Let an AI app answer questions about your document

From version 1.2, AceMoney Studio on a computer has an AI connector. It lets an AI app that runs on the same computer, such as Claude Desktop or LM Studio, answer questions about the document you have open: “How much did I spend on groceries last month?”, “What bills are due this week?”, “What is my net worth?” The AI app asks Studio; Studio answers from your document. It is off until you switch it on.

Studio does not send your document to any AI service. The connector is a small program on your computer that your own AI app starts, and Studio answers only that program. What an AI app does with the answers it receives is that app’s business, and it depends on the app: an app that uses an online model sends what it reads to that service under its own terms, while a model running on your own computer, as in LM Studio, does not.

Before you begin

The connector is part of AceMoney Studio on macOS, Windows and Linux. There is no AI connector on a phone or tablet.
Studio has to be running with a document open. The AI app reads the document that is open in Studio, and nothing else.
You need an AI app that can start a local program for its tools. Claude Desktop and LM Studio can be set up from Studio with one click each; other apps such as Claude Code, Cursor and VS Code can use the same connector (see “Other AI apps” below).
ChatGPT and other apps that connect over the internet cannot use it: AceMoney does not send your ledger anywhere.

What an AI app can and cannot do

It can only read. There is no way for an AI app to add, change or delete anything in your document. It sees only what a question asks for, and the answers are limited to these:

your accounts and their balances (an account number is shown only as its last four digits)
transactions found by date, account, payee, category, amount range or text (at most 200 rows at a time)
spending by category, and income against expenses
cash flow by month and your net worth
budget status, upcoming bills and, once you have unlocked AceMoney Studio, your investment holdings

By default an AI app reads the portfolio you have open; it can also ask for every portfolio of the document. Every answer is marked as data from your ledger, so a payee name or memo that happens to read like an instruction is treated as text, not as something to obey.

It never sees your document password or any key, your license, your sync details, the location of your files, or your attached files.

Turn the connector on

Open Settings ▸ Connections and find the AI connector section. It explains: “Lets an AI app on this computer, such as Claude Desktop, answer questions about the document you have open. It can only read. It sees only what a question asks for, and nothing leaves this computer except to the app you set up. While this is on, any program running as you can use it, so switch it off when you are done.”
Turn on Let AI apps read the open document. Under it, the status reads On. No app has asked yet.
Choose how long it stays on. Switch off by itself after offers 1 hour, 4 hours, 8 hours, 24 hours or Never, until I turn it off. It starts at 8 hours, and a line under the choice says either “Switches itself off at …” or “Stays on until you turn it off.”

While the connector is on, Studio also shows the auto-off choice and a line about the access file (see “How it keeps your document private”). The list of allowed apps, the buttons and Recent questions are always there.

Add it to Claude Desktop

You do this yourself, with one click. Studio never changes another app’s settings by itself.

In the AI connector section, select Add to Claude Desktop….
The dialog Add to Claude Desktop shows the settings file that will change (“The settings file that will change: …”) and what will happen, for example “Adds a server called acemoney that runs …”. It also says “Everything else in the file stays exactly as it is.” and “A copy of the current file is saved next to it first.”
Select Add. Studio writes the change and says “Done. Quit Claude Desktop completely and open it again to use it.”
Quit Claude Desktop completely, open it again, and ask a question about your money.

If the AI app is set up already, the dialog says “Already set up. Nothing needs to change.” and offers Remove from Claude Desktop. Select it, check what the dialog says it will do (“Removes the server called acemoney.”), and select Remove from Claude Desktop again; the dialog then says “Removed.” Only the AceMoney entry goes.

Studio changes nothing when it cannot do so safely, and says why:

“The settings file was not found on this computer. Add this to it yourself:” — followed by the lines to copy. This is also what you see when the AI app has no settings file on your system.
“The settings file is not valid JSON, so nothing was changed. Fix or move the file and try again.” or “The settings file has an unexpected shape, so nothing was changed.”
“The file could not be written, so nothing was changed.”
On a Mac, when AceMoney Studio is running from a temporary location: “Move AceMoney Studio to your Applications folder first, then try again.”
“This build of AceMoney Studio does not include the connector program, so it cannot be added.”

Add it to LM Studio

Add to LM Studio… works the same way: the dialog Add to LM Studio shows the settings file, the change and the backup note, and you select Add. Quit LM Studio completely and open it again afterwards. LM Studio can run a model on your own computer, so nothing needs to leave it at all.

