How do I connect Ynab MCP Server to Claude?

The listing records `docker run -i --rm -e YNAB_API_TOKEN=your-token-here mcp-server-for-ynab` as its setup step. Run it, then follow the repository's instructions for the client configuration; the listing names Claude Desktop, Claude Code, ChatGPT as compatible clients.

Is Ynab MCP Server free?

The listed licence is MIT. Check the upstream terms for permitted use and commercial requirements; a public repository does not by itself mean the software is free or open source. Connected APIs and hosted services may have separate charges.

What can Ynab MCP Server do?

Ynab MCP Server documents 40 tools to the agent, including approve_transactions, create_account, create_category. The descriptions above come from project documentation. A live handshake does not test individual tool behavior.

Ynab MCP Server

Unclaimed

by oliverames

Local MCP server for YNAB with read-only defaults, full API coverage, safe write controls, and support for budgets, transactions, categories, accounts, and reporting.

Install

$docker run -i --rm -e YNAB_API_TOKEN=your-token-here mcp-server-for-ynab

Set up this server

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This server needs project-specific setup. Follow the project instructions; no reusable public launch command is available yet.

Project instructions

aiai-toolsanthropicapi-clientautomationbudget-trackerbudgetingclaudeexpense-trackerfinancial-planningfintechjavascriptllmmcpmodel-context-protocolmoney-managementnodejspersonal-financeynabyou-need-a-budget

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40 of 40 tools

Documented tools (40)

From project documentation. A server handshake does not verify each tool’s description or behavior.

approve_transactions

Write tool: approve unapproved transactions in bulk by filter (payeeId / categoryId / accountId) without hand-listing IDs. Skips uncategorized transactions by default, requires confirmed: true, and supports expectedMatchedCount.

create_account

Write tool: create a new account (checking, savings, creditCard, mortgage, etc.)

create_category

Write tool: create a new category in an existing group (with optional goal)

create_category_group

Write tool: create a new category group

create_payee

Write tool: create a new payee

create_transaction

Write tool: create a transaction with optional split (subtransactions must sum to total)

create_transactions

Write tool: bulk create multiple transactions in a single API call (supports split transactions)

delete_transaction

Write tool: delete a transaction. Requires confirmed: true.

get_account

Get full account details including notes and debt fields

get_budget

Get budget summary (name, currency, account/category/payee counts). Pass lastKnowledgeOfServer for a delta export of every changed entity plus the next serverknowledge.

get_budget_settings

Get currency and date format settings

get_category

Get full category details including goal progress and cadence

get_money_movement_groups_by_month

Get money movement groups for a specific month

get_money_movements_by_month

Get money movements for a specific month

get_month

Get month detail with per-category budget/activity/balance/goal breakdown

get_month_category

Get category budget for a specific month

get_payee

Get payee details

get_payee_location

Get a specific payee location

get_payee_locations_by_payee

Get all locations for a specific payee

get_transaction

Get a single transaction by ID (includes subtransactions). Auto-handles composite scheduled-transaction IDs like uuidYYYY-MM-DD; if the underlying matched transaction has been deleted, falls back to returning the active scheduled template wrapped as { resourcetype: "scheduledtransaction", ... }.

get_transactions

Get transactions with filters: by account, category, payee, month, status (unapproved/uncategorized), sinceDate, and untilDate

get_user

Get the authenticated user

import_transactions

Write tool: trigger import from linked bank accounts

list_accounts

List all accounts with balances, debt details, and import status

list_budgets

List all budgets with IDs, names, date ranges, format settings, and default budget. Pass includeAccounts: true to include each budget's accounts.

list_categories

List all category groups and their categories with budgeted/activity/balance

list_money_movement_groups

List all money movement groups (batched re-allocations)

list_money_movements

List all money movements (budget re-allocations between categories)

list_months

List budget months with income, budgeted, activity, to-be-budgeted, age of money, and notes

list_payee_locations

List all payee locations (GPS coordinates from mobile app)

list_payees

List all payees with transfer account mappings

reassign_payee_transactions

Write tool: move all transactions from one payee to another, the merge workaround since the YNAB API has no payee delete/merge endpoint. Requires confirmed: true and supports expectedMatchedCount.

search_categories

Case-insensitive partial name search over category names and category-group names (e.g., "groc" finds "Groceries"; "health" finds everything in a "Health & Medical" group). Multi-word queries are tokenized and OR-matched, results are ranked, and each result reports matchedon / matchedterms. Pass inc

search_payees

Case-insensitive partial name search

update_category

Write tool: update name, note, goal target, goal target date, or move to a different group

update_category_group

Write tool: rename a category group

update_month_category

Write tool: set the budgeted amount for a category in a month

update_payee

Write tool: rename a payee

update_transaction

Write tool: partial update - only specified fields change. Can convert a non-split transaction into a split via subtransactions. Composite scheduled-transaction IDs (uuidYYYY-MM-DD) are writable — see below.

update_transactions

Write tool: batch update multiple transactions at once (look up each entry by id or importId), then verify requested fields persisted using a single batch refetch. Returns newlyapprovedcount beside approvedcount. Pass returnSummary: true for compact counts instead of full objects on large batches (a

Tool change history

Compared across complete checks of the same configuration. Tools were listed, not invoked. Input-schema changes are not measured here.

No complete tool checks yet.

FAQ

Questions about Ynab MCP Server

How do I connect Ynab MCP Server to Claude?: The listing records `docker run -i --rm -e YNAB_API_TOKEN=your-token-here mcp-server-for-ynab` as its setup step. Run it, then follow the repository's instructions for the client configuration; the listing names Claude Desktop, Claude Code, ChatGPT as compatible clients.
Is Ynab MCP Server free?: The listed licence is MIT. Check the upstream terms for permitted use and commercial requirements; a public repository does not by itself mean the software is free or open source. Connected APIs and hosted services may have separate charges.
What can Ynab MCP Server do?: Ynab MCP Server documents 40 tools to the agent, including approve_transactions, create_account, create_category. The descriptions above come from project documentation. A live handshake does not test individual tool behavior.