--- name: "books_save_bank_rule" area: "books" title: "Save a bank rule" price: "$0.001" method: "POST" url: "https://api.conecto.chat/v1/tools/books_save_bank_rule" mcp_server: "https://api.conecto.chat/mcp/books" auth: "Authorization: Bearer " docs_url: "https://conecto.chat/tools/books/books_save_bank_rule" --- # Save a bank rule (`books_save_bank_rule`) Saves a bank rule, like Xero's: which new bank lines it matches and how they are booked, to one account or split by percent, each part with its own tax. A bank rule, like Xero's: which new bank lines it matches and how to book them, so lines that come every month (bank fees, rent, the phone bill) book themselves. when: conditions on the counterparty, description or reference (contains, equals, starts_with, ends_with; any case), all of them or any (match). Narrow it with direction (in, out), amount_min and amount_max (the line's size, no sign) and bank_account. Book to account with an optional tax split off, or split by percent across accounts (70% phone, 30% private), each part with its own tax. Rules are tried by position, lowest first; the first that matches is the line's first suggestion in books_bank_lines, and books_apply_bank_rules books every line a rule matches. Matched by name; only what you pass changes. Price: $0.001 a call. A call that fails costs nothing. ## Use it when The same kind of line comes every month (bank fees, rent, the phone bill, a card provider's payout) and should book itself. - For booking one line once, use [books_match_bank_lines](https://conecto.chat/tools/books/books_match_bank_lines.md). ## Say this to your agent > From now on book every Haspa fee to bank fees, and the Telekom bill 70% to phone with 19% VAT and 30% to my drawings. ## Inputs | Name | Type | Required | Description | Allowed values | Default | |---|---|---|---|---|---| | `name` | string | yes | The rule's name, e.g. "Bank fees". 1 to 80 characters. | | | | `new_name` | string | no | Up to 80 characters. | | | | `when` | array of objects | no | 1 to 10 items. | | | | `when[].field` | string | yes, in each item of `when` | | `"counterparty"`, `"description"`, `"reference"` | | | `when[].op` | string | no | | `"contains"`, `"equals"`, `"starts_with"`, `"ends_with"` | `"contains"` | | `when[].value` | string | yes, in each item of `when` | The words to look for, in any case. 1 to 120 characters. | | | | `match` | string | no | | `"all"`, `"any"` | `"all"` | | `direction` | string | no | | `"any"`, `"in"`, `"out"` | | | `amount_min` | number or string | no | Up to 24 characters. | | | | `amount_max` | number or string | no | Up to 24 characters. | | | | `bank_account` | string | no | Only lines on this bank account (its code); "" for any. Up to 20 characters. | | | | `account` | string | no | An account code from the chart, e.g. "6600". 1 to 20 characters. | | | | `tax` | string | no | A tax by name (books_get lists them), e.g. "VAT 19%". Up to 60 characters. | | | | `tracking` | object | no | Tracking options by category, e.g. {"Department": "Service"} (books_list_tracking). | | | | `split` | array of objects | no | 2 to 10 items. | | | | `split[].account` | string | yes, in each item of `split` | An account code from the chart, e.g. "6600". 1 to 20 characters. | | | | `split[].tax` | string | no | A tax by name (books_get lists them), e.g. "VAT 19%". Up to 60 characters. | | | | `split[].percent` | number | yes, in each item of `split` | At most 100. | | | | `split[].tracking` | object | no | Tracking options by category, e.g. {"Department": "Service"} (books_list_tracking). | | | | `description` | string | no | The memo of the entries it books. Default: the line's own text. Up to 300 characters. | | | | `position` | integer | no | 0 to 10,000. | | | ## Example Written for Hansen & Voss, a restaurant-equipment wholesaler in Hamburg with 60 staff. MCP: call `books_save_bank_rule` on the MCP server `https://api.conecto.chat/mcp/books` with these arguments: ```json { "name": "Bank fees", "direction": "out", "account": "6100", "when": [ { "field": "counterparty", "op": "contains", "value": "Haspa" } ] } ``` REST: ```bash curl https://api.conecto.chat/v1/tools/books_save_bank_rule \ -H "Authorization: Bearer $CONECTO_KEY" \ -H "Content-Type: application/json" \ -d '{"name": "Bank fees", "direction": "out", "account": "6100", "when": [{"field": "counterparty", "op": "contains", "value": "Haspa"}]}' ``` ## Response ```json { "call_id": "5f0c8a2e-3b7d-4c1e-9a64-2d8e1f7b0c93", "tool": "books_save_bank_rule", "status": "succeeded", "replayed": false, "cost_usd": "$0.001", "balance_usd": "$19.75", "result": { "rule": { "name": "Bank fees", "direction": "out", "when": [ { "field": "counterparty", "op": "contains", "value": "Haspa" } ], "match": "all", "amount_min": null, "amount_max": null, "bank_account": null, "parts": [ { "account": "6100", "tax": null, "percent": "100" } ], "description": null, "position": 100, "times_used": 0, "last_used_at": null } } } ``` `result`: rule: its name, direction, conditions (when, match), amount range, bank account, parts (account, tax, percent), description, position, how often it was used and when last. ## Errors | Code | Status | When | Fix | |---|---|---|---| | `no_books` | 409 | The business keeps no books yet. | Set them up with books_setup (base currency, start date). | | `not_found` | 404 | No account, tax, entry or file of the books has that code, name or id. | Check the codes with books_list_accounts and the taxes with books_get. | | `archived` | 409 | The account or tax is archived. | Use another one, or un-archive it with books_save_accounts. | | `invalid_input` | 400 | A condition, the amounts, the direction or the parts are not valid: no condition, no account or split, the bank account itself as the target, or percentages that do not add up to 100. | Fix what the message names. | | `name_taken` | 409 | new_name is another rule's name. | Pick another name. | | `limit_reached` | 409 | The account has 200 bank rules. | Delete rules that are no longer used. | The refusals every tool can give (401 key, 402 balance, 429 limits) are on the errors page: https://conecto.chat/docs/errors.md ## Related - [books_setup](https://conecto.chat/tools/books/books_setup.md): Starts the business's double-entry books (currency, start date, chart of accounts) or changes their settings. $0.001 a call. - [books_get](https://conecto.chat/tools/books/books_get.md): The books' settings: currency, start date, fiscal year, locked period, roles, payment accounts, taxes, and what is waiting. Free up to 1,000,000 reads a month. - [books_list_accounts](https://conecto.chat/tools/books/books_list_accounts.md): Every account with its code, type, role and balance on a day. Free up to 1,000,000 reads a month. - [books_save_accounts](https://conecto.chat/tools/books/books_save_accounts.md): Adds accounts or changes them, matched by code: name, type, description, code, role or archived. $0.001 a call. - [books_save_tax](https://conecto.chat/tools/books/books_save_tax.md): Adds or changes a tax rate the books use (VAT, GST, sales tax), matched by name. $0.001 a call. - [books_record_expense](https://conecto.chat/tools/books/books_record_expense.md): Books a cost the business paid, with its tax split off and the receipt attached. $0.01 a call. - [books_record_entry](https://conecto.chat/tools/books/books_record_entry.md): Books a journal entry of two or more balancing lines, for whatever the other tools do not cover. $0.01 a call. - [books_attach_receipt](https://conecto.chat/tools/books/books_attach_receipt.md): Attaches a receipt from the file store to an entry that has none. $0.01 a call. - [books_reverse_entry](https://conecto.chat/tools/books/books_reverse_entry.md): Undoes an entry by booking its mirror image; entries are never edited or deleted. $0.01 a call. - [books_list_entries](https://conecto.chat/tools/books/books_list_entries.md): Entries, newest first, with their lines, by dates, account, source or text. Free up to 1,000,000 reads a month. - [books_import_bank](https://conecto.chat/tools/books/books_import_bank.md): Reads a bank statement from the file store (CSV, CAMT.053 or OFX) onto a bank account, skipping lines imported before. Free. - [books_bank_lines](https://conecto.chat/tools/books/books_bank_lines.md): Imported bank lines (by default the ones still