ynab-assign-money

name	ynab-assign-money
description	Helps give every dollar a job — assigns unallocated Ready to Assign money to categories, funds underfunded goals, and sets up new categories or category groups. Use when the user says "I have money to assign", "help me budget this month", "what should I fund", "help me set up a new category", "organize my budget categories", or "assign my leftover funds".
license	MIT
compatibility	Requires the ynab-mcp MCP server to be connected.
metadata	{"author":"auzroz","version":"1.0.0","mcp-server":"ynab-mcp"}

YNAB Assign Money

What this does

Implements YNAB's first rule — Give Every Dollar a Job — by helping decide where unassigned Ready to Assign money should go this month: underfunded goals first, then unfunded or negative categories, then general allocation guided by spending history.

When to use this skill

• "I have money to assign"
• "Help me budget this month"
• "What should I fund?"
• "Help me set up a new category"
• "Organize my budget categories"
• "Assign my leftover funds"

Should NOT trigger on: fixing an already-overspent category (use ynab-overspending-triage), or structuring a brand-new budget from scratch (that's a bigger first-time-setup conversation — see the ynab-first-budget-setup skill if the MCP isn't yet connected or the budget has no history).

Workflow

Step 1: Check Ready to Assign

Call MCP tool: ynab_quick_summary Parameters: none

Step 2: Find unfunded categories

Call MCP tool: ynab_category_balances Parameters: filter: "unfunded"

Step 3: Find underfunded goals

Call MCP tool: ynab_goal_progress Parameters: filter: "underfunded"

Step 4: Get funding suggestions from history

Call MCP tool: ynab_budget_suggestions Parameters: none

Step 5 (if needed): Create or update categories

Call MCP tool: ynab_create_category_group / ynab_create_category / ynab_update_category Parameters: as needed — propose first, confirm, then apply

Output format

Ready to Assign: $X to give a job
Priority funding order:
1. [underfunded goal categories, amount needed]
2. [unfunded/negative categories]
3. [suggested amounts from history]
Proposed allocation: [category: $amount, ...] — confirm to apply?

Troubleshooting

MCP connection failed — confirm the ynab-mcp server is connected.

Unauthorized / token expired — walk the user through reconnecting YNAB rather than retrying.

Ready to Assign is negative — do not proceed with allocation; report the shortfall and suggest ynab-overspending-triage instead.

When the skill is NOT the right tool

• Ready to Assign is negative, or a category is already overspent — use ynab-overspending-triage first.
• Planning for a known irregular/annual cost — use ynab-true-expenses, which computes the correct monthly contribution math.