Developer Tools

YNAB MCP Server

Use Studio chat to drive this server — credentials stay in your workspace.

You Need A Budget (YNAB) offers a flexible budgeting platform designed to help individuals manage their personal finances by tracking expenses, setting financial goals, and promoting effective budgeting habits. Use it to gain control over spending, reduce financial stress, and achieve savings objectives.

6 tools
Agent guide included
API Key or One-click sign in
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AI Skill
SKILL.md

Domain knowledge for YNAB — workflow patterns, data models, and gotchas for your AI agent.

YNAB

YNAB organizes budgets by Budget. Budgets contain Accounts (bank accounts), Category Groups, Categories (envelope buckets), and Payees. Transactions link accounts to categories.

Data Model

  • Budgets — top-level; all data is budget-scoped.
  • Accounts — bank/credit accounts; have balance.
  • Category Groups — category groupings (e.g., "Monthly Bills").
  • Categories — budget envelopes; have budgeted and activity.
  • Payees — transaction payees.
  • Transactions — individual transactions.

Gotchas

  • budget_id required: Every call is budget-scoped—pick the budget uuid from the account’s budget roster first.
  • Category hierarchy: Categories belong to category groups. Use category_id from categories within groups.

Tools in this Server (6)

Fetch Accounts

Fetch details of all accounts within a specified budget. Use it when you need an overview of your account balances and types for better financial mana...

Fetch Categories

Retrieve all categories within a specified budget. Use it to gain insights into your spending areas and to refine your budgeting strategy. Returns det...

Fetch Category Groups

Fetch category groups within a specific budget to understand the structure and organization of your expenses. Use this when assessing grouped spending...

Fetch Payees

Retrieve a list of payees for a specified budget. This is useful when analyzing transaction details to understand where your money is going. Returns i...

Fetch Transactions

Fetch transactions for a specified budget to review financial activity and track spending. Ideal for monitoring expenses, ensuring they align with you...

List Budgets

Retrieve a list of all budgets associated with your YNAB account. Use this when you need to see all the budgets you’ve created, enabling streamlined b...

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the YNAB MCP server?

You Need A Budget (YNAB) offers a flexible budgeting platform designed to help individuals manage their personal finances by tracking expenses, setting financial goals, and promoting effective budgeting habits. Use it to gain control over spending, reduce financial stress, and achieve savings objectives. It provides 6 tools that AI agents can use through the Model Context Protocol (MCP).

How do I connect YNAB to my AI agent?

Add the MCPBundles server URL to your MCP client configuration (Claude Desktop, Cursor, VS Code, etc.). The URL format is: https://mcp.mcpbundles.com/bundle/you-need-a-budget-ynab. Authentication is handled automatically.

How many tools does YNAB provide?

YNAB provides 6 tools that can be called by AI agents, along with a SKILL.md that gives your AI agent domain knowledge about when and how to use them.

What authentication does YNAB require?

YNAB uses API Key or One-click sign in. YNAB requires credentials. Connect via MCPBundles and authentication is handled automatically.

Setup Instructions

Connect YNAB to any MCP client in minutes

https://mcp.mcpbundles.com/bundle/you-need-a-budget-ynab

What is MCP?

Model Context Protocol lets AI tools call external capabilities securely through a single URL. This bundle groups tools behind an MCP endpoint that many clients can use.

Use this bundle in 3 steps

  1. Copy the MCP URL above
  2. Open your AI tool and add a new MCP/connector
  3. Paste the URL and follow any auth prompts

Claude Desktop Users

Skip the manual setup! Use the .mcpb file format for one-click installation. Check the Claude Desktop tab for setup instructions.

Pick your tool tab for exact steps

Select ChatGPT, Cursor, Claude Code, or another tab for copy-paste config.

Ready to chat with YNAB?

Same flow: Studio opens on this server after sign-in. Keep chatting to call tools from the conversation.

YNAB MCP Server & Skill — 6 Tools