> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://breadbox-mintlify-7401d007.mintlify.site/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Category write MCP reference

> Import category definitions from TSV. Category reads live on the Categories page.

The only category write surface exposed to MCP agents. Category writes are TSV-based, round-tripped with [`export_categories`](/mcp/reference/categories#export_categories) — the UI and REST API support finer-grained edits, but MCP intentionally keeps the surface narrow.

This tool is **Write** scope.

***

## import\_categories

Import category definitions from TSV text. Existing slugs are updated (`display_name`, `icon`, `color`, `sort_order`, `hidden`). New slugs are created. Missing slugs are **not** deleted. Parents must appear before children in the input.

The typical workflow is round-trip: call [`export_categories`](/mcp/reference/categories#export_categories) to get the current state, edit the TSV, then call `import_categories` with the edited content.

<Note>
  **Merging categories.** Set the `merge_into` column on a source row to a target slug to merge the source into the target. All transactions and rule mappings from the source are reassigned to the target, then the source is deleted. Useful for simplifying a complex taxonomy without losing transaction categorization.
</Note>

### Parameters

<ParamField path="content" type="string" required>
  TSV content. Columns: `slug`, `display_name`, `parent_slug`, `icon`, `color`, `sort_order`, `hidden`, `merge_into`.
</ParamField>

### Example input

Author the TSV first — the table below shows what each row looks like before encoding (tabs are real tab characters):

```text theme={null}
slug	display_name	parent_slug	icon	color	sort_order	hidden	merge_into
food_and_drink	Food and Drink		utensils	#C8482E	10	false	
food_and_drink_groceries	Groceries	food_and_drink	shopping-basket	#C8482E	0	false	
food_and_drink_bulk_buys							food_and_drink_groceries
```

Then encode the TSV into the `content` field on the tool call. Tab characters become `\t` and newlines become `\n`:

```json theme={null}
{
  "content": "slug\tdisplay_name\tparent_slug\ticon\tcolor\tsort_order\thidden\tmerge_into\nfood_and_drink\tFood and Drink\t\tutensils\t#C8482E\t10\tfalse\t\nfood_and_drink_groceries\tGroceries\tfood_and_drink\tshopping-basket\t#C8482E\t0\tfalse\t\nfood_and_drink_bulk_buys\t\t\t\t\t\t\tfood_and_drink_groceries\n"
}
```

### Example output

```json theme={null}
{
  "created": 0,
  "updated": 2,
  "merged": 1,
  "total_rows": 3,
  "merged_transactions": 18
}
```

### TSV format reminder

* Tab-separated. Quotes are not required.
* Empty cells for optional fields are allowed — the server keeps the current value.
* `sort_order` is an integer. `hidden` is `true` / `false`.
* When `merge_into` is set on a row, all other fields on that row are ignored — only the source slug and the target slug matter.