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You Need an Advisor MCP

Your AI-powered YNAB budgeting advisor

You Need an Advisor MCP is more than an API wrapper. It connects AI assistants like Claude to your YNAB budget with embedded knowledge of YNAB's budgeting methodology -- so you get advice grounded in both your real data and proven budgeting principles.

uvx --from you-need-an-advisor-mcp ynaa-mcp

What makes this different

Most YNAB integrations give you raw data. You Need an Advisor MCP gives you a budgeting advisor that understands the Four Rules, knows how to handle overspending, and can walk you through a debt payoff plan -- all while pulling live numbers from your budget.

Features

  • Natural Language Budgeting

Ask about your budget in plain English. "How much did I spend on dining out last month?" Just ask -- the server handles the API calls.

  • YNAB Methodology Built-In

Embedded knowledge of YNAB's Four Rules, overspending strategies, credit card management, reconciliation, and Age of Money. Advice that follows the method.

  • Complete API Coverage

Every YNAB endpoint accessible: budgets, accounts, categories, transactions, payees, months, and scheduled transactions. 8 tool domains, 30+ actions.

  • Analysis & Insights

Budget health checks, spending trend analysis, savings tracking, income vs. expense breakdowns, and category deep dives. 6 analysis prompts ready to use.

  • Workflow Guides

Step-by-step guided processes for debt payoff planning, new budget setup, financial reviews, and more. 6 workflow guides built in.

  • Secure & Private

Your Personal Access Token stays on your machine. No data is stored, forwarded, or logged by the server. All communication stays between your client and YNAB's API.

Quick start

1. Get a YNAB Personal Access Token from YNAB Developer Settings

2. Add to Claude Desktop (claude_desktop_config.json):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "ynab": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["--from", "you-need-an-advisor-mcp", "ynaa-mcp"],
      "env": {
        "YNAB_PAT": "your-token-here"
      }
    }
  }
}

3. Ask a question:

"How much did I spend on groceries this month?"

That's it. The server handles authentication, rate limiting, budget resolution, and data formatting.

Learn more