Agent skill

Beancount Init

Scaffold a new Beancount ledger with bea init and validation, with optional Fava browser setup when requested.

MITAuto-check: notesBusiness, Finance & HR

Install Beancount Init

skills CLI

$ npx skills add bex-co/beancount-io --skill beancount-init -a claude-code

Project install by default; add -g for ~/.claude/skills/.

GitHub CLI

$ gh skill install bex-co/beancount-io beancount-init --agent claude-code

Project scope by default; add --scope user for a personal install. Needs GitHub CLI 2.90.0 or later (public preview).

Manual copy

$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/bex-co/beancount-io.git skills-src && mkdir -p .claude/skills && cp -r skills-src/skills/.claude/skills/beancount-init .claude/skills/beancount-init && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.claude/skills/ instead of .claude/skills for a personal install. The folder must contain SKILL.md.

Claude Code skills documentation · loads skills from .claude/skills/

Paste into Claude Code

Install the "beancount-init" agent skill from https://github.com/bex-co/beancount-io/tree/main/skills/.claude/skills/beancount-init into .claude/skills/beancount-init/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "beancount-init", then confirm the skill loads.

Claude Code copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.

$skill-installer

$skill-installer install https://github.com/bex-co/beancount-io/tree/main/skills/.claude/skills/beancount-init

Type this inside Codex. $skill-installer <name> installs a curated skill from openai/skills. The installer writes to $CODEX_HOME/skills (default ~/.codex/skills). Restart Codex if the skill does not show up.

skills CLI

$ npx skills add bex-co/beancount-io --skill beancount-init -a codex

Project install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.codex/skills/.

GitHub CLI

$ gh skill install bex-co/beancount-io beancount-init --agent codex

Project scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.

Manual copy

$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/bex-co/beancount-io.git skills-src && mkdir -p .agents/skills && cp -r skills-src/skills/.claude/skills/beancount-init .agents/skills/beancount-init && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.agents/skills/ instead of .agents/skills for a personal install.

Codex skills documentation · loads skills from .agents/skills/

Paste into Codex

Install the "beancount-init" agent skill from https://github.com/bex-co/beancount-io/tree/main/skills/.claude/skills/beancount-init into .agents/skills/beancount-init/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "beancount-init", then confirm the skill loads.

Codex copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.

skills CLI

$ npx skills add bex-co/beancount-io --skill beancount-init -a cursor

Project install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.cursor/skills/.

GitHub CLI

$ gh skill install bex-co/beancount-io beancount-init --agent cursor

Project scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.

Manual copy

$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/bex-co/beancount-io.git skills-src && mkdir -p .cursor/skills && cp -r skills-src/skills/.claude/skills/beancount-init .cursor/skills/beancount-init && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.cursor/skills/ instead of .cursor/skills for a personal install.

Cursor skills documentation · loads skills from .cursor/skills/, .agents/skills/, .claude/skills/, .codex/skills/

Paste into Cursor

Install the "beancount-init" agent skill from https://github.com/bex-co/beancount-io/tree/main/skills/.claude/skills/beancount-init into .cursor/skills/beancount-init/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "beancount-init", then confirm the skill loads.

Cursor copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.

gemini skills install

$ gemini skills install https://github.com/bex-co/beancount-io.git --path skills/.claude/skills/beancount-init

--scope user (default) or --scope workspace; --path is the subfolder of the repo that holds the skill; --consent skips the security confirmation prompt.

skills CLI

$ npx skills add bex-co/beancount-io --skill beancount-init -a gemini-cli

Project install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.gemini/skills/.

GitHub CLI

$ gh skill install bex-co/beancount-io beancount-init --agent gemini-cli

Project scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.

Manual copy

$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/bex-co/beancount-io.git skills-src && mkdir -p .gemini/skills && cp -r skills-src/skills/.claude/skills/beancount-init .gemini/skills/beancount-init && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.gemini/skills/ instead of .gemini/skills for a personal install, then run /skills reload.

Gemini CLI skills documentation · loads skills from .gemini/skills/, .agents/skills/

Paste into Gemini CLI

Install the "beancount-init" agent skill from https://github.com/bex-co/beancount-io/tree/main/skills/.claude/skills/beancount-init into .gemini/skills/beancount-init/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "beancount-init", then confirm the skill loads.

Gemini CLI copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.

