[PR #7769] [MERGED] [AI] Add getNote and updateNote to public API #77360

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opened 2026-05-16 19:14:29 -05:00 by GiteaMirror · 0 comments
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📋 Pull Request Information

Original PR: https://github.com/actualbudget/actual/pull/7769
Author: @whlapinel
Created: 5/9/2026
Status: Merged
Merged: 5/9/2026
Merged by: @MatissJanis

Base: masterHead: add-notes-api


📝 Commits (3)

  • a52d11c [AI] Add getNote and updateNote to public API
  • 115aeda [AI] Add release note for PR #7769
  • 823d72e [AI] Address review feedback: tighten types and add docs

📊 Changes

7 files changed (+82 additions, -0 deletions)

View changed files

📝 packages/api/methods.test.ts (+23 -0)
📝 packages/api/methods.ts (+9 -0)
📝 packages/docs/docs/api/reference.md (+21 -0)
📝 packages/loot-core/src/server/api.ts (+10 -0)
📝 packages/loot-core/src/server/notes/app.ts (+8 -0)
📝 packages/loot-core/src/types/api-handlers.ts (+5 -0)
upcoming-release-notes/7769.md (+6 -0)

📄 Description

Summary

This PR adds two new public methods to @actual-app/api:

  • getNote(id: string) — retrieves the note attached to any entity (category, budget month, etc.) by ID. Returns NoteEntity | null.
  • updateNote(id: string, note: string) — sets or clears the note on any entity. Wrapped in withMutation() for proper CRDT/undo support.

Background

Budget templates and savings goals in Actual are stored as specially-formatted notes on categories (e.g. #template 250, #goal 1000). Until now, the only way to read or write these notes programmatically was through internal lib.send('notes-save', ...) calls that bypass the public API surface.

I'm using an MCP (Model Context Protocol) server to let AI assistants manage my Actual budget — categorizing transactions, setting budget amounts, and configuring category templates/goals. Without a public notes API, the MCP server had to rely on undocumented internals. This PR closes that gap.

Implementation

The change follows the existing pattern for all public API methods:

  1. loot-core/src/server/notes/app.ts — Added notes-get handler (reads a single note by ID) alongside the existing notes-save.
  2. loot-core/src/types/api-handlers.ts — Added api/note-get and api/note-update handler type signatures.
  3. loot-core/src/server/api.ts — Wired up the two handlers. api/note-update uses withMutation() for undo/CRDT support.
  4. packages/api/methods.ts — Exported getNote() and updateNote() as public methods.
  5. packages/api/methods.test.ts — Added an integration test covering get (null on fresh category), set, and update.

Testing

yarn workspace @actual-app/api test

All 19 tests pass (the source map warning for hyperformula is a pre-existing issue unrelated to this change).


AI generated — written with Claude Sonnet 4.6 via Claude Code


Bundle Stats

Bundle Files count Total bundle size % Changed
desktop-client 34 13.93 MB 0%
loot-core 1 5.27 MB → 5.27 MB (+421 B) +0.01%
api 2 3.9 MB → 3.9 MB (+555 B) +0.01%
cli 1 7.97 MB 0%
crdt 1 43.41 kB 0%
View detailed bundle stats

desktop-client

Total

Files count Total bundle size % Changed
34 13.93 MB 0%
View detailed bundle breakdown

