http://localhost:8080 for a local eval). If you haven’t installed yet, start with Install Breadbox.
By the end of this guide you’ll have completed the first-run setup wizard, linked a bank account, watched the initial sync complete, and attached an AI agent over .
Step 1: Open the setup wizard
Open your Breadbox URL in a browser. On first launch Breadbox redirects you to the setup wizard automatically — the wizard runs once and collects everything needed before you can link a bank.Step 2: Complete the wizard
The wizard has five sub-steps. Work through them in order:Create your admin account
Enter a username and password. This is the account you’ll use to log in to the dashboard and manage connections.
Configure a bank provider
You can do this later from the dashboard, but setting it up now lets you link a bank immediately.
- Teller (recommended starter): enter your App ID from the Teller console and the path to your client certificate and private key. Teller’s Development tier is free and works with real bank data — no production approval process, which makes it the fastest way to verify the setup end-to-end.
- Plaid: paste your Client ID and Secret from the Plaid dashboard. Use the Sandbox environment for simulated data or Production once you’re approved.
Set the sync interval
Pick how often Breadbox polls your banks for new transactions. The default is 12 hours. You can change it at any time from the admin dashboard.
Set your webhook URL
Enter the public URL of your Breadbox instance (e.g.,
https://your-breadbox.example.com). Plaid and Teller deliver real-time webhooks to https://<your-host>/webhooks/<provider> so transactions show up in seconds instead of on the polling interval.You can leave this blank temporarily if your public URL isn’t set up yet — polling-only sync works without it. Come back and fill it in once remote hosting is live.Step 3: Link your first bank
From the dashboard, go to Connections → Add connection. Pick the family member this account belongs to, choose your provider, and complete the Plaid Link or Teller Connect flow in the browser popup. Your bank credentials go directly to Plaid or Teller — Breadbox never sees them. Once you finish the popup, Breadbox stores the encrypted access token and queues an initial sync. If your household has multiple family members, add them from Settings → Users (or via the Users API) before linking additional banks so each connection can be attributed to the right person.Step 4: Wait for the initial sync
The first sync pulls up to two years of transaction history. Most connections finish in under a minute; accounts with long histories take longer. Watch the Connections page — the status transitions fromin_progress to success when the sync completes.
If you see an error status instead, open the connection to view the provider error message and retry.
Step 5: Connect your first AI agent
This is where Breadbox earns its keep. Point your AI app at Breadbox’s/mcp endpoint and it can query accounts, search transactions, categorize, tag, and summarize spending — all against your live data, without ever touching your bank credentials.
Generate an API key
In the dashboard, go to Settings → API Keys and click Create API Key. Start with a read-only scope for your first agent — it limits blast radius while you verify the integration works. You can issue a full-access key later for agents that need to categorize or trigger syncs.Copy the key immediately — Breadbox only shows it once.
Configure your agent
Pick your client from the MCP setup guide — Claude (Desktop / web / mobile), Claude Code, ChatGPT, Codex, Openclaw, Manus, and any other MCP-compatible client are covered there. Paste your Breadbox URL and API key into the config.
Step 6 (optional): Query the REST API
If you prefer to script against Breadbox from your own tools, the REST API mirrors the MCP surface. A minimal sanity-check query:What’s next?
MCP setup
Detailed walk-throughs per AI client, including Claude, ChatGPT, Openclaw, and Codex.
Guides
End-to-end agent workflows: weekly reviews, subscription tracking, Gmail cross-referencing.
Transaction rules
Auto-categorize transactions with flexible AND/OR/NOT rule conditions.
Bank connections
Add more banks, manage existing connections, or import CSV files.