A clearer look at the EnvelopeBudget API
The EnvelopeBudget API docs now use a branded Scalar theme. Search, try requests, and copy code samples without wading through a wall of collapsed endpoints.
The EnvelopeBudget API is the same one the web app, mobile app, and Chrome extension already use. If you want to script a report, hook EnvelopeBudget into another tool, or let an agent work against your budget with your permission, that surface is the public API docs.
Those docs used to be default Swagger UI. It worked. It also looked like every other OpenAPI page on the internet: a long accordion of endpoints, a light-gray wall of paths, and a lot of clicking before you could tell what anything did.
The docs now use Scalar, themed to match EnvelopeBudget. Same OpenAPI spec. Same endpoints. A much easier place to actually read them.
What changed
Open envelopebudget.com/api/docs and you get a three-pane reference instead of one long list.
The left sidebar is a searchable table of contents. Groups such as Transactions, Accounts, Budgets, Envelopes, Allocation, Reports, Undo, and AI Categorization stay collapsed until you need them. Press Control-K (or Command-K on a Mac) to jump to an operation without scrolling.
The middle pane is the operation itself: path parameters, request body, and the schema for what you send and get back.
The right pane is the part Swagger usually hid behind another click. Pick an auth type, choose a language, and copy a ready-made request. Shell, Python, Node.js, Ruby, PHP, and more are built in. There is also an Open API Client button if you want to send a request from the page instead of pasting a snippet into a terminal.
You can still download the OpenAPI document from the docs page if you prefer to generate a client or feed the spec to another tool.
Why Scalar instead of Swagger
Swagger UI is the default for a reason. Django Ninja can serve it with almost no extra work, and every API developer has seen it. That familiarity is also the problem. After the fifth expanded group, the page stops being a reference and starts being a list you have to hunt through.
Scalar keeps the OpenAPI contract and changes the reading experience:
- Search first, accordion second
- Request examples next to the operation, not buried under it
- Light and dark themes that follow EnvelopeBudget colors instead of stock Swagger green
- A built-in client when you want to try a call without leaving the page
The theme uses EnvelopeBudget blue (#0370bb in light mode, a brighter #0e9fea in dark mode), the site favicon, and the same gray surfaces as the rest of the app. The page title is EnvelopeBudget API Reference. It should feel like part of the product, not a leftover admin screen.
How to use the API from here
- Open the API reference.
- Create an API key from the Authentication section (
POST /api/auth/api-key) or use a bearer token from a logged-in session. - Select Bearer or API key in the auth card at the top of the docs.
- Find the operation you need. Most budget work lives under a
{budget_id}path. - Copy the snippet in the language you actually write, or send the request from the API client.
Authentication is required for almost every useful call. The docs will not invent a token for you. Put your own key in the auth card before you hit send, and treat that key like a password.
The spec is OpenAPI 3.1. If you already generate clients from OpenAPI, nothing about that workflow changes. Only the human-facing page did.
What this is for
The API is there for people who want EnvelopeBudget to talk to the rest of their setup. Import helpers, custom reports, household automations, and AI tools that should read a budget instead of a CSV export all start in the same place.
If you have been putting off an integration because the old docs were a chore, start at /api/docs. Search for the resource you care about, copy one request, and see if the response is what you expected.
If you are new to EnvelopeBudget and just wanted a quieter budget, you can ignore this post entirely. The envelopes still work without a single API call. Start a free trial when you are ready.