction with GetUnapprovedTransactions to approve pending transactions * After calling get unapproved transactions, prompt: `approve the transaction for $6.95 on the Apple Card` Next: * be able to approve multiple transactions with 1 call * updateCategory tool - or updateTransaction more general tool if I can get optional parameters to work correctly with zod & mcp framework * move off of mcp framework to use the model context protocol sdk directly? ## Quick Start ```bash # Install dependencies npm install # Build the project npm run build ``` ## Project Structure ``` ynab-mcp-server/ ├── src/ │ ├── tools/ # MCP Tools │ └── index.ts # Server entry point ├── .cursor/ │ └── rules/ # Cursor AI rules for code generation ├── package.json └── tsconfig.json ``` ## Adding Components The YNAB sdk describes the available api endpoints: https://github.com/ynab/ynab-sdk-js. YNAB open api specification is here: https://api.ynab.com/papi/open_api_spec.yaml. This can be used to prompt an AI to generate a new tool. Example prompt for Cursor Agent: ``` create a new tool based on the readme and this openapi doc: https://api.ynab.com/papi/open_api_spec.yaml The new tool should get the details for a single budget ``` You can add more tools using the CLI: ```bash # Add a new tool mcp add tool my-tool # Example tools you might create: mcp add tool data-processor mcp add tool api-client mcp add tool file-handler ``` ## Tool Development Example tool structure: ```typescript import { MCPTool } from "mcp-framework"; import { z } from "zod"; interface MyToolInput { message: string; } class MyTool extends MCPTool<MyToolInput> { name = "my_tool"; description = "Describes what your tool does"; schema = { message: { type: z.string(), description: "Description of this input parameter", }, }; async execute(input: MyToolInput) { // Your tool logic here return `Processed: ${input.message}`; } } export default MyTool; ``` ## Publishing to npm 1. Update your package.json: - Ensure `name` is unique and follows npm naming conventions - Set appropriate `version` - Add `description`, `author`, `license`, etc. - Check `bin` points to the correct entry file 2. Build and test locally: ```bash npm run build npm link ynab-mcp-server # Test your CLI locally ``` 3. Login to npm (create account if necessary): ```bash npm login ``` 4. Publish your package: ```bash npm publish ``` After publishing, users can add it to their claude desktop client (read below) or run it with npx ## Using with Claude Desktop ### Installing via Smithery To install YNAB Budget Assistant for Claude Desktop automatically via [Smithery](https://smithery.ai/server/@calebl/ynab-mcp-server): ```bash npx -y @smithery/cli install @calebl/ynab-mcp-server --client claude ``` ### Local Development Add this configuration to your Claude Desktop config file: **MacOS**: `~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json` **Windows**: `%APPDATA%/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json` ```json { "mcpServers": { "ynab-mcp-server": { "command": "node", "args":["/absolute/path/to/ynab-mcp-server/dist/index.js"] } } } ``` ### After Publishing Add this configuration to your Claude Desktop config file: **MacOS**: `~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json` **Windows**: `%APPDATA%/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json` ```json { "mcpServers": { "ynab-mcp-server": { "command": "npx", "args": ["ynab-mcp-server"] } } } ``` ### Other MCP Clients Check https://modelcontextprotocol.io/clients for other available clients. ## Building and Testing 1. Make changes to your tools 2. Run `npm run build` to compile 3. The server will automatically load your tools on startup ## Learn More - [MCP Framework Github](https://github.com/QuantGeekDev/mcp-framework) - [MCP Framework Docs](https://mcp-framework.com)