ynab-mcp

A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that connects Claude to your YNAB budget. Ask Claude questions about your finances, log transactions, adjust your budget, and more — all in natural language.

Each user runs their own instance with their own YNAB token. Your financial data never leaves your machine.

What you can do

• Check balances — "What's my checking account balance?"
• Review your budget — "How much do I have left in Groceries this month?"
• See spending — "What did I spend on restaurants in March?"
• Log transactions — "Add a $45 lunch at Chipotle to my Dining Out category"
• Approve imports — "Show me my unapproved transactions and approve them all"
• Manage recurring bills — "What bills are coming up this month?"
• Adjust budget amounts — "Move $100 more into my Car Maintenance envelope"

Prerequisites

• Node.js 18 or later
• A YNAB account
• A YNAB Personal Access Token (free, see below)

Getting a YNAB Token

1. Log in to YNAB
2. Go to Account Settings → Developer Settings
3. Click New Token, give it a name, and copy the token

Installation

Option A: npx (no install required)

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "ynab": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "ynab-mcp"],
      "env": {
        "YNAB_TOKEN": "your-token-here"
      }
    }
  }
}

Option B: Global install

npm install -g ynab-mcp

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "ynab": {
      "command": "ynab-mcp",
      "env": {
        "YNAB_TOKEN": "your-token-here"
      }
    }
  }
}

Claude Code setup

Run this command to add the MCP server:

claude mcp add ynab -e YNAB_TOKEN=your-token-here -- npx -y ynab-mcp

Or add it manually via Claude Code → Settings → MCP Servers.

Then restart Claude Code and ask something like: "What's my budget status this month?"

Optional: set a default budget

If you have multiple YNAB budgets, you can pin one so you don't need to specify it every time. Add YNAB_BUDGET_ID alongside your token:

claude mcp add ynab -e YNAB_TOKEN=your-token-here -e YNAB_BUDGET_ID=your-budget-id -- npx -y ynab-mcp

Run list_budgets in Claude to find your budget ID.

Available tools

| Tool | Description | |------|-------------| | list_budgets | List all your YNAB budgets | | list_accounts | List accounts with current balances | | list_categories | List all budget categories with assigned/spent/available amounts | | get_category_for_month | Get a category's amounts for a specific month | | update_category_budget | Change how much is assigned to a category | | get_budget_month | Monthly summary: income, spending, Ready to Assign, Age of Money | | list_budget_months | All months with summary totals | | list_transactions | List transactions, filterable by account/category/payee/date/status | | create_transaction | Log a new transaction | | update_transaction | Edit an existing transaction | | approve_transactions | Bulk-approve multiple transactions | | list_scheduled_transactions | List upcoming recurring transactions | | create_scheduled_transaction | Set up a new recurring transaction | | list_payees | List all payees |

Rate limits

YNAB allows 200 API requests per hour per token. Normal conversational use stays well within this limit.

License

MIT