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The only category write surface exposed to MCP agents. Category writes are TSV-based, round-tripped with export_categories — the UI and REST API support finer-grained edits, but MCP intentionally keeps the surface narrow. This tool is Write scope and requires session_id + reason.

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import_categories

Import category definitions from TSV text. Existing slugs are updated (display_name, icon, color, sort_order, hidden). New slugs are created. Missing slugs are not deleted. Parents must appear before children in the input. The typical workflow is round-trip: call export_categories to get the current state, edit the TSV, then call import_categories with the edited content.
Merging categories. Set the merge_into column on a source row to a target slug to merge the source into the target. All transactions and rule mappings from the source are reassigned to the target, then the source is deleted. Useful for simplifying a complex taxonomy without losing transaction categorization.

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Parameters

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content
string
required
TSV content. Columns: slug, display_name, parent_slug, icon, color, sort_order, hidden, merge_into.
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session_id
string
required
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reason
string
required

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Example input

Author the TSV first — the table below shows what each row looks like before encoding (tabs are real tab characters): 
slug	display_name	parent_slug	icon	color	sort_order	hidden	merge_into
food_and_drink	Food and Drink		utensils	#C8482E	10	false	
food_and_drink_groceries	Groceries	food_and_drink	shopping-basket	#C8482E	0	false	
food_and_drink_bulk_buys							food_and_drink_groceries
Then encode the TSV into the content field on the tool call. Tab characters become \t and newlines become \n: 
{
  "session_id": "s9Xm2pQk",
  "reason": "consolidating groceries and bulk_buys into one category",
  "content": "slug\tdisplay_name\tparent_slug\ticon\tcolor\tsort_order\thidden\tmerge_into\nfood_and_drink\tFood and Drink\t\tutensils\t#C8482E\t10\tfalse\t\nfood_and_drink_groceries\tGroceries\tfood_and_drink\tshopping-basket\t#C8482E\t0\tfalse\t\nfood_and_drink_bulk_buys\t\t\t\t\t\t\tfood_and_drink_groceries\n"
}

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Example output

{
  "created": 0,
  "updated": 2,
  "merged": 1,
  "total_rows": 3,
  "merged_transactions": 18
}

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TSV format reminder

  • Tab-separated. Quotes are not required.
  • Empty cells for optional fields are allowed — the server keeps the current value.
  • sort_order is an integer. hidden is true / false.
  • When merge_into is set on a row, all other fields on that row are ignored — only the source slug and the target slug matter.
Last modified on May 27, 2026