GitHub CLI

$ gh skill install bex-co/beancount-io beancount-init

Installs for Copilot at project scope by default; add --scope user for a personal install. Preview a skill first with gh skill preview. Needs GitHub CLI 2.90.0 or later (public preview).

skills CLI

$ npx skills add bex-co/beancount-io --skill beancount-init -a github-copilot

Project install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.copilot/skills/.

Manual copy

$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/bex-co/beancount-io.git skills-src && mkdir -p .github/skills && cp -r skills-src/skills/.claude/skills/beancount-init .github/skills/beancount-init && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.copilot/skills/ instead of .github/skills for a personal install. Commit .github/skills so cloud agent and code review can use it.

GitHub Copilot skills documentation · loads skills from .github/skills/, .claude/skills/, .agents/skills/

Paste into GitHub Copilot

Install the "beancount-init" agent skill from https://github.com/bex-co/beancount-io/tree/main/skills/.claude/skills/beancount-init into .github/skills/beancount-init/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "beancount-init", then confirm the skill loads.

GitHub Copilot copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.

skills CLI

$ npx skills add bex-co/beancount-io --skill beancount-init -a opencode

OpenCode documents no install command of its own. Project install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.config/opencode/skills/.

GitHub CLI

$ gh skill install bex-co/beancount-io beancount-init --agent opencode

Project scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.

Manual copy

$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/bex-co/beancount-io.git skills-src && mkdir -p .opencode/skills && cp -r skills-src/skills/.claude/skills/beancount-init .opencode/skills/beancount-init && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.config/opencode/skills/ instead of .opencode/skills for a personal install.

OpenCode skills documentation · loads skills from .opencode/skills/, .claude/skills/, .agents/skills/

Paste into OpenCode

Install the "beancount-init" agent skill from https://github.com/bex-co/beancount-io/tree/main/skills/.claude/skills/beancount-init into .opencode/skills/beancount-init/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "beancount-init", then confirm the skill loads.

OpenCode copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.

Facts

Skill name: beancount-init
GitHub stars: 295
Token cost: ~1.2k tokens
SKILL.md length: 574 words
Files: 4 (incl. references)
Skills in repo: 27
Repo updated: Oct 7, 2026
First seen: Oct 7, 2026
Licence: MIT

At a glance

Scaffold a new Beancount ledger with bea init and validation, with optional Fava browser setup when requested.

Works in 6 steps: Preflight → Resolve the opening date → Write main.bean → …
Setting up a new ledger
SKILL.md covers Prefer bea, Step 1 — Preflight, Step 2 — Resolve the opening… and Step 3 — Write main.bean, plus 3 more sections
Calls uv, make and git; reaches astral.sh

What it does

Beancount Init is an agent skill from bex-co/beancount-io. Scaffold a new Beancount ledger with bea init and validation, with optional Fava browser setup when requested. Use for setting up a new ledger or initializing a bookkeeping repository. Skip importing history (beancount-migrate), bank exports, or edits to a populated ledger.

Its SKILL.md is about 1.2k tokens, which your agent loads only when the skill is triggered. The skill folder holds 5 other files, including reference files (for example `evals/evals.json`, `references/bea-cli.md` and `references/compatibility.md`).

It sits in Business, Finance & HR, covering Accounting and bookkeeping. The repository describes itself as: 💰 Double-entry bookkeeping made easy — plain-text accounting for humans and AI agents. Polished iOS & Android app built with React Native + Expo. The licence is MIT.

When your agent uses it

Setting up a new ledger
Initializing a bookkeeping repository

Example prompts

“/beancount-init”

Requirements

Python 3

Workflow steps

6 steps, taken from the step headings in SKILL.md.

Preflight
Resolve the opening date
Write main.bean
Optional Fava browser setup
git init (only if needed)
Report

What it can do on your machine

Read from SKILL.md and the folder at commit 2103ca1. It shows what the files ask for, not the result of running them.

Tool permissions
Pre-approves nothing: there is no allowed-tools line, so your agent's usual permission prompts apply.
From allowed-tools in the SKILL.md frontmatter.
Runs code
Shell commands in SKILL.md call:
- uv
- make
- git
- python3
- brew
- curl
- sh
From the folder's file list and the shell code blocks in SKILL.md.
Network
Hosts in commands or code, which the agent is likely to contact:
- astral.sh
From URLs in SKILL.md, links to its own repository left out.
Credentials
Names no API keys, tokens, secrets or passwords.
From names ending in _API_KEY, _TOKEN, _SECRET, _KEY or _PASSWORD in SKILL.md.