Added
No assets were added

Removed
No assets were removed

Bigger
No assets were bigger

Smaller
No assets were smaller

Unchanged

Asset File Size % Changed
static/js/index.js 1.93 MB 0%
static/js/BackgroundImage.js 121.09 kB 0%
static/js/FormulaEditor.js 962.55 kB 0%
static/js/ReportRouter.js 1.22 MB 0%
static/js/ScheduleEditForm.js 145.76 kB 0%
static/js/TransactionEdit.js 189.54 kB 0%
static/js/TransactionList.js 85.81 kB 0%
static/js/Value.js 4.94 MB 0%
static/js/alerts.js 800.08 kB 0%
static/js/bankSyncUtils.js 54.1 kB 0%
static/js/ca.js 187.91 kB 0%
static/js/client.js 451.37 kB 0%
static/js/da.js 101.38 kB 0%
static/js/de.js 170.55 kB 0%
static/js/en-GB.js 8.2 kB 0%
static/js/en.js 185.11 kB 0%
static/js/es.js 179 kB 0%
static/js/extends.js 520.14 kB 0%
static/js/fr.js 178.9 kB 0%
static/js/indexeddb-main-thread-worker-e59fee74.js 13.46 kB 0%
static/js/it.js 165.01 kB 0%
static/js/narrow.js 364.41 kB 0%
static/js/nb-NO.js 148.31 kB 0%
static/js/nl.js 106.47 kB 0%
static/js/pl.js 86.52 kB 0%
static/js/pt-BR.js 189.58 kB 0%
static/js/resize-observer.js 18.06 kB 0%
static/js/th.js 174.76 kB 0%
static/js/theme.js 31.67 kB 0%
static/js/uk.js 207.75 kB 0%
static/js/useFormatList.js 4.96 kB 0%
static/js/wide.js 453 B 0%
static/js/workbox-window.prod.es5.js 7.33 kB 0%
static/js/zh-Hans.js 117.91 kB 0%

loot-core

Total

Files count Total bundle size % Changed
1 5.27 MB → 5.27 MB (+421 B) +0.01%
Changeset
File Δ Size
home/runner/work/actual/actual/packages/loot-core/src/server/notes/app.ts 📈 +143 B (+48.97%) 292 B → 435 B
home/runner/work/actual/actual/packages/loot-core/src/server/api.ts 📈 +278 B (+1.20%) 22.65 kB → 22.92 kB
View detailed bundle breakdown

Added

Asset File Size % Changed
kcab.worker.B9bj08r7.js 0 B → 5.27 MB (+5.27 MB) -

Removed

Asset File Size % Changed
kcab.worker.hJfPtoKI.js 5.27 MB → 0 B (-5.27 MB) -100%

Bigger
No assets were bigger

Smaller
No assets were smaller

Unchanged
No assets were unchanged


api

Total

Files count Total bundle size % Changed
2 3.9 MB → 3.9 MB (+555 B) +0.01%
Changeset
File Δ Size
home/runner/work/actual/actual/packages/loot-core/src/server/notes/app.ts 📈 +139 B (+49.12%) 283 B → 422 B
methods.ts 📈 +149 B (+2.63%) 5.53 kB → 5.67 kB
home/runner/work/actual/actual/packages/loot-core/src/server/api.ts 📈 +267 B (+1.18%) 22.05 kB → 22.31 kB
View detailed bundle breakdown

Added
No assets were added

Removed
No assets were removed

Bigger

Asset File Size % Changed
index.js 3.9 MB → 3.9 MB (+555 B) +0.01%

Smaller
No assets were smaller

Unchanged

Asset File Size % Changed
models.js 0 B 0%

cli

Total

Files count Total bundle size % Changed
1 7.97 MB 0%
View detailed bundle breakdown

Added
No assets were added

Removed
No assets were removed

Bigger
No assets were bigger

Smaller
No assets were smaller

Unchanged

Asset File Size % Changed
cli.js 7.97 MB 0%

crdt

Total

Files count Total bundle size % Changed
1 43.41 kB 0%
View detailed bundle breakdown

Added
No assets were added

Removed
No assets were removed

Bigger
No assets were bigger

Smaller
No assets were smaller

Unchanged

Asset File Size % Changed
index.js 43.41 kB 0%

🔄 This issue represents a GitHub Pull Request. It cannot be merged through Gitea due to API limitations.

