ynab

This MCP server provides a set of tools to interact with a YNAB budget via an AI-enabled workflow. It exposes tools such as ListBudgets to retrieve available budgets, BudgetSummary to identify underfunded categories and low accounts, GetUnapprovedTransactions to fetch pending transactions, CreateTransaction to add new transactions, and ApproveTransaction to approve pending items. To use it, supply your YNAB API token through the YNAB_API_TOKEN environment variable when starting the server. Optionally specify YNAB_BUDGET_ID to set a default budget context. Once the server is running, you can invoke the available MCP tools through your MCP client or Claude Desktop integration, for example listing budgets, creating and approving transactions, or querying for budget summaries. The workflow supports guiding the AI to first select a budget, then perform actions like adding transactions or approving multiple items, and can auto-distribute funds based on category targets when ready.

Prerequisites:

• Node.js (LTS) and npm installed on your system
• Access to a YNAB account and a personal access token

Install and run:

1. Clone or download the repository and navigate to the project root.
2. Install dependencies: npm install
3. Build the project (if applicable): npm run build
4. Start the MCP server with required environment variables: YNAB_API_TOKEN=your_token YNAB_BUDGET_ID=optional_budget_id node dist/index.js

If you prefer using npx or a published package, ensure the package name matches the npm package (see npm_package below) and follow the publish/use instructions in the repository documentation.

Environment variables:

• YNAB_API_TOKEN: required. Your personal access token from Ynab.
• YNAB_BUDGET_ID: optional. If not provided, you may be prompted to select a budget on first use. Common issues:
• Token scope or validity errors: ensure the token has the correct permissions and is not expired.
• Network or API rate limits: consider implementing retry logic in tools that call the YNAB API. Tool usage hints:
• Use ListBudgets first to establish the available budgets before other operations.
• After fetching unapproved transactions with GetUnapprovedTransactions, you can pass IDs to ApproveTransaction to approve items in bulk as the workflow evolves.