to match), each with up to three suggestions of what it was. Free up to 1,000,000 reads a month. - [books_match_bank_lines](https://conecto.chat/tools/books/books_match_bank_lines.md): Says what bank lines were: entries already booked, invoices or bills they pay, an account to book them to, or nothing to book. $0.02 per bank line matched. - [books_list_bank_rules](https://conecto.chat/tools/books/books_list_bank_rules.md): Lists the bank rules in the order they are tried, with where they book and how often they were used. Free up to 1,000,000 reads a month. - [books_apply_bank_rules](https://conecto.chat/tools/books/books_apply_bank_rules.md): Books every new bank line a rule matches, each by the first rule that matches. $0.02 per bank line booked. - [books_delete_bank_rule](https://conecto.chat/tools/books/books_delete_bank_rule.md): Deletes a bank rule; what it booked stays booked. Free. - [books_report](https://conecto.chat/tools/books/books_report.md): A report: profit and loss, balance sheet, trial balance, ledger, tax, the VAT or OSS return, the cash flow ahead or a snapshot of the business. Free up to 1,000,000 reads a month. - [books_save_tracking](https://conecto.chat/tools/books/books_save_tracking.md): Saves a tracking category with its options, like Xero's: a department, a region or a project line that any line of the books can carry. $0.001 a call. - [books_list_tracking](https://conecto.chat/tools/books/books_list_tracking.md): Lists the tracking categories and their options. Free up to 1,000,000 reads a month. - [books_save_budget](https://conecto.chat/tools/books/books_save_budget.md): Saves a budget per income and expense account and month, like Xero's budget manager: amounts, monthly or yearly. $0.001 a call. - [books_list_budgets](https://conecto.chat/tools/books/books_list_budgets.md): Lists the budgets with every line's monthly amounts and total. Free up to 1,000,000 reads a month. - [books_delete_budget](https://conecto.chat/tools/books/books_delete_budget.md): Deletes a budget; the books don't change. Free. - [books_repay_claims](https://conecto.chat/tools/books/books_repay_claims.md): Pays someone back for costs they paid with their own money (expense claims), like Xero's, with a SEPA file when asked. $0.01 a call. - [books_list_claims](https://conecto.chat/tools/books/books_list_claims.md): Lists expense claims: what people paid for the business privately, and what each is owed. Free up to 1,000,000 reads a month. - [books_save_asset](https://conecto.chat/tools/books/books_save_asset.md): Registers a fixed asset (a van, a machine) and how it depreciates, like Xero's: straight line, declining balance, at once or not at all. $0.001 a call. - [books_list_assets](https://conecto.chat/tools/books/books_list_assets.md): The fixed asset register: each asset's cost, accumulated depreciation and book value, what a run would book now, and the register held against the books. Free up to 1,000,000 reads a month. - [books_depreciate](https://conecto.chat/tools/books/books_depreciate.md): Books the depreciation of every registered asset through a month's end, one entry a month, like Xero's run depreciation; or undoes it after a date. $0.01 a call. - [books_dispose_asset](https://conecto.chat/tools/books/books_dispose_asset.md): Sells or writes off a fixed asset, like Xero's dispose: depreciation to the day it goes, then its cost, the price and the gain or loss. $0.01 a call. - [books_delete_asset](https://conecto.chat/tools/books/books_delete_asset.md): Takes an asset registered by mistake out of the register; the books don't change. Free. - [books_lock](https://conecto.chat/tools/books/books_lock.md): Locks the books through a date, so nothing new is booked on or before it; null unlocks. $0.001 a call. - [books_close_year](https://conecto.chat/tools/books/books_close_year.md): Closes a fiscal year for good: nothing is booked on or before its last day again, and it can't be undone. $0.001 a call. - [books_export](https://conecto.chat/tools/books/books_export.md): A CSV of the journal or the accounts, a DATEV Buchungsstapel for a German tax adviser or a French FEC, with a download link. $0.001 a call.