Connect an AI assistant

Before you start

You need a SavingStat account you can sign in to, and an assistant that supports connecting to outside services. The address you will paste is always the same one:

https://api.savingstat.com/mcp

The wording of the menus below moves around between versions. Look for the section about connectors, integrations or outside tools, and for the option to add one of your own by address.

Every assistant asks you to sign in to SavingStat and approve access once. Choose reading only if you want to ask questions without letting the assistant change anything, and read AI assistants before you approve changes.

Claude

Open Claude's settings and find connectors. Choose to add a custom connector and paste the address above.

Claude opens a SavingStat page in your browser. Sign in if you are not already, check what is being asked for, and approve it. Claude shows the connector as connected when it is done.

Custom connectors work on every Claude plan, including the free one, though a free account can hold only one at a time. On Team and Enterprise an owner adds the connector for the organisation first, and everyone else then connects their own account to it. Claude's own instructions are at Get started with custom connectors.

Ask it something to check: "what is my current balance?" should come back with a real figure.

ChatGPT

Read this part before you start. ChatGPT keeps custom connectors behind developer mode, which is a paid-plan feature, so a free account cannot add one. And on individual Plus and Pro accounts a custom connector can only read: SavingStat will answer your questions there but will never record anything, whatever you approved on the consent screen. Recording needs a Business, Enterprise or Edu workspace. If you want an assistant that keeps your records rather than only reading them, Claude is the simpler route.

If you have a plan that supports it, turn developer mode on in settings, under the connector or workspace permissions. Then add a connector by address and paste the address above.

Approve access on the SavingStat page that opens, then ask "how much did I spend this month?" to confirm it is working.

OpenAI changes this often, so check Developer mode and MCP apps in ChatGPT if what you see does not match.

Gemini

Gemini connects to outside services through the Gemini CLI rather than through the Gemini website. Install the CLI, then add SavingStat to its settings file at ~/.gemini/settings.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "savingstat": {
      "httpUrl": "https://api.savingstat.com/mcp"
    }
  }
}

Start the CLI again. It works out on its own that SavingStat needs you to sign in, and opens the page for you to approve access. If it does not, run /mcp auth and pick savingstat, which starts the same thing by hand.

The CLI's own reference is at MCP servers with the Gemini CLI.

If you use the Gemini website rather than the CLI, there is no way to add SavingStat to it at the moment.

LM Studio

LM Studio runs a model on your own computer and can still connect to SavingStat over the internet.

Open its integrations settings and edit mcp.json, then add SavingStat alongside anything already there:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "savingstat": {
      "url": "https://api.savingstat.com/mcp"
    }
  }
}

Save the file. LM Studio opens a SavingStat page to sign in and approve access. Its own notes are at Model Context Protocol in LM Studio.

Two things are worth knowing here. Use a model that supports tools, or SavingStat will be connected but never called. And leave LM Studio's own confirmation prompt switched on, because a model running on your computer is less predictable about pausing for you than a hosted assistant is.

Checking it worked

Ask the assistant what your current balance is, and compare the answer with the figure on your dashboard. They should match.

If they do, ask it something only your own records could answer, such as what you spent on groceries last month. A connected assistant reads your real transactions rather than guessing.

When it does not work

The assistant says it has no SavingStat tools. The connection did not finish. Approving access is the step easiest to miss: watch for the SavingStat page opening in your browser, and sign in if it asks. Remove the connection and add it again.

It keeps asking you to authenticate, and no approval page ever appears. It is holding on to an old connection that no longer exists on our side, which is what happens if you disconnected it from your settings. Remove it from the assistant and add it again, so it starts a fresh connection rather than retrying the old one.

It answers questions but says it cannot change anything. You approved reading only. That is a reasonable setting to stay on. If you want it recording things for you, disconnect and connect again, approving changes this time.

Its answers are missing recent spending. Transactions from an import stay as drafts until they are reviewed, and drafts are left out of totals on purpose. Publish the ones that are right, and ask again.

A figure looks wrong. Ask which transactions it used. It can list them, and comparing that list against the same period on your dashboard usually shows whether the gap is a draft, a different date range, or a different currency.

Nothing appears in Gemini. The Gemini website cannot add a connection of its own; it has to be the Gemini CLI. See the Gemini section above.

You want it to stop. Disconnect it in your settings. That works even if you no longer have access to the assistant itself.