Why doesn't my category total match what I know I spent?

Check the excludedUncategorized figure in the response — category grouping only totals transactions that have actually been categorized. Anything still sitting unposted in the inbox is left out and reported separately, not included as zero.

What's the difference between vendor and category grouping?

Vendor groups by a normalized version of the transaction description — so repeat charges from the same store collapse together regardless of categorization status. Category groups by which ledger account each transaction was actually posted to, which means it can only include transactions that have been categorized.

Does this include income, like a deposit or a refund?

No — income is excluded from both grouping modes. This report is specifically about spending, not net cash flow.

spending_summaryRead-only

See where your money actually went, grouped your way

You want a straightforward "where did the money go this month" answer, grouped either by who you paid or by what kind of expense it was.

Spending summary answers the question people actually ask, which is rarely "show me every transaction" — it's "how much did we spend, and on what." Group by vendor and it normalizes descriptions so store numbers and slight formatting differences collapse into one line ("Starbucks #4471" and "STARBUCKS 4471" become one Starbucks total, not two). Group by category and it rolls spending up by the ledger account each transaction was posted to. Income is excluded either way — this is a spending report, not a cash-flow one.

The category grouping has a real limitation worth understanding before you present a number from it: it can only see transactions that have actually been categorized. If half your Home Depot charges are still sitting unposted in the inbox, category grouping only totals the half that got categorized — the rest is invisible to it, not zero-dollar. The response calls this out directly with an excludedUncategorized field showing both the count and dollar amount left out, and that number is worth checking before you treat a category total as the whole picture.

Vendor grouping doesn't have this problem the same way, since it works off the transaction description directly rather than needing a category assigned — but it's worth knowing which mode you're in before drawing a conclusion from either one.

What you would actually say"Break down what we spent in June by category."

What this does not do

Category mode only sees categorized transactions — anything still unposted is excluded from category totals and reported separately as excludedUncategorized, not folded silently into the total.
Vendor normalization collapses similar descriptions together, but an unusually formatted description may not merge with its counterparts and could show up as its own separate line.

Arguments

Name	Type	Required	What it is
`bookId`	`uuid`	Required	—
`from`	`string`	Required	—
`to`	`string`	Required	—
`groupBy`	`"vendor" \| "category"`	Required	—

Generated from the tool definition, so it cannot describe arguments the tool does not accept. Unrecognised arguments are rejected rather than ignored.

Common questions

Why doesn't my category total match what I know I spent?: Check the excludedUncategorized figure in the response — category grouping only totals transactions that have actually been categorized. Anything still sitting unposted in the inbox is left out and reported separately, not included as zero.
What's the difference between vendor and category grouping?: Vendor groups by a normalized version of the transaction description — so repeat charges from the same store collapse together regardless of categorization status. Category groups by which ledger account each transaction was actually posted to, which means it can only include transactions that have been categorized.
Does this include income, like a deposit or a refund?: No — income is excluded from both grouping modes. This report is specifically about spending, not net cash flow.