Other AI apps

Select Other AI apps…. Apps that can start a local program, such as Claude Code, Cursor, VS Code and LM Studio, can use the same connector. The dialog gives a line or a snippet to copy into their settings; select Copy, and the button says Copied.

The first time an app asks

The first time an AI app asks a question, Studio shows Allow this app to read your document?:

The dialog names the app and says: “… is asking to read the document you have open in AceMoney Studio. It can only read. The name comes from the app itself, so AceMoney cannot check who it really is: allow it only if you just asked an AI app a question about your money.”

It also shows Started by: the program that launched the app. Select Allow only if you just asked an AI app a question about your money. Once allowed, the app is remembered and is not asked about again until you remove it. Not now refuses that question; the same app’s questions are refused for the next minute without asking again, and after that Studio asks again.

See and control what is allowed

In the AI connector section:

Allowed apps lists each allowed app and when it last asked (“Claude Desktop: last asked …”). Until then it says “No app is allowed yet. The first time an app asks, you will be asked to allow it.” Select Remove next to an app to take its permission away.
Disconnect all asks Disconnect every app? and says: “Every allowed app is removed and the connector starts over with a new private access file. Each app has to be allowed again.”
Recent questions lists the time, the app and the name of the question asked (for example find_transactions), up to 20 of them. It says: “Only the time, the app and the kind of question are kept here, never the answer. This list is not sent anywhere.” Until the first question it says “No questions yet.”

Turn the connector off

Turn off Let AI apps read the open document. The status reads Off, and the AI app is told that Studio’s connector is switched off the next time it asks. The connector also switches itself off after the time you chose, and it cannot answer once you quit Studio. Do this whenever you are done: while the connector is on, any program running as you can use it (after you have allowed it once).

How it keeps your document private

It is off by default, and it works only on your computer.
The AI app does not talk to your document directly. It starts a small program that comes with Studio, and that program talks only to the running Studio on the same computer.
The two are linked by a private access file that exists only while the connector is on. Studio removes it when you switch the connector off. On macOS and Linux Studio shows “The access file is private to you (permissions 600).” On Windows it shows “The access file is private to you: only your Windows account can open it.”
Each AI app has to be allowed once, and you can take that away at any time.
It can only read, and the answers cover only what the question asked for.

Common questions

Does the AI connector send my document to an AI service?

Studio does not send it anywhere. The connector answers an AI app on your own computer. If that app uses an online model, the app sends what it reads to that service; Studio does not control that and cannot see it. Use a model that runs on your computer, such as one in LM Studio, if you do not want anything to leave it.

Can an AI app change or delete my transactions?

No. The connector can only read.

Do I have to leave Studio open?

Yes. The AI app asks the running Studio, with a document open. If Studio is not running or the connector is off, the AI app is told: “AceMoney Studio is not running, or its AI connector is switched off. Open AceMoney Studio and switch on the AI connector in Settings.”

Does it work on my phone?

No. The AI connector is on computers only.

Which AI apps work?

Claude Desktop and LM Studio have a one-click set-up in Studio. Claude Code, Cursor, VS Code and other apps that can start a local program can use the same connector by copying the line or snippet from Other AI apps…. ChatGPT and other apps that connect over the internet cannot.

Why am I asked to allow an app?

Because the name an app gives comes from the app itself, so Studio cannot check who it really is. Allow it only when you have just asked an AI app a question about your money.

Does the connector keep my answers?

No. The list of Recent questions keeps only the time, the app and the kind of question, never the answer, and it is not sent anywhere.

Troubleshooting

The AI app says AceMoney Studio is not running or its AI connector is switched off. Open Studio, open your document, and turn on Let AI apps read the open document in Settings ▸ Connections. If it switched itself off, choose a longer time under Switch off by itself after.

The AI app does not list AceMoney after I added it. Quit the AI app completely (not just its window) and open it again. Then check that the dialog said “Done.”

I selected Not now by mistake. Wait a minute and ask your question again; Studio asks again.

Add to Claude Desktop… says the settings file was not found. The AI app may not be installed here, or it keeps its settings somewhere Studio does not know. Copy the lines Studio shows and add them yourself, or use Other AI apps….

It says “The connector could not start.” Turn it off and on again; if it repeats, restart Studio. If it says “Another AceMoney Studio window is already running the connector.”, use the connector in that window instead.

An AI app I do not recognise is asking. Select Not now. Then open Settings ▸ Connections ▸ AI connector and turn the connector off, or select Disconnect all.