Connect any AI agent to your bank accounts

Era Context connects your bank accounts, credit cards, investments, and retailer accounts to any AI agent that supports the Model Context Protocol (MCP), such as Claude, ChatGPT and Cursor. Assistants that build their own connection from an API, such as Meta's Muse and Instinct, connect with an Era API key you make. Either way, it's one Era account and one setup. Every assistant reads the same balances and transactions, and on a paid plan it can also recategorize transactions, add tags and set rules for you.

You don't have to pick one AI and hope it's the right one. Era is agent-agnostic. Connect your bank once, and every assistant you approve works from the same data.

How it works

Era Context is a personal MCP server. MCP — the Model Context Protocol — is an open standard that lets AI agents connect to external data sources securely. Era implements this protocol for personal finance.

The setup follows the same pattern regardless of which AI client you use:

1. Create an Era account at era.app. The Basic tier is free.
2. Connect your bank through Era Context. A regulated aggregator handles the bank sign-in, and your bank credentials are never stored by Era.
3. Add Era Context to your AI client with this server address: https://context.era.app/mcp
4. Approve the connection. Most clients open Era's consent screen, where you approve that assistant on its own. A few take an Era API key instead; the table below shows which.
5. Ask your AI about your money — it responds with real data.

That's it: five steps for any MCP client. Assistants that use Era's API follow the three steps below.

Popular AI clients

Every MCP client connects to the same Era Context server. Here's where each one takes it:

For every client, the server address is the same:

https://context.era.app/mcp

No trailing slash. No /sse. Just that URL.

Configuration example

Claude Code's configuration looks like this:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "context": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://context.era.app/mcp"
    }
  }
}

Other clients use the same address with their own field names, and some take an API key instead of a consent screen. Era's Connector settings page gives you the exact snippet for each client.

Any assistant that can call an API

Some assistants connect to a service by building their own client from its API documentation. Meta's Muse and Instinct work this way: they read Era's API documentation and connect to Era with an Era API key you make yourself.

Before you make one, know what it is. An Era API key acts as your whole Era account, not one bank or one question: whoever holds it can do anything its scopes allow. Scopes are Era's word for permissions, and they decide whether a key can only read or can also make changes.

The pattern is the same for any of these assistants:

1. Link your banks and cards in Era, exactly as in the steps above.
2. Make an API key. In Era, go to Agents → API keys and choose Create key. Under Scopes, the form starts with a standard set already ticked, and that set includes permission to make changes. For read-only access, untick every box whose name ends in write. To let the assistant change categories, tags and rules, or save things to Era's memory, keep the ticked set as it is. Either way, leave the boxes that start unticked as they are. Under Expiry, pick the shortest period you're happy to renew, then choose Create key and Copy key. Era shows the key only once.
3. Point the assistant at Era's API documentation, https://era.app/docs/era-api, ask it to connect to Era using an API key sent in the X-API-Key header, and give it the key when it asks.

The key reaches the same accounts, rules and memory as every MCP client you've connected, so what you set up in Claude or ChatGPT carries over. Changing anything, including saving to Era's memory, needs a key with write access. Moving money between your own accounts is in private beta and off by default for every key, and any transfer always needs your approval.

Keep the key private, like a password. To cut an assistant off, choose Revoke next to its key on the API keys page, then Revoke key: the key stops working from its next request, and your bank connections stay in place for your other assistants.

Step-by-step guides for two of these assistants:

• How to connect Meta's Muse to your bank accounts
• How to connect Instinct to your bank accounts

What your AI can do once connected

Your AI picks what it needs from Era automatically — you just ask questions in natural language:

Account basics:

• "What are my account balances?"
• "Show me all my connected accounts"

Transaction search:

• "How much did I spend at Whole Foods this month?"
• "List all transactions over $200 in the last 30 days"
• "Find my recurring charges"

Spending analysis:

• "Break down my spending by category this month"
• "Compare my spending this month to last month"
• "What's my cash flow look like?"
• "Forecast my spending for the rest of the month"

Financial context:

• "Can I afford a $2,000 purchase right now?"
• "What's my daily financial summary?"

Changes (Organize tier and up):

• "Recategorize every rideshare charge this year as Transportation"
• "Tag everything I spent on the kitchen remodel"
• "Make a rule that files every coffee shop charge under Dining"

These work in any connected assistant. Ask Claude, ask ChatGPT, ask Muse — the data is the same because it all flows through Era. Changes need a paid plan, and an assistant that connects with an API key also needs a key with write access.

