# Categories

> The 30 spending categories in Maple Budget, with the id every tool takes and the name people see.

Maple Budget docs. Hosted MCP server: `https://api.maplebudget.com/mcp` (Streamable HTTP, OAuth sign-in). Web page: https://maplebudget.com/docs/categories/ · Index of all pages: https://maplebudget.com/llms.txt

Every transaction, recurring transaction, tag and budget in Maple Budget belongs to one of 30 categories. Tools take the category as a number (`category: 6`), and the person sees the name (Eating Out). The ids and names are the same for everyone; each person sets their own budget per category.

## Category IDs

| ID | Name |
| --- | --- |
| 1 | Healthcare |
| 2 | Car |
| 3 | Income |
| 4 | Hobbies |
| 5 | Investments |
| 6 | Eating Out |
| 7 | Groceries |
| 8 | Travel |
| 9 | Subscriptions |
| 10 | Rent |
| 11 | Savings |
| 12 | Transportation |
| 13 | Beauty |
| 14 | Social Events |
| 15 | Clothing |
| 16 | Pets |
| 17 | Home |
| 18 | Drinks |
| 19 | Loans |
| 20 | Utilities |
| 21 | Coffee Shops |
| 22 | School |
| 23 | Insurance |
| 24 | Miscellaneous |
| 25 | Gadgets |
| 26 | Donations |
| 27 | Wellness |
| 28 | Gym + Sports |
| 29 | Emergency Fund |
| 30 | Taxes |

## Using Categories

- `add_transaction`, `update_transaction`, `add_recurring_transaction`, `create_split` and `add_tag` take `category` as an id from this list.
- An id outside 1 to 30 fails with `Category must be an integer between 1 and 30.` See [Errors](https://maplebudget.com/docs/errors).
- Income is category 3. Log income with a negative `amount_spent`, like `"-1600.00"`.
- Tags live inside a category. A transaction can only use tags from its own category; `get_on_launch_data` lists each tag with its category.
- `get_categories` and `get_categorical_overview` return each category's spending and budget for a month.