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Ask better questions about your budget. Keep the controls.

EnvelopeBudget's remote Model Context Protocol server lets compatible AI assistants review the budgets you authorize and summarize bounded date ranges. OAuth connections start read-only. Sign in through your browser, choose the budgets to share, and approve only the categorization permissions a trusted client needs. Existing API keys still work.

Set up EnvelopeBudget MCP See how it works

Requires an EnvelopeBudget account and a compatible Streamable HTTP client. Use browser OAuth with discovery and dynamic client registration, or an existing developer API key.

An EnvelopeBudget envelope connected to an AI conversation through a read-only shield

A safer starting point for financial AI

Useful context, deliberately limited access

MCP gives your assistant structured tools instead of making you export a spreadsheet and explain every column. EnvelopeBudget defaults to read-only access and makes selected budgets and optional categorization permissions explicit at browser consent.

1

Add the MCP server

Add https://envelopebudget.com/mcp as a Streamable HTTP server in a client that supports OAuth discovery and dynamic client registration.

2

Sign in and choose access

Sign in on EnvelopeBudget in your browser. Select the budgets to share and review the requested permissions. Write permissions are unchecked by default.

3

Review—or resolve suggestions

Ask for a spending summary or funding plan. An explicitly authorized connection may resolve selected suggestions or assign recently observed inbox transactions with stale-state protection.

What your assistant can review

The budget context behind the question

  • Authorized budgets, accounts, envelopes, balances, and targets
  • Bounded transaction searches, including inbox and uncategorized items
  • Spending and cashflow summaries for bounded date ranges
  • Existing AI categorization disclosure, jobs, and suggestions
  • Agent-native inbox categorization without a second AI-provider call

The write boundary

Categorization, not general control

  • Create, edit, merge, archive, or delete transactions
  • Move funds, change envelope targets, or modify accounts
  • Record AI disclosure consent or rewrite transaction amounts, dates, payees, memos, or accounts

OAuth does not expand the write boundary. Budget membership, role, selected-budget grants, and tool permissions are enforced by the server.

Client setup

Browser OAuth or an existing API key

OAuth 2.1 browser authorization supports public dynamic client registration (RFC 7591), authorization-server discovery (RFC 8414), protected-resource discovery (RFC 9728), and mandatory S256 PKCE. Existing static API-key configurations remain supported. Client support varies; the documentation links below are not a claim that each client has been verified with this OAuth flow.

Cursor

Remote server headers with environment interpolation.

Client docs ↗

VS Code

HTTP servers with password-style input prompts.

Client docs ↗

Claude Desktop

A local bridge for versions that cannot attach a static remote credential.

Bridge docs ↗

Hermes Agent

Remote HTTP MCP configuration in config.yaml.

Client docs ↗
Open the complete setup guide Read the OAuth announcement Manage developer API keys Public docs and issues (opens in a new tab)

Privacy and connection safety

MCP gives your chosen client and AI provider access to sensitive financial data returned by the tools it calls. Review that provider's data policies before connecting.

  • Select only the budgets and permissions this client needs. Client names shown at consent are unverified.
  • OAuth access tokens last 15 minutes. Rotating refresh credentials expire 30 days after consent; detected refresh-token reuse revokes the connection.
  • Never paste a key into a prompt, issue, screenshot, or source-controlled file.
  • Memo text is omitted unless explicitly requested.
  • Membership and role still limit which budgets can be read.
  • Revoke OAuth access from MCP connections. Changing selected budgets requires consent again. For API-key clients, rotate or delete the key.

A few useful first prompts

“List my budgets, then summarize this month's available funds, spending, and cashflow for Household.”
“Show uncategorized transactions in Household from the last 14 days. Do not include memo text.”
“Review the last 90 days of cashflow and suggest a monthly funding plan. Do not change anything.”
“Review my pending categorization suggestions. Approve only the grocery and utility suggestions I name, and leave everything else unchanged.”
“Review these uncategorized inbox transactions, assign the five I confirm to the envelopes we discussed, and leave the rest unchanged.”