Retailer accounts work the same way, with Amazon, Walmart and Target among them. They hold no balance, and they bring each order in as a transaction with its items inside it, so your AI can read what was in an order. Retailer accounts connect in the US; what your AI sees in an Amazon order walks through what arrives.

Cross-agent memory

When you tell one AI agent something about your finances — a savings goal, a spending preference, context about a transaction — Era Context remembers it. And that memory is available to every connected agent.

Tell Claude you're saving for a down payment. Open ChatGPT later. It already knows. Switch to Cursor. Same context. Your financial memory follows you across agents.

This isn't just convenient. It means you can use whichever AI is best for the task at hand without losing context. Use Claude for deep analysis, ChatGPT for quick questions, Cursor while coding — they all share the same understanding of your financial life.

You control this memory completely:

• Ask any agent to remember something, and every agent knows it
• Ask any agent to forget something, and it's gone everywhere
• Your memory is private to you and never shared with other users

Frequently asked questions

Is it safe to connect my bank account to an AI?

Era doesn't give AI agents your bank credentials. Here's how the security works:

• Bank authentication is handled entirely by a regulated aggregator. Your username and password are never stored by Era.
• Data encryption: AES-256 at rest, TLS 1.3 in transit.
• Your approval for every assistant: most MCP clients go through Era's OAuth consent screen, where you approve each one on its own. The rest, and every API-based assistant, use a key you make yourself, with the permissions and expiry you choose.
• Data policy: Your data is never sold, never used for advertising, never shared without your explicit permission.
• SEC-registered: Era Financial Advisors LLC, CRD #334404. Built by a team from Stripe, Robinhood, CashApp, Apple, and Google.

What data can the AI see?

On the Basic (free) tier, your AI agents have read-only access to:

• Account balances for up to two connected accounts
• Transaction history
• Basic financial metrics

On paid tiers, your AI agents can also write: automation rules, full categorization, tags, and more accounts. An assistant that connects with an API key also needs a key with write access before it can change anything. See pricing for a full breakdown.

Can I revoke access?

Yes. Every assistant you've connected is listed on Era's API keys page, including the ones you approved on Era's consent screen, which are marked Auto with the assistant's name underneath. Choose Revoke, then Revoke key. A key you made yourself stops working from its next request. An assistant you approved on the consent screen can't get new access, and any access it already holds expires within an hour. Disconnecting a bank in Era removes that bank from every assistant at once.

You can connect an assistant again later. Your accounts, rules and financial memory stay in Era in the meantime.

Can the AI move my money?

Moving money between your own accounts is in private beta, it's off by default for every key, and any transfer always needs your approval. Outside the private beta, your AI can read and organize your accounts, but it can't move money. See pricing for what each tier includes.

Do I need a separate Era account for each AI agent?

No. One Era account works with every assistant. Connect your bank once, approve each MCP client on Era's consent screen or give an API-based assistant its own key, and they all work from the same data.

What happens if my bank connection drops?

Era preserves your full transaction history even if a bank connection is temporarily disconnected. You can reconnect at any time without losing data. When a connection needs attention, Era Context shows it with a Reconnect option.

Does Era work with my bank?

Era connects accounts across the US, the UK, Canada, France, Germany, Spain, and 40+ countries in all, through regulated aggregators. Most major banks, credit unions, credit card issuers, and investment platforms are supported. The best way to check is to start the bank connection flow in Era Context — you'll see whether your institution is available.

Automation rules

On the Organize tier and above, you can describe automation rules in plain English through any connected AI agent:

• "Tag all Uber transactions as commuting"
• "Flag any charge over $500"
• "Clean up merchant names for all Amazon purchases"
• "Detect recurring charges I might have forgotten about"

Your AI agent creates the rule, and it starts working right away. Unless you say otherwise, it also applies to transactions you already have, so describe exactly what you want. You can switch a rule off or delete it on the Rules page in Era at any time, and when you delete one you can choose Undo all changes to reverse what it did.

There's also a library of pre-built rules you can browse and activate directly from Era Context.

Getting started

1. Sign up at era.app — the Basic tier is free
2. Connect your bank through Era Context
3. Add https://context.era.app/mcp to your MCP client, or make an API key for an assistant that uses Era's API
4. Approve Era's consent screen, or give the key to your assistant when it asks
5. Ask your AI about your money

One setup. Every agent. Your finances, your choice of AI.