create_rule

MCP tool from Actual Budget MCP Es by marcoaperez

Create an automation rule: a condition (e.g. importedpayee contains "X" — use importedpayee, not payee, to match a payee the first time it is ever imported) plus an action (e.g. set category = id). Runs on future imports only, never retroactively. An action that sets payee to a transfer payee does n

How to use it

Project documentation lists create_rule for the Actual Budget MCP Es MCP server. Add the server to your MCP client (Claude Desktop, Cursor, Windsurf and others), then check which tools your installed version makes available. Tool availability can depend on configuration and credentials. A server handshake does not verify this tool’s behavior. See the full listing for setup details.

Install Actual Budget MCP Es

$node /absolute/path/to/actual-budget-mcp-es/dist/index.js
FULL ACTUAL BUDGET MCP ES LISTING

Other tools in Actual Budget MCP Es (28)

categorize_transactions

Categorize in bulk (max 50), with a per-item result

create_category

Create a category inside an existing category group

create_category_group

Create a new category group (the top-level buckets that hold categories)

create_schedule

Create a scheduled/recurring transaction

create_transaction

Record an expense/income, with optional splits at creation

delete_category

Permanently delete a category. Requires confirmdelete: true; if it has transactions, transfercategoryid is mandatory

delete_category_group

Permanently delete a category group and every category inside it. Requires confirmdelete: true; if any of them have transactions, transfercategoryid is mandatory

delete_rule

Delete an automation rule. Past transactions keep whatever it already applied; only future imports change

get_account_transfer_payee

The payee that represents a specific account in a transfer — a shortcut over getpayees

get_accounts

Accounts with current balance; includes off-budget accounts (pensions, funds, mortgage) by default

get_budget_averages

Mean, median and max spending per category over the last N full months — input for preparing the budget

get_budget_month

A month's budget state: to-budget, income, totals and budgeted/spent/balance per category

get_categories

Category groups and categories with their IDs (needed by the write tools)

get_net_worth

Full net worth: on-budget + off-budget with a per-account breakdown

get_payees

Payees with their IDs; a payee with transferaccountid set is the payee Actual uses to represent that account in a transfer

get_rules

Automation rules with their IDs; rules run on imported transactions and are how recurring movements classify themselves

get_schedules

Scheduled/recurring transactions configured in Actual (name, next date, amount)

get_spending_summary

Spending aggregated by category, payee or month. Always excludes transfers

get_transactions

Transactions by date range with optional filters (account, category, text, amount, uncategorized). Excludes transfers. Paginated (max 200)

set_budget

Assign budget in bulk to several categories of a month

set_transaction_transfer

Turn an ordinary transaction into a transfer with another account, by pointing it at that account's transfer payee. Actual creates and links the matching transaction on the other account

split_transaction

Split a transaction into real parts, in place (same id)

transfer_budget

Move assigned budget between categories

update_category

Rename a category, move it to another group, or archive it (hidden: true) — the non-destructive alternative to deletecategory

update_category_group

Rename a category group or archive it (hidden: true) — the non-destructive alternative to deletecategorygroup

update_category_note

Category notes and goal templates

update_rule

Replace an automation rule — Actual's API takes the whole object, so resend every field you want to keep

update_transaction

Fix a transaction (amount, category, payee, notes, date). categoryid: null uncategorizes it; payeeid sets a known payee, payeename resolves/creates one