Update Transaction
ynab_update_transactionUpdate an existing YNAB transaction by providing its ID and any fields to change, such as amount, date, payee, category, memo, or flagged status.
Instructions
Updates an existing transaction. All fields except transactionId are optional - only provide fields you want to change.
Input Schema
| Name | Required | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|---|
| budgetId | No | The ID of the budget (optional, defaults to YNAB_BUDGET_ID environment variable) | |
| transactionId | Yes | The ID of the transaction to update | |
| accountId | No | Move transaction to a different account | |
| date | No | The date of the transaction in ISO format (e.g. 2024-03-24) | |
| amount | No | The amount in dollars (e.g. -10.99 for outflow, 10.99 for inflow) | |
| payeeId | No | The ID of the payee | |
| payeeName | No | The name of the payee (creates new payee if doesn't exist) | |
| categoryId | No | The category ID for the transaction | |
| memo | No | A memo/note for the transaction | |
| cleared | No | The cleared status | |
| approved | No | Whether the transaction is approved | |
| flagColor | No | The transaction flag color |
Implementation Reference
- The main execute function that handles the 'ynab_update_transaction' tool logic. It builds an update object with only provided fields, calls the YNAB API's updateTransaction, and returns a formatted response.
export async function execute(input: UpdateTransactionInput, api: ynab.API) { try { const budgetId = getBudgetId(input.budgetId); // Build the update object with only provided fields const transactionUpdate: ynab.SaveTransactionWithOptionalFields = {}; if (input.accountId !== undefined) { transactionUpdate.account_id = input.accountId; } if (input.date !== undefined) { transactionUpdate.date = input.date; } if (input.amount !== undefined) { transactionUpdate.amount = Math.round(input.amount * 1000); } if (input.payeeId !== undefined) { transactionUpdate.payee_id = input.payeeId; } if (input.payeeName !== undefined) { transactionUpdate.payee_name = input.payeeName; } if (input.categoryId !== undefined) { transactionUpdate.category_id = input.categoryId; } if (input.memo !== undefined) { transactionUpdate.memo = input.memo; } if (input.cleared !== undefined) { transactionUpdate.cleared = mapClearedStatus(input.cleared); } if (input.approved !== undefined) { transactionUpdate.approved = input.approved; } if (input.flagColor !== undefined) { transactionUpdate.flag_color = input.flagColor as ynab.TransactionFlagColor; } const response = await api.transactions.updateTransaction( budgetId, input.transactionId, { transaction: transactionUpdate } ); if (!response.data.transaction) { throw new Error("Failed to update transaction - no transaction data returned"); } const txn = response.data.transaction; return { content: [{ type: "text" as const, text: JSON.stringify({ success: true, transaction: { id: txn.id, date: txn.date, amount: (txn.amount / 1000).toFixed(2), payee_name: txn.payee_name, category_name: txn.category_name, memo: txn.memo, cleared: txn.cleared, approved: txn.approved, account_name: txn.account_name, flag_color: txn.flag_color, }, message: "Transaction updated successfully", }, null, 2), }], }; } catch (error) { console.error("Error updating transaction:", error); return { content: [{ type: "text" as const, text: JSON.stringify({ success: false, error: getErrorMessage(error), }, null, 2), }], }; } } - Input schema using Zod for the 'ynab_update_transaction' tool. Defines all optional fields (budgetId, accountId, date, amount, payeeId, payeeName, categoryId, memo, cleared, approved, flagColor) plus required transactionId.
export const inputSchema = { budgetId: z.string().optional().describe("The ID of the budget (optional, defaults to YNAB_BUDGET_ID environment variable)"), transactionId: z.string().describe("The ID of the transaction to update"), accountId: z.string().optional().describe("Move transaction to a different account"), date: z.string().optional().describe("The date of the transaction in ISO format (e.g. 2024-03-24)"), amount: z.number().optional().describe("The amount in dollars (e.g. -10.99 for outflow, 10.99 for inflow)"), payeeId: z.string().optional().describe("The ID of the payee"), payeeName: z.string().optional().describe("The name of the payee (creates new payee if doesn't exist)"), categoryId: z.string().optional().describe("The category ID for the transaction"), memo: z.string().optional().describe("A memo/note for the transaction"), cleared: z.enum(["cleared", "uncleared", "reconciled"]).optional().describe("The cleared status"), approved: z.boolean().optional().describe("Whether the transaction is approved"), flagColor: z.enum(["red", "orange", "yellow", "green", "blue", "purple"]).optional().describe("The transaction flag color"), }; - TypeScript interface UpdateTransactionInput defining the shape of input parameters for the update transaction tool.
interface UpdateTransactionInput { budgetId?: string; transactionId: string; accountId?: string; date?: string; amount?: number; payeeId?: string; payeeName?: string; categoryId?: string; memo?: string; cleared?: "cleared" | "uncleared" | "reconciled"; approved?: boolean; flagColor?: "red" | "orange" | "yellow" | "green" | "blue" | "purple"; } - src/index.ts:69-73 (registration)Registration of the 'ynab_update_transaction' tool with the MCP server using server.registerTool(), wiring up the name, description, inputSchema, and execute function.
server.registerTool(UpdateTransactionTool.name, { title: "Update Transaction", description: UpdateTransactionTool.description, inputSchema: UpdateTransactionTool.inputSchema, }, async (input) => UpdateTransactionTool.execute(input, api)); - Two helper functions: getBudgetId() resolves the budget ID from input or env var, and mapClearedStatus() maps string cleared status to YNAB enum.
function getBudgetId(inputBudgetId?: string): string { const budgetId = inputBudgetId || process.env.YNAB_BUDGET_ID || ""; if (!budgetId) { throw new Error("No budget ID provided. Please provide a budget ID or set the YNAB_BUDGET_ID environment variable."); } return budgetId; } function mapClearedStatus(cleared: string): ynab.TransactionClearedStatus { switch (cleared) { case "cleared": return ynab.TransactionClearedStatus.Cleared; case "reconciled": return ynab.TransactionClearedStatus.Reconciled; default: return ynab.TransactionClearedStatus.Uncleared; } }