## 📋 Pull Request Information **Original PR:** https://github.com/actualbudget/actual/pull/7769 **Author:** [@whlapinel](https://github.com/whlapinel) **Created:** 5/9/2026 **Status:** ✅ Merged **Merged:** 5/9/2026 **Merged by:** [@MatissJanis](https://github.com/MatissJanis) **Base:** `master` ← **Head:** `add-notes-api` --- ### 📝 Commits (3) - [`a52d11c`](https://github.com/actualbudget/actual/commit/a52d11cacd7ac33411cef111254a706554e5b44b) [AI] Add getNote and updateNote to public API - [`115aeda`](https://github.com/actualbudget/actual/commit/115aeda2818debf069df6f8dc811b629fc484db7) [AI] Add release note for PR #7769 - [`823d72e`](https://github.com/actualbudget/actual/commit/823d72e248f421c3c722e291e41a40685c74dd06) [AI] Address review feedback: tighten types and add docs ### 📊 Changes **7 files changed** (+82 additions, -0 deletions) <details> <summary>View changed files</summary> 📝 `packages/api/methods.test.ts` (+23 -0) 📝 `packages/api/methods.ts` (+9 -0) 📝 `packages/docs/docs/api/reference.md` (+21 -0) 📝 `packages/loot-core/src/server/api.ts` (+10 -0) 📝 `packages/loot-core/src/server/notes/app.ts` (+8 -0) 📝 `packages/loot-core/src/types/api-handlers.ts` (+5 -0) ➕ `upcoming-release-notes/7769.md` (+6 -0) </details> ### 📄 Description ## Summary This PR adds two new public methods to `@actual-app/api`: - **`getNote(id: string)`** — retrieves the note attached to any entity (category, budget month, etc.) by ID. Returns `NoteEntity | null`. - **`updateNote(id: string, note: string)`** — sets or clears the note on any entity. Wrapped in `withMutation()` for proper CRDT/undo support. ## Background Budget templates and savings goals in Actual are stored as specially-formatted notes on categories (e.g. `#template 250`, `#goal 1000`). Until now, the only way to read or write these notes programmatically was through internal `lib.send('notes-save', ...)` calls that bypass the public API surface. I'm using an MCP (Model Context Protocol) server to let AI assistants manage my Actual budget — categorizing transactions, setting budget amounts, and configuring category templates/goals. Without a public notes API, the MCP server had to rely on undocumented internals. This PR closes that gap. ## Implementation The change follows the existing pattern for all public API methods: 1. **`loot-core/src/server/notes/app.ts`** — Added `notes-get` handler (reads a single note by ID) alongside the existing `notes-save`. 2. **`loot-core/src/types/api-handlers.ts`** — Added `api/note-get` and `api/note-update` handler type signatures. 3. **`loot-core/src/server/api.ts`** — Wired up the two handlers. `api/note-update` uses `withMutation()` for undo/CRDT support. 4. **`packages/api/methods.ts`** — Exported `getNote()` and `updateNote()` as public methods. 5. **`packages/api/methods.test.ts`** — Added an integration test covering get (null on fresh category), set, and update. ## Testing ``` yarn workspace @actual-app/api test ``` All 19 tests pass (the source map warning for `hyperformula` is a pre-existing issue unrelated to this change). --- > AI generated — written with Claude Sonnet 4.6 via Claude Code <!--- actual-bot-sections ---> <hr /> <!--- bundlestats-action-comment key:combined start ---> ### Bundle Stats Bundle | Files count | Total bundle size | % Changed ------ | ----------- | ----------------- | --------- desktop-client | 34 | 13.93 MB | 0% loot-core | 1 | 5.27 MB → 5.27 MB (+421 B) | +0.01% api | 2 | 3.9 MB → 3.9 MB (+555 B) | +0.01% cli | 1 | 7.97 MB | 0% crdt | 1 | 43.41 kB | 0% <details> <summary>View detailed bundle stats</summary> #### desktop-client **Total** Files count | Total bundle size | % Changed ----------- | ----------------- | --------- 34 | 13.93 MB | 0% <details> <summary>View detailed bundle breakdown</summary> <div> **Added** No assets were added **Removed** No assets were removed **Bigger** No assets were bigger **Smaller** No assets were smaller **Unchanged** Asset | File Size | % Changed ----- | --------- | --------- static/js/index.js | 1.93 MB | 0% static/js/BackgroundImage.js | 121.09 kB | 0% static/js/FormulaEditor.js | 962.55 kB | 0% static/js/ReportRouter.js | 1.22 MB | 0% static/js/ScheduleEditForm.js | 145.76 kB | 0% static/js/TransactionEdit.js | 189.54 kB | 0% static/js/TransactionList.js | 85.81 kB | 0% static/js/Value.js | 4.94 MB | 0% static/js/alerts.js | 800.08 kB | 0% static/js/bankSyncUtils.js | 54.1 kB | 0% static/js/ca.js | 187.91 kB | 0% static/js/client.js | 451.37 kB | 0% static/js/da.js | 101.38 kB | 0% static/js/de.js | 170.55 kB | 0% static/js/en-GB.js | 8.2 kB | 0% static/js/en.js | 185.11 kB | 0% static/js/es.js | 179 kB | 0% static/js/extends.js | 520.14 kB | 0% static/js/fr.js | 178.9 kB | 0% static/js/indexeddb-main-thread-worker-e59fee74.js | 13.46 kB | 0% static/js/it.js | 165.01 kB | 0% static/js/narrow.js | 364.41 kB | 0% static/js/nb-NO.js | 148.31 kB | 0% static/js/nl.js | 106.47 kB | 0% static/js/pl.js | 86.52 kB | 0% static/js/pt-BR.js | 189.58 kB | 0% static/js/resize-observer.js | 18.06 kB | 0% static/js/th.js | 174.76 kB | 0% static/js/theme.js | 31.67 kB | 0% static/js/uk.js | 207.75 kB | 0% static/js/useFormatList.js | 4.96 kB | 0% static/js/wide.js | 453 B | 0% static/js/workbox-window.prod.es5.js | 7.33 kB | 0% static/js/zh-Hans.js | 117.91 kB | 0% </div> </details> --- #### loot-core **Total** Files count | Total bundle size | % Changed ----------- | ----------------- | --------- 1 | 5.27 MB → 5.27 MB (+421 B) | +0.01% <details> <summary>Changeset</summary> File | Δ | Size ---- | - | ---- `home/runner/work/actual/actual/packages/loot-core/src/server/notes/app.ts` | 📈 +143 B (+48.97%) | 292 B → 435 B `home/runner/work/actual/actual/packages/loot-core/src/server/api.ts` | 📈 +278 B (+1.20%) | 22.65 kB → 22.92 kB </details> <details> <summary>View detailed bundle breakdown</summary> <div> **Added** Asset | File Size | % Changed ----- | --------- | --------- kcab.worker.B9bj08r7.js | 0 B → 5.27 MB (+5.27 MB) | - **Removed** Asset | File Size | % Changed ----- | --------- | --------- kcab.worker.hJfPtoKI.js | 5.27 MB → 0 B (-5.27 MB) | -100% **Bigger** No assets were bigger **Smaller** No assets were smaller **Unchanged** No assets were unchanged </div> </details> --- #### api **Total** Files count | Total bundle size | % Changed ----------- | ----------------- | --------- 2 | 3.9 MB → 3.9 MB (+555 B) | +0.01% <details> <summary>Changeset</summary> File | Δ | Size ---- | - | ---- `home/runner/work/actual/actual/packages/loot-core/src/server/notes/app.ts` | 📈 +139 B (+49.12%) | 283 B → 422 B `methods.ts` | 📈 +149 B (+2.63%) | 5.53 kB → 5.67 kB `home/runner/work/actual/actual/packages/loot-core/src/server/api.ts` | 📈 +267 B (+1.18%) | 22.05 kB → 22.31 kB </details> <details> <summary>View detailed bundle breakdown</summary> <div> **Added** No assets were added **Removed** No assets were removed **Bigger** Asset | File Size | % Changed ----- | --------- | --------- index.js | 3.9 MB → 3.9 MB (+555 B) | +0.01% **Smaller** No assets were smaller **Unchanged** Asset | File Size | % Changed ----- | --------- | --------- models.js | 0 B | 0% </div> </details> --- #### cli **Total** Files count | Total bundle size | % Changed ----------- | ----------------- | --------- 1 | 7.97 MB | 0% <details> <summary>View detailed bundle breakdown</summary> <div> **Added** No assets were added **Removed** No assets were removed **Bigger** No assets were bigger **Smaller** No assets were smaller **Unchanged** Asset | File Size | % Changed ----- | --------- | --------- cli.js | 7.97 MB | 0% </div> </details> --- #### crdt **Total** Files count | Total bundle size | % Changed ----------- | ----------------- | --------- 1 | 43.41 kB | 0% <details> <summary>View detailed bundle breakdown</summary> <div> **Added** No assets were added **Removed** No assets were removed **Bigger** No assets were bigger **Smaller** No assets were smaller **Unchanged** Asset | File Size | % Changed ----- | --------- | --------- index.js | 43.41 kB | 0% </div> </details> </details> <!--- bundlestats-action-comment key:combined end ---> --- <sub>🔄 This issue represents a GitHub Pull Request. It cannot be merged through Gitea due to API limitations.</sub>
GiteaMirror added the pull-request label 2026-05-16 19:14:29 -05:00
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Reference: github-starred/actual#77360