A practical guide to setting up ShekelSync, understanding your data, and using its dashboards, analysis, investments, and privacy controls with confidence.
Windows, macOS & Linux
Local-first data model
Setup and feature guidance
ShekelSync is a local-first desktop app. Saved credentials are encrypted at rest on your device and used locally to sign in directly to your bank or card provider during synchronization. Your device security and the release you install are part of the trust model.
Review security assumptionsFollow this path on your first day with ShekelSync. Each step builds on the previous one and mirrors the onboarding checklist inside the app.
ShekelSync works differently from a hosted finance service: the desktop app and its local database run on your computer.
Good to know: Read the security notice on the installation page before entering real financial credentials.
The installation page detects your platform and links to the latest published ShekelSync release.
Good to know: Operating systems may show an extra security prompt for community or unsigned builds. Only continue when the file came from the official release page.
On first launch, finish any registration or access prompt shown by the app, then complete the profile step in the onboarding checklist.
Good to know: Financial profiling uses profile details only when you explicitly generate an assessment.
Use Add Account in the sidebar. The app guides you through the institution hierarchy and requests only the fields required by that provider.
Good to know: Saved credentials are encrypted locally. One-time OTP codes are entered when required and are not stored.
Open Sync Transactions and start a sync after your accounts are connected. Progress continues in the background while you use the app.
Good to know: A sync can finish after you close the progress window; ShekelSync notifies the rest of the app when fresh data is ready.
Treat the first import as a review pass. Correcting early classifications gives later dashboards and rules a stronger foundation.
Good to know: If the current month is missing card activity, inspect unmatched accounts and run the offered recovery sync before judging totals.
Overview brings the current financial picture together after enough synchronized data is available.
Good to know: Unexpected totals usually come from stale syncs, missing card transactions, pairing gaps, or categories that still need review.
Once the basics are correct, add the features that make ShekelSync useful as an ongoing financial workspace.
Good to know: Add complexity gradually. Reliable accounts, pairing, and categories matter more than enabling every analysis on day one.
Use this section as a reference after setup. It follows the app's four main workspaces and the supporting account, category, search, and settings tools.
Accounts Management separates Banking & Transactions from Investments & Savings and provides actions for the full account lifecycle.
Good to know: Deleting an account can also remove associated local data and cannot be undone; export anything you need first.
ShekelSync keeps transaction review close to the charts so you can move from a trend to its underlying records.
Good to know: Open a transaction from a chart or search result before editing so you can verify its institution, date, amount, and existing classification.
Categories explain spending; rules automate repeated decisions; pairing prevents card purchases and their bank settlement from being counted twice.
Good to know: Pairing links related records; it is different from categorization and should not be used merely because two amounts look similar.
Overview is the operational summary for the selected period, combining balances, current-month movement, spending structure, and forward-looking estimates.
Good to know: Pending card settlements are already included where the interface says so; do not add them to expenses a second time.
Analysis contains seven focused tabs so deeper tools do not overwhelm the everyday dashboard.
Good to know: Resolve, dismiss, or snooze smart actions with a note so the action list remains useful instead of becoming noise.
The Investments workspace combines synced and manually maintained holdings into portfolio, allocation, history, and balance-sheet views.
Good to know: Keep valuation dates and cost basis consistent; stale or mixed-date manual values can distort performance and allocation.
AI features are optional tools for explaining tracked information, generating profiling narratives, and turning patterns into possible next actions.
Good to know: AI output may be incomplete or wrong. Treat it as an explanation aid, not professional financial, legal, or tax advice.
Settings is divided into five tabs that separate personal configuration from data, privacy, and system operations.
Good to know: After changing sync or privacy settings, read the confirmation message and verify the new state before closing the page.
Local-first reduces hosted data exposure, but it also makes device security, exports, backups, and local maintenance your responsibility.
Good to know: Store exported financial data only in an encrypted location and delete old copies you no longer need.
Protect your local data, configure optional connections, resolve common problems, and understand the financial terms used throughout ShekelSync.
A database backup preserves the local ShekelSync database in a restorable file. It is different from a CSV or JSON export intended for spreadsheets and external analysis.
Good to know: Restoring replaces the current local database. Create a fresh backup first, stop active synchronization, and treat every backup as sensitive financial data.
Use Settings → System → Data Export when you need readable data for tax preparation, spreadsheets, analysis, or a portable archive that does not contain authentication secrets.
Good to know: An export is not a restorable ShekelSync database backup. Exports exclude sensitive authentication information by default, but still contain private financial records.
These connections are optional. Enable only the service you need, understand what it receives, and keep every token or API key private.
Setup: Open Settings → Sync, enable automatic synchronization, choose one of the offered intervals, and review startup, tray, headless, and browser-display options.
The panel shows the last result and next planned run. The computer and the configured app or tray process must be available when a background run is due.
Setup: Open Settings → Sync → Telegram, save your bot token, begin pairing, and send the displayed pairing code to your bot.
Choose the delivery mode and whether scheduled-sync results should be sent. Use Send test before depending on the connection.
Setup: Open Settings → Privacy & Security, enable the chatbot, add your OpenAI API key, select a model tier, and grant only the transaction, category, or analytics permissions you want.
Requests use your own API key and the permissions selected in ShekelSync. Model output can be incomplete or incorrect and may incur provider charges.
Setup: Create an IBKR Flex Query under Reports → Flex Queries, then add Interactive Brokers in Accounts Management and enter the Flex Query token and Query ID.
The credentials can be added later from account details. Confirm the query is available and portfolio values appear after the first successful synchronization.
Setup: Open Settings → System → Diagnostics and choose whether to enable crash reporting when the packaged build supports it.
The panel shows whether reporting is supported, configured, and opted in. Diagnostics can still be inspected or exported locally.
Good to know: Never paste bank passwords, OTP codes, bot tokens, Flex tokens, OpenAI keys, or unredacted diagnostic data into a public post.
The title-bar update control and the System tab provide the version and operational context needed to maintain the app or report a reproducible problem.
Good to know: A useful report includes the app version, operating system, institution or feature, approximate time, exact visible error, expected result, and steps that reproduce it.
Start with the visible symptom, protect the current data, and use the least destructive action that tests the likely cause.
| Symptom | Likely cause | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Sync fails immediately | The institution, identifier, password, or provider login flow changed. | Open Accounts Management, verify the institution and saved identifier fields, update the current password, and try