YNAB MCP server

This MCP server implementation provides access to YNAB (You Need A Budget) functionality through the Model Context Protocol, allowing you to view account balances, manage transactions, and access your YNAB data through standardized resources.

Installation

Install the server with the following command:

uv pip install -e .

Configuration

Before using the server, you'll need a YNAB API key which can be obtained from your YNAB Developer Settings.

You can provide the API key through any of these methods:

• Environment variable: YNAB_API_KEY=your_api_key
• MCP secret management system
• .env file in the project root

Running the Server

Start the server using one of these commands:

# Development mode with hot reload and browser launch
task dev

# Production install for Claude Desktop, Goose, or any other MCP-supported environment
task install

Available Resources

The MCP server exposes these resources:

• ynab://accounts - Lists all your YNAB accounts
• ynab://transactions/{account_id} - Returns recent transactions for a specific account

Available Tools

The server provides these useful tools:

• create_transaction - Creates a new transaction in your YNAB account
• get_account_balance - Retrieves the current balance of a specific account

Usage Examples

Creating a New Transaction

result = await create_transaction(
    account_id="your_account_id",
    amount=42.50,  # in dollars
    payee_name="Coffee Shop",
    category_name="Dining Out",
    memo="Morning coffee"
)

Getting an Account Balance

balance = await get_account_balance("your_account_id")

Listing All Accounts

accounts = await ctx.read_resource("ynab://accounts")

Retrieving Recent Transactions

transactions = await ctx.read_resource(f"ynab://transactions/{account_id}")

How to add this MCP server to Cursor

There are two ways to add an MCP server to Cursor. The most common way is to add the server globally in the ~/.cursor/mcp.json file so that it is available in all of your projects.

If you only need the server in a single project, you can add it to the project instead by creating or adding it to the .cursor/mcp.json file.

Adding an MCP server to Cursor globally

To add a global MCP server go to Cursor Settings > MCP and click "Add new global MCP server".

When you click that button the ~/.cursor/mcp.json file will be opened and you can add your server like this:

{
    "mcpServers": {
        "cursor-rules-mcp": {
            "command": "npx",
            "args": [
                "-y",
                "cursor-rules-mcp"
            ]
        }
    }
}

Adding an MCP server to a project

To add an MCP server to a project you can create a new .cursor/mcp.json file or add it to the existing one. This will look exactly the same as the global MCP server example above.

How to use the MCP server

Once the server is installed, you might need to head back to Settings > MCP and click the refresh button.

The Cursor agent will then be able to see the available tools the added MCP server has available and will call them when it needs to.

You can also explictly ask the agent to use the tool by mentioning the tool name and describing what the function does.