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cli-anything-firefly-iii

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Firefly III CLI - Personal finance management via CLI-Anything

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Firefly III CLI

Firefly III command-line interface based on CLI-Anything specification. Converts MCP mode to stateless CLI mode to avoid Node residual process issues.

Installation

pip install cli-anything-firefly-iii

Prerequisites

  • Python 3.10+
  • Running Firefly III instance
  • Personal Access Token (PAT)

Configuration

Environment Variables (Recommended)

export FIREFLY_III_BASE_URL="https://firefly.yourdomain.com"
export FIREFLY_III_PAT="your-personal-access-token"

Command Line Arguments

cli-anything-firefly-iii --base-url https://firefly.yourdomain.com --pat your-token

Command Groups

Command GroupDescriptionCorresponding API
accountsAccount management/api/v1/accounts
transactionsTransaction management/api/v1/transactions
budgetsBudget management/api/v1/budgets
categoriesCategory management/api/v1/categories
tagsTag management/api/v1/tags
billsBill management/api/v1/bills
piggy-banksPiggy banks/api/v1/piggy-banks
insightsInsights and reports/api/v1/insight/*
searchSearch/api/v1/search/*
exportData export/api/v1/data/export/*
infoSystem information/api/v1/about

Usage Examples

Account Management

# List all accounts
cli-anything-firefly-iii --json accounts list

# List asset accounts
cli-anything-firefly-iii --json accounts list --type asset

# Get account details
cli-anything-firefly-iii --json accounts get --id 123

# Create account
cli-anything-firefly-iii --json accounts create --name "Cash" --type asset --currency-code USD

# Delete account
cli-anything-firefly-iii accounts delete --id 123

Transaction Management

# List transactions
cli-anything-firefly-iii --json transactions list --limit 10

# Create transaction
cli-anything-firefly-iii --json transactions create \
  --description "Grocery" \
  --amount 50.00 \
  --source-account 1 \
  --category "Food"

# Get transaction details
cli-anything-firefly-iii --json transactions get --id 456

# Delete transaction
cli-anything-firefly-iii transactions delete --id 456

Insights and Reports

# Expense report (by category)
cli-anything-firefly-iii --json insights expense \
  --start 2024-01-01 \
  --end 2024-01-31 \
  --group-by category

# Income report
cli-anything-firefly-iii --json insights income \
  --start 2024-01-01 \
  --end 2024-01-31

# Account overview
cli-anything-firefly-iii --json insights overview \
  --start 2024-01-01 \
  --end 2024-01-31

Search

# Search transactions
cli-anything-firefly-iii --json search transactions --query "grocery"

Data Export

# Export transactions
cli-anything-firefly-iii --json export transactions \
  --start 2024-01-01 \
  --end 2024-01-31

# Export accounts
cli-anything-firefly-iii --json export accounts

System Information

# System information
cli-anything-firefly-iii --json info about

# Connection status
cli-anything-firefly-iii info status

Preset Filtering

Use --preset parameter to filter available commands:

# Default preset
cli-anything-firefly-iii --preset default accounts list

# Full preset
cli-anything-firefly-iii --preset full accounts list

# Budget preset
cli-anything-firefly-iii --preset budget budgets list

# Reporting preset
cli-anything-firefly-iii --preset reporting insights expense --start 2024-01-01 --end 2024-01-31

Available presets:

  • default: Core features (accounts, transactions, categories, tags, bills, search)
  • full: All features
  • basic: Basic features (accounts, transactions, categories, tags, search)
  • budget: Budget-related (accounts, budgets, transactions, summary, insight)
  • reporting: Reporting-related (accounts, transactions, categories, insight, summary, search)
  • admin: Admin features (about, configuration, currencies, users, preferences)
  • automation: Automation (rules, recurrences, webhooks, transactions)

Agent Guidelines

Basic Usage

  1. Use --json for structured output: All commands support --json flag, returning JSON format data
  2. Call info status first to check connection: Confirm Firefly III connection is normal before executing operations
  3. Use presets to reduce command count: Filter unnecessary commands via --preset

Common Workflows

View Account Balances

# 1. Check connection
cli-anything-firefly-iii info status

# 2. List asset accounts
cli-anything-firefly-iii --json accounts list --type asset

# 3. View account details (get balance)
cli-anything-firefly-iii --json accounts get --id <account_id>

Record Expense

# 1. Find expense accounts
cli-anything-firefly-iii --json accounts list --type expense

# 2. Create transaction
cli-anything-firefly-iii --json transactions create \
  --description "Lunch" \
  --amount 15.50 \
  --source-account <asset_account_id> \
  --destination-account <expense_account_id> \
  --category "Food"

Monthly Report

# 1. Expense report
cli-anything-firefly-iii --json insights expense \
  --start 2024-01-01 \
  --end 2024-01-31 \
  --group-by category

# 2. Income report
cli-anything-firefly-iii --json insights income \
  --start 2024-01-01 \
  --end 2024-01-31

# 3. Export data
cli-anything-firefly-iii --json export transactions \
  --start 2024-01-01 \
  --end 2024-01-31

Error Handling

Common errors and solutions:

  1. Connection failed: Check if FIREFLY_III_BASE_URL is correct
  2. Authentication failed: Check if FIREFLY_III_PAT is valid
  3. Resource not found: Check if ID is correct
  4. Parameter error: Check if required parameters are provided

Best Practices

  1. Use environment variables for credentials: Avoid exposing PAT in command line
  2. Use --json for scripting: Facilitates parsing and processing output
  3. Use presets to control permissions: Choose appropriate preset based on scenario
  4. Query before modifying: Avoid accidental operations

Troubleshooting

Connection Issues

Error: Cannot connect to Firefly III instance
  • Check if Firefly III instance is running
  • Check network connection
  • Check if base URL is correct

Authentication Issues

Error: Authentication failed: Personal Access Token is invalid
  • Check if PAT is correct
  • Generate new PAT in Firefly III Options > Profile > OAuth
  • Ensure PAT has not expired

Comparison with MCP Version

FeatureMCP VersionCLI-Anything Version
Process LifecycleLong-runningSingle call, immediate exit
Memory UsageContinuousOn-demand, released after
CommunicationStdio/SSECommand args + stdout
State ManagementStatefulStateless
Preset FilteringSupportedSupported
JSON OutputBuilt-in--json flag

License

MIT License