Context cost

Beancount Init loads about 1.2k tokens when it runs, and up to ~4k if it reads all its reference files. Until then it costs about 72 tokens; SKILL.md has 574 words of instructions outside code blocks.

Always · name and description, kept in context so the agent knows when to use it: ~72
When it runs · the whole SKILL.md, loaded when a task matches: ~1.2k
With references · SKILL.md plus every file in references/, read only if the agent opens them: ~4k

Estimates: characters ÷ 4, the usual rule of thumb; real counts depend on the model's tokenizer. Scripts and assets cost tokens only if the agent reads them.

Safety

Auto-check: notes

The automated check noted patterns worth knowing about, such as sudo or a known installer.

NotePipes a well-known installer script into a shellSKILL.md:41
```
`curl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | sh`).
```

Automated static check — not a guarantee. Review scripts before installing. It scans the text of SKILL.md for risky patterns (piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files, hidden Unicode, destructive commands); files beside SKILL.md are not scanned.

SKILL.md

The full file from bex-co/beancount-io at commit 2103ca1, republished under its MIT licence (© bex-co). 574 words, ~1,247 tokens.

Download SKILL.mdSave it as .claude/skills/beancount-init/SKILL.md (or your agent's skills folder). This skill also uses 3 other files; get the full folder from GitHub.

name: beancount-init
description: Scaffold a new Beancount ledger with bea init and validation, with optional Fava browser setup when requested. Use for setting up a new ledger or initializing a bookkeeping repository. Skip importing history (beancount-migrate), bank exports, or edits to a populated ledger.

beancount-init

Scaffold a fresh ledger in the current working directory. Prefer a single bea installation for create + validate. Fava's browser UI is optional and has its own runtime — it is not a prerequisite for bea ledger work.

Run the steps in order. Stop if a preflight check fails — partial scaffolding is worse than no scaffolding.

Prefer `bea`

Read references/bea-cli.md for the shared command contract. Create and validate the ledger through bea init and bea check. If bea is absent, use the explicit template and developer path in references/compatibility.md. Fava is a separate, optional browser runtime; run Step 4 only when requested.

Step 1 — Preflight

Run pwd && ls -A to see the working directory.

Hard-refuse if any of these already exist: main.bean, pyproject.toml, Makefile. Print which ones are present and stop. Do not overwrite.

If the directory contains other files but none of those markers, warn once and ask for confirmation before continuing.

Check command -v bea and remember BEA (yes/no). Ask for the operating currency (default USD) and an optional checking opening balance; call the answers CURRENCY and OPENING (empty when none). Detect FAVA: yes when the user asked for Fava / make start / "bootstrap fava", otherwise ask once (default no when BEA is yes; default yes only when BEA is no and they still want a browser — otherwise they can install bea later).

When FAVA is yes, verify uv with command -v uv. If missing, stop and tell them to install it (brew install uv on macOS, or curl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | sh).

Step 2 — Resolve the opening date

Use the historical start date supplied by the user or beancount-migrate when present. It must be on/before the earliest entry, including any opening-balance transaction. Otherwise run date +%Y-%m-%d and use today. Call it OPEN_DATE. Do not scaffold with today's opens and then rewrite them for old history.

Show full SKILL.md (271 more words)Show less

Step 3 — Write `main.bean`

When BEA is yes, set directory to the current directory, currency to CURRENCY, and open_date to OPEN_DATE:

<!-- recipe: init -->

bea --json --no-input init "$directory" --currency "$currency" --date "$open_date"

Add --opening-balance "Assets:Checking OPENING" to that command only when OPENING is non-empty. Then bind ledger to the new root's absolute path and run the check recipe in references/bea-cli.md.

bea init . writes ./main.bean. Do not write any template on this path — the file equals bea init byte-for-byte. Skip to Step 4 when FAVA is yes; otherwise Step 5.

When BEA is no, use the fourteen-account template in references/compatibility.md, with the same currency, open date and optional opening balance. Validate through the explicit developer path there; report an unvalidated result if no checker is available.

Step 4 — Optional Fava browser setup

Skip this entire step when FAVA is no.

Port

python3 -c "import random; bad={50000,55555,60000,65000}; ps=[p for p in range(49152,65536) if p not in bad and p%1000]; print(random.choice(ps))"

Call the integer PORT. If python3 is missing: awk 'BEGIN{srand(); print 49152 + int(rand()*16384)}'.

uv project + Fava

uv init --bare
uv add fava

--bare skips hello-world boilerplate. uv add fava pulls Fava's own runtime deps (including Beancount for the browser) into .venv/ — that is Fava's environment, not a second customer CLI. Do not also uv add beancount for bea operations.

