{"slug": "show-hn-openargentum-self-hosted-finance-manager-you-talk-to", "title": "Show HN: OpenArgentum – Self-hosted finance manager you talk to", "summary": "OpenArgentum, a self-hosted AI-powered personal finance manager, launched on Hacker News. The tool lets users import bank statements and interact with an AI assistant named Aurelia to query and manage their finances via conversation, with no cloud sync or telemetry.", "body_md": "A self-hosted, AI-powered personal finance manager. No account, no cloud sync, no telemetry — you run it, you own your data.\n\n*For people who check in on their finances every few weeks — not every day.\nDump in your statements, then let Aurelia make sense of it all.*\n\n[ GitHub Repository](https://github.com/amithmathew/OpenArgentum)\n·\n\n`./start.sh`\n\nhandles everything. No Docker, no database server, no config files.\n\n**You need:** Python 3.11+, Node.js 20.19+, and a [Google Gemini API key](https://aistudio.google.com/apikey) (or existing Google Cloud Application Default Credentials). **Use a paid-tier key for real financial data** — see [Configuration](#configuration) for why.\n\n```\ngit clone https://github.com/amithmathew/OpenArgentum.git\ncd OpenArgentum\n./start.sh\n```\n\nOpen **http://localhost:8099** and the onboarding wizard will walk you through setup.\n\nThat’s it.`start.sh`\n\ncreates a Python virtual environment, installs all dependencies, builds the app, and starts the server. See[Getting Started]for a detailed walkthrough.\n\nOpenArgentum ships with a demo database of realistic (synthetic) transactions and a sample statement, so you can evaluate it before pointing it at your own finances.\n\n**Look around now — no API key:**\n\n`./start.sh --demo`\n\nto boot straight in).Browsing makes no external calls and needs no key. Any changes reset when you restart.\n\n**Try the AI features — add a key, use our sample:**\n\nThe signature features — statement import and the Aurelia assistant — call Gemini, so they need an API key. To test them without touching your real data, add a key and import the bundled `demo/sample_statement.pdf`\n\n. It’s synthetic, so a free key is fine for this — watch OpenArgentum extract and categorize every transaction, then ask Aurelia about it.\n\n**From demo to your own data:**\n\nDone looking around? The way out depends on how you got in:\n\n`./start.sh --demo`\n\n?`./start.sh`\n\nto begin setup.Either way, the demo data stays put in `demo.db`\n\nif you ever want it back. Before importing real statements, see [Configuration](#configuration) — Google recommends the paid terms if personal information is involved.\n\nDrop your bank and credit card statements into OpenArgentum and let AI do the rest.\n\nAurelia is your AI finance assistant. She lives inside OpenArgentum, has direct access to your data, and can answer questions, build charts, and make changes – all through conversation.\n\nAurelia isn’t a chatbot bolted onto a dashboard — she’s the primary interface. She has a full analytical loop: she can query and aggregate your transactions, compare periods, generate charts inline as you talk, navigate you to the filtered transaction view, write and search notes on transactions, and make bulk edits with your approval.\n\nThis matters most when you’re doing archaeology. If you only look at your finances every few weeks, you’re facing a pile of transactions with no memory of what half of them were. Static dashboards only answer questions you anticipated when you built them. Aurelia answers the question you just thought of:\n\n“I travelled to Japan in early May — find transactions in that period that are in yen or look travel-related, and assign them to a Japan trip project.”\n\nShe reasons about which transactions qualify, makes the changes with your approval, and drops you into the filtered view when she’s done.\n\n“How much did I spend on dining out last quarter?”\n\n“Show me my grocery spending by store over the last 3 months”\n\n“What’s my average monthly grocery bill?”\n\nAurelia queries your data, summarizes the answer, and renders charts right in the chat.\n\n“Why were my January expenses so much higher than December?”\n\n“Compare my essential vs discretionary spending this year”\n\nAurelia breaks down the numbers, highlights what changed, and explains why.\n\n“Tag all my Ticketmaster expenses as Impulse and move them to discretionary”\n\n“Create a project called ‘Home Renovation’ and add all Home Depot transactions”\n\nAurelia shows you exactly what will change and waits for your approval. Every change can be undone with one click.\n\nAurelia remembers your past conversations. Pick up where you left off, or start a new chat anytime.\n\nSee where your money goes at a glance.\n\nEvery transaction at your fingertips.\n\nOrganize your spending the way that makes sense to you.\n\nTrack spending against goals.\n\nEight built-in color themes.\n\n**Light:** Mist, Rose, Sage, Ember, Ocean, Slate – **Dark:** Nightfall, Aurora\n\nRun with `./start.sh --headless`\n\nto access OpenArgentum from any device on your local trusted network. A PIN is generated automatically to keep things secure. The UI is fully responsive with touch-optimized controls, so it works just as well from your phone.\n\nOpenArgentum stores everything locally and reaches out to exactly one external service, on purpose.