For context: Back in the day (like 15 years ago) I had started a project called "LedgerHub" whose sole purpose was to contain importers. I thought I'd grow a library and that it would become useful to many. It didn't garner much interest, so I killed it and focused on the common bits, and that became beangulp.
On Thu, Dec 11, 2025 at 11:11 AM Aaron Lindsay <[email protected]> wrote: > > After all, automating the import process end to end has long been a > neglected area in the open source community IMHO, and any coordinated > effort in that direction would be very valuable. Were you considering > setting one up? > > Maybe? I'm mostly trying to feel the space/community out to see if others > think something could be helpful. > > *All: If you are interested in being a part of a forum/email list (maybe a > dedicated Google group) with a focus on coordinating/collaborating on > automated access to financial data, let me know.* If I don't hear at > least a little more interest, I'll drop it. > > In my mind, the main benefit would be to make it easier for folks to > collaborate across all the different clients/institutions/projects/methods > of getting our financial data. It seems like there is a fair bit of > duplication of effort (and frustration!). There have been some cases in the > past where I've learned "this one cool trick for downloading your > transactions from XXX bank" completely by accident (where that trick is > something like "you have to use this magic user-agent to get OFX to work > there"), and I'm wondering if just having a common place to ask "Is anyone > else having this problem or have you already solved it?" could be valuable. > I like the ideas in your previous post - maybe we could even develop a > common framework that allows us to share the bulk of the download and > import logic across multiple client projects (hey, we can get along with > the ledger people, right :P ), and for us to only need to maintain the > beancount-specific stuff. But, anyway, all of this is only valuable if > there's a critical mass of folks interested in being a part of it... > > I don't have a ton of extra time at the moment, but maybe all it needs to > get started is to create a "Financial Data Collaboration" google group and > send a few emails to various hobby personal-finance-related email lists, or > post it on related github issues, etc.? I'd be up for doing something like > that. I welcome folks' thoughts, though! > > -Aaron > > On Saturday, December 6, 2025 at 1:36:13 PM UTC-5 [email protected] > wrote: > > On Saturday, December 6, 2025 at 7:03:53 AM UTC-8 Aaron Lindsay wrote: > > Is anyone aware of a community/forum/mailing list focused on automated > (API) access to financial data? > > Not that I’m aware of. ofxhome.com used to track OFX‑enabled institutions > and Direct Connect details, but it had no forum or mailing list. It’s been > long gone now. > > As it seems the industry transitions away from OFX, gaining automated > access to your own financial data seems to have become less > straightforward, but whenever I run into issues it seems the community’s > response is a bit scattered. For example, Fidelity’s OFX access is > currently not working (or disabled). I’ve searched around and am aware of > several disconnected places all trying to deal with what is ultimately the > same issue, and I’m sure there are many others I’m not aware of: > > I’m wondering if there is already a place or way to coordinate efforts to > access transaction data, or if others think something like that could be > helpful? > > Perhaps I’m a touch cynical, but I’m not sure of the purpose it would > serve. Financial institutions have made it clear they’re not interested in > feedback from hobbyists like us, so there’s no real path to influencing > them. > > That said, I’ve had a fantastic experience with both ofx and direct > connect all these years, and I’d love to see what a community focused on > what you say could come up with looking forward. > > - perhaps sharing browser‑automation approaches or similar tools to > help people pull down CSVs in a scriptable manner > - perhaps keeping up with the constant flow of csv format > idiosyncrasies and updates for institutions > - and perhaps some coordinated lobbying would push institutions to > consider making ofx/qfx/<open_format> at least available on their > websites for download if not through a web API > > After all, automating the import process end to end has long been a > neglected area in the open source community IMHO, and any coordinated > effort in that direction would be very valuable. Were you considering > setting one up? > > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Beancount" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To view this discussion visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/beancount/905424c0-6fee-44e3-a7a6-3457d58696d3n%40googlegroups.com > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/beancount/905424c0-6fee-44e3-a7a6-3457d58696d3n%40googlegroups.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> > . > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Beancount" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/beancount/CAK21%2BhOGyV%2B6xwAU3%3DbYeabMYK7z9QfL3d54bj4hcGA3JUKB0w%40mail.gmail.com.
