Tools

YNAB MCP provides 8 tool domains that cover every aspect of your YNAB budget. AI assistants like Claude call these tools automatically when you ask budget-related questions -- you never need to remember tool names or parameters.

Available Tools

Tool	Description	Page
Budget Tools	List budgets, get details, check user info	Budget Tools
Account Tools	List, view, and create accounts (on-budget and tracking)	Account Tools
Category Tools	Browse categories, manage groups, set monthly budgets, track goals	Category Tools
Transaction Tools	Create, search, update, delete, batch import, and filter transactions	Transaction Tools
Payee Tools	List payees, rename for consistency, view locations	Payee Tools
Month Tools	View monthly summaries, income, activity, and money movements	Month Tools
Scheduled Transaction Tools	Manage recurring and upcoming transactions	Scheduled Transaction Tools
Cache Tools	Clear cached data when you need fresh results	Cache Tools

How It Works

Each tool uses an action-based dispatch pattern. For example, the Budget Tools accept actions like list, get, and get_user. Claude picks the right action based on what you ask. You just talk naturally:

"Show me my budgets" --> manage_budgets with action list "How much is in my Groceries category?" --> manage_categories with action get "I spent $50 at the grocery store" --> manage_transactions with action create

Budget resolution is automatic: if you have one budget, tools use it without asking. If you have multiple, Claude will match by name or ask which one you mean.

New to MCP?

MCP (Model Context Protocol) is a standard that lets AI assistants call external tools. You never call these tools directly -- instead, you ask Claude something like "Show me my budgets" and Claude decides which tool to use, calls it, and formats the response for you.

Think of it like a waiter at a restaurant: you tell the waiter what you want (natural language), and the waiter communicates with the kitchen (MCP tools) on your behalf. You never need to know the kitchen's internal API.

Learn more: What is MCP?