ynab-pulse-check

YNAB Pulse Check

What this does

Runs a fast, low-ceremony status check on a YNAB budget: Ready to Assign, an overall health score, any overspent categories, and how spending pace compares to target for the month. It's the "how am I doing right now" answer, not a full review.

When to use this skill

• "How am I doing this month?"
• "How's my budget looking?"
• "Quick check on my finances"
• "Am I on track?"
• "Give me a status update"
• Any fast gut-check that doesn't need a full breakdown

Should NOT trigger on: "let's do my monthly review" (use ynab-monthly-review), "where am I overspending" (use ynab-overspending-triage), or "how's my cash flow" (use ynab-age-of-money).

Workflow

Step 1: Get the overview

Call MCP tool: ynab_quick_summary Parameters: none

Step 2: Get the health score

Call MCP tool: ynab_budget_health Parameters: none

Step 3: Check for overspending

Call MCP tool: ynab_overspending_alerts Parameters: none

Step 4: Check spending pace

Call MCP tool: ynab_spending_pace Parameters: none

Output format

YNAB Pulse Check — [date]
Ready to Assign: $X | Health Score: NN/100
Overspent categories: [list, or "none"]
Pace: spending $X/day vs $Y/day target → projected month-end: $Z
Top action item: [one sentence, or "nothing urgent"]

Troubleshooting

MCP connection failed — if tool calls fail with a connection error, check that the ynab-mcp server is connected (Settings > Connectors, or Claude Desktop's MCP server list should show it as "Connected").

Unauthorized / token expired — if calls return a 401 or an authorization error, the YNAB connection needs to be re-authorized. Walk the user through reconnecting rather than retrying the same call repeatedly.

Rate limit exceeded — YNAB API calls are capped; if a rate-limit error appears, wait before retrying rather than looping the same call.

When the skill is NOT the right tool

• A full end-of-month review with goals, net worth, and next month's targets — use ynab-monthly-review.
• Actually fixing overspending (moving money between categories) — use ynab-overspending-triage.
• Checking the cash cushion or credit card float specifically — use ynab-age-of-money.