\n\n`--headless`\n\n, it’s protected by an auto-generated PIN with brute-force protection.To read and categorize your statements, OpenArgentum sends the files you import to Google’s Gemini API. **Google’s data protection terms differ by billing tier:**\n\nUltimately, this is your call. Pick the option you’re comfortable with, and review Google’s current terms before you commit.\n\nSources: [Gemini API Additional Terms](https://ai.google.dev/gemini-api/terms) · [Data logging policy](https://ai.google.dev/gemini-api/docs/logs-policy) · [Vertex AI data governance](https://cloud.google.com/vertex-ai/generative-ai/docs/data-governance)\n\nOpenArgentum is an independent, open-source project. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Google. Google, Gemini, Google Cloud, and Vertex AI are trademarks of Google LLC.\n\nYour data is safe across updates. Pull the latest code and restart:\n\n```\ngit pull\n./start.sh\n```\n\nYour database, config, and uploaded files live in the `data/`\n\ndirectory which is never touched by git. Database migrations run automatically on startup.\n\nFor **real financial data, Google recommends their paid data terms** — see [Sending your data to Google Gemini](#sending-your-data-to-google-gemini) above for why. Both options below work; enabling [Cloud Billing](https://ai.google.dev/gemini-api/docs/billing) on your key’s project (Option A) or using Google Cloud credentials (Option B) puts you on the paid terms.\n\n**Option A: API Key**\n\n**Option B: Google Cloud credentials (Vertex AI)** — enterprise data terms\n\n`gcloud auth application-default login`\n\n| Variable | Default | Description |\n|---|---|---|\n`GOOGLE_API_KEY` |\n– | Gemini API key (can also be set through the UI) |\n`GEMINI_MODEL` |\n`gemini-2.5-flash` |\nGemini model to use |\n`PORT` |\n`8099` |\nServer port |\n\nMost users won’t need these – the UI handles everything.\n\n```\n./start.sh                         # Start the app\n./start.sh --demo                  # Boot into the demo database (no key, no onboarding)\n./start.sh --dev                   # Development mode with hot reload\n./start.sh --headless              # Enable network access (auto-generates PIN)\n./start.sh --headless --pin 1234   # Network access with a specific PIN\n./start.sh --help                  # Show all options\nopenargentum/\n  start.sh              # One-command setup and launch\n  run.py                # Server entry point\n\n  backend/              # Python + FastAPI\n    app.py              # App init, auth middleware, routing\n    config.py           # Paths, env vars, config helpers\n    database.py         # SQLite schema and migrations\n    models.py           # Request/response models\n    routers/            # REST API endpoints\n    services/           # Gemini client, ingestion, categorization,\n                        #   chat tools, mutations\n\n  frontend/             # React + Vite + TailwindCSS\n    src/\n      pages/            # Dashboard, Transactions, Categories,\n                        #   Projects, Import, Settings\n      components/       # ChatPanel (Aurelia), OnboardingWizard,\n                        #   AppLogo, InstitutionIcon\n      hooks/            # useIsMobile\n\n  data/                 # Created at runtime (gitignored)\n    finance.db          # SQLite database\n    config.json         # App configuration\n    statements/         # Uploaded files\n    snapshots/          # Database snapshots\n    sandboxes/          # Aurelia analysis sandbox DBs\n```\n\n**Backend:** Python 3, FastAPI, SQLite, google-genai SDK, pdfplumber\n\n**Frontend:** React 19, Vite, TailwindCSS, Recharts, TanStack React Query\n\n**AI:** Google Gemini 2.5 Flash\n\n```\n./start.sh --dev\n```\n\nThis starts the Vite dev server with hot module replacement and the backend with auto-reload. The Vite dev server proxies `/api`\n\nrequests to the backend.\n\nOpenArgentum is licensed under the **GNU Affero General Public License v3.0 (AGPL-3.0)**.\n\nContributions are welcome — they require signing our [Contributor License Agreement](/CLA.html)\n(a one-time comment on your first pull request). See [LICENSE_FAQ.md](/LICENSE_FAQ.html) and\n[CONTRIBUTING.md](/CONTRIBUTING.md).\n\n*OpenArgentum is a personal bookkeeping and analysis tool — not financial, investment, tax, accounting, or legal advice. AI-generated categorizations and insights can be incomplete or incorrect; always verify against your original statements and consult a qualified professional before making financial decisions.*", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/show-hn-openargentum-self-hosted-finance-manager-you-talk-to", "canonical_source": "https://openargentum.org/", "published_at": "2026-07-14 13:37:35+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-07-14 13:48:05.501438+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["artificial-intelligence", "ai-products", "ai-tools", "generative-ai", "natural-language-processing"], "entities": ["OpenArgentum", "Aurelia", "Google Gemini", "GitHub", "Hacker News"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/show-hn-openargentum-self-hosted-finance-manager-you-talk-to", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/show-hn-openargentum-self-hosted-finance-manager-you-talk-to.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/show-hn-openargentum-self-hosted-finance-manager-you-talk-to.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/show-hn-openargentum-self-hosted-finance-manager-you-talk-to.jsonld"}}