Makefile

Tab-indent the recipe line. Substitute {{PORT}}:

.PHONY: start
PORT ?= {{PORT}}

start:
	uv run fava main.bean -p $(PORT)

`.gitignore`

Overwrite whatever uv init --bare wrote:

# Python
__pycache__/
*.py[cod]
*$py.class
*.so
.Python
build/
dist/
*.egg-info/
.eggs/
.pytest_cache/
.mypy_cache/
.ruff_cache/
.coverage
htmlcov/
.tox/
.venv/
venv/
env/

# macOS
.DS_Store
.AppleDouble
.LSOverride
._*
.Spotlight-V100
.Trashes

# Linux
*~
.fuse_hidden*
.directory
.Trash-*
.nfs*

# JetBrains
.idea/
*.iml
*.iws
*.ipr
out/

# VS Code
.vscode/
*.code-workspace
.history/

# Fava
.fava/

Step 5 — `git init` (only if needed)

If .git/ does not already exist, run git init. Don't stage anything.

Step 6 — Report

Print:

Files created (main.bean; plus Makefile, .gitignore, pyproject.toml, uv.lock, .venv/ when FAVA ran).
When BEA validated: bea check passed.
When FAVA: the port and make start → http://localhost:<PORT>.
When BEA only: next steps such as bea check, bea import, or bea --json query.

Keep the report tight — one short line per item.

Files

SKILL.md and 3 other files (references) in skills/.claude/skills/beancount-init of bex-co/beancount-io.

SKILL.md
evals/evals.json
references/bea-cli.md
references/compatibility.md

Open the folder on GitHubat commit 2103ca1

Compare with similar skills

Beancount Init next to the 5 skills that share the most tags, products or categories with it. Stars are the repository's; “used in” counts other GitHub owners with a copy.

Beancount Init compared with similar skills
Skill	Stars	Used in	Tokens	Auto-check	Licence	Repo updated
Beancount Init this skillbex-co/beancount-io	295	—	~1.2k	Automated safety check: Notes	MIT	yesterday
Sync Upstreamnyaruka/phonenumbers	1.6k	—	~2.8k	Automated safety check: Pass	MIT	6 days ago
Longbridge Value Investinghelsome/folio	269	2 repos	~1.2k	Automated safety check: Pass	MIT	5 days ago
Radiology Tablehuang-sir1/radiology-skills	1.9k	—	~1.3k	Automated safety check: Pass	Custom licence	17 days ago
Odoo Agency Fleet Reviewerpipe-org/mcp-odoo	420	—	~699	Automated safety check: Pass	MIT	1 mo ago
ERPClaw ERP Controlleravansaber/erpclaw	114	—	~15k	Automated safety check: Pass	GPL-3.0	2 days ago

Similar skills

Sync Upstream
nyaruka/phonenumbers
Sync this Go port with a new upstream google/libphonenumber release — regenerate the embedded metadata and reconcile the ported Java logic.
1.6k GitHub stars~2.8k tokensUpdated 6 days ago
Business, Finance & HRAuto-check passed
Longbridge Value Investing
helsome/folio
Value investing analysis using Graham (NCAV/net-net/defensive-investor) and Buffett (economic moat/ROE/FCF) methodologies.
269 GitHub starsUsed in 2 repos~1.2k tokens
Business, Finance & HRAuto-check passed
Radiology Table
huang-sir1/radiology-skills
Create/audit editable publication tables with source reconciliation; not figures or statistical inference.
1.9k GitHub stars~1.3k tokensUpdated 17 days ago
Business, Finance & HRAuto-check passed
Odoo Agency Fleet Review
erpipe-org/mcp-odoo
Review many client Odoo databases at once through odoo-mcp's cross-instance tools — fleet-wide accounting health, per-client aging, partial-failure triage — for agencies and partners managing 5–50…
420 GitHub stars~699 tokensUpdated 1 mo ago
Business, Finance & HRAuto-check passed
ERPClaw ERP Controller
avansaber/erpclaw
Operates the ERPClaw self-hosted ERP in plain language: accounting, invoicing, inventory, purchasing, tax, HR, payroll and reports, treating the ERP as the single source of truth.
114 GitHub stars~15k tokensUpdated 2 days ago
Business, Finance & HRAuto-check passed
Forward Implementation First
Vuk97/forward-implementation-first
Keeps an agent building and validating real output instead of servicing its own bookkeeping.
176 GitHub stars~1.8k tokensUpdated 1 mo ago
Business, Finance & HRAuto-check passed

Questions about Beancount Init

What does Beancount Init do?

