Overview
What is YNAB MCP?
YNAB MCP is a Model Context Protocol server for interacting with YNAB (You Need A Budget). It provides tools for accessing budget data through MCP-enabled clients like Claude Desktop.
How to use YNAB MCP?
Add a configuration entry to your MCP client’s settings (e.g., cline_mcp_settings.json) using the command uvx with arguments ["run", "ynab-mcp"] and the environment variable YNAB_API_KEY. For advanced setups, you can run from a specific directory using uv. Debugging is supported via the MCP Inspector.
Key features of YNAB MCP
- Retrieve authenticated user information (GetUser).
- List all accessible budgets with IDs and names (ListBudgets).
- Get detailed budget info, including transactions and balances (GetBudget).
- Fetch all categories defined in a budget (GetBudgetCategories).
- Retrieve budget settings like currency and date formats (GetBudgetSettings).
Use cases of YNAB MCP
- Automate budget data retrieval for personal finance analysis.
- Integrate YNAB data into AI-powered assistants for spending insights.
- Quickly look up category balances and transaction history.
- Validate budget configurations across multiple budgets.
- Build custom budgeting workflows without manual YNAB API calls.
FAQ from YNAB MCP
What configuration is required to use YNAB MCP?
You need a valid YNAB API key set as the YNAB_API_KEY environment variable, and the server is launched via uvx run ynab-mcp in your MCP client configuration.
How are monetary amounts returned?
All monetary amounts are returned in milliunits (e.g., 1000 = $1.00). Divide by 1000 to convert to standard currency units.
What data does the GetBudget tool return?
It returns detailed information about a specific budget, including transactions, categories, and balances. It also supports optional date filtering and transaction limiting.
How can I debug YNAB MCP?
Use the MCP Inspector by installing it via npm and updating your configuration to run the inspector alongside the server. It provides real-time logs, request/response inspection, tool schema validation, and an interactive testing interface.
Is there a limit on the number of transactions returned?
The GetBudget tool supports an optional transaction limit parameter, but the README does not specify a default or maximum limit.
