Setup & Installation
openclaw skills install @nicholasrae/nicholasrae-expense-tracker
Or with the ClawHub CLI, for registry-managed skill folders outside a full OpenClaw workspace:
npx clawhub install nicholasrae-expense-tracker
Version History
v1.0.3Feb 20, 2026 - Version note by skill developer:
Security: fixed jq injection in query.sh — all user input passed via --arg. Safe JSON modification patterns in SKILL.md.
What This Skill Does
Log personal expenses through natural language. Say "spent $45 at Costco" and the AI parses, categorizes, and saves the entry to a local ledger. Supports 16 auto-categories, monthly budget limits with threshold alerts, and weekly and monthly reports.
Expense entry requires no forms or app installs, plain conversation is enough, and all spending data stays on the local machine.
When to use it
- Logging a grocery run without opening an app
- Splitting a shared dinner bill and tracking your half
- Checking how close you are to a budget category mid-month
- Getting a weekly spending breakdown on demand
- Recording a refund from an online order
Example Workflow
Here's how your AI assistant might use this skill in practice.
INPUT
User says: spent $45 at Costco
AGENT
- 1Parse amount ($45), vendor (Costco), and date (today) from the natural language input
- 2Match Costco to the Groceries category using keywords in categories.json
- 3Run add-expense.sh to append the entry to the local ledger
- 4Check whether the Groceries category has crossed the 80% budget threshold
- 5Return a confirmation and surface a budget warning if the threshold is met
OUTPUT
✅ Expense #1: $45.00 at Costco (Groceries) on 2026-03-16