Scaffold a new Beancount ledger with bea init and validation, with optional Fava browser setup when requested. Beancount Init is an agent skill from bex-co/beancount-io. Scaffold a new Beancount ledger with bea init and validation, with optional Fava browser setup when requested.

When should I use Beancount Init?

Beancount Init fits situations like: setting up a new ledger; initializing a bookkeeping repository.

How do I install Beancount Init in Claude Code?

Run `npx skills add bex-co/beancount-io --skill beancount-init -a claude-code`. Or copy the skill folder (skills/.claude/skills/beancount-init in bex-co/beancount-io) into .claude/skills/beancount-init in your project. Claude Code loads it when a task matches its description.

How do I install Beancount Init in Codex?

Run `npx skills add bex-co/beancount-io --skill beancount-init -a codex`. Or copy the skill folder (skills/.claude/skills/beancount-init in bex-co/beancount-io) into .agents/skills/beancount-init in your project. Codex loads it when a task matches its description.

Can I use Beancount Init in Cursor, Gemini CLI or GitHub Copilot?

Cursor, Gemini CLI, GitHub Copilot and OpenCode also load SKILL.md folders. With the skills CLI, run `npx skills add bex-co/beancount-io --skill beancount-init -a cursor` (or -a gemini-cli, github-copilot or opencode for the others). To copy it by hand, put the folder in .cursor/skills/beancount-init, .gemini/skills/beancount-init, .github/skills/beancount-init and .opencode/skills/beancount-init in your project.

What does Beancount Init need to run?

Going by SKILL.md and its folder, Beancount Init needs the command-line tools its instructions call (uv, make, git, python3, brew and curl). Our summary lists: Python 3.

Does Beancount Init access the network?

SKILL.md names 1 domain. In commands or code: astral.sh; the agent is likely to contact it when it follows the instructions. This is read from the text; nothing was executed.

Is Beancount Init safe to install?

Our automated static check of SKILL.md found notes only (pipes a well-known installer script into a shell), nothing it rates as a warning. It is not a guarantee. Review the folder before installing.

What licence does Beancount Init use?

Beancount Init is published under the MIT licence (the repository's licence). It allows redistribution, so the full SKILL.md is shown on this page.

How many tokens does Beancount Init use?

About 1.2k tokens (SKILL.md is roughly 5k characters). Agents keep only the skill's name and description in context until a task matches; then they load SKILL.md in full. Its references folder adds about 2.8k tokens, read only when the agent opens those files.

What are the alternatives to Beancount Init?

Skills that share tags, products or a category with Beancount Init: Sync Upstream (nyaruka/phonenumbers, 1.6k stars), Longbridge Value Investing (helsome/folio, 269 stars), Radiology Table (huang-sir1/radiology-skills, 1.9k stars) and Odoo Agency Fleet Review (erpipe-org/mcp-odoo, 420 stars). The comparison table on this page puts their stars, adoption, token cost, safety result and licence side by side.

Who maintains Beancount Init?

bex-co (a GitHub organization) maintains it in bex-co/beancount-io, which has 295 GitHub stars. The repository holds 27 skills in this directory. The repository was last updated on October 7, 2026.

Source: bex-co/beancount-io on GitHub. Facts on this page come from the repository at the commit we read; the author's words are quoted as theirs.

Install Beancount Init

Facts

At a glance

What it does

When your agent uses it

Example prompts

Requirements

Workflow steps

What it can do on your machine

Tool permissions

Runs code

Network

Credentials

Context cost

Safety

SKILL.md

beancount-init

Prefer bea

Step 1 — Preflight

Step 2 — Resolve the opening date

Step 3 — Write main.bean

Step 4 — Optional Fava browser setup

Port

uv project + Fava

Makefile

.gitignore

Step 5 — git init (only if needed)

Step 6 — Report

Files

Compare with similar skills

Similar skills

More from bex-co/beancount-io

Related

Questions about Beancount Init

Prefer `bea`

Step 3 — Write `main.bean`

`.gitignore`

Step 5 — `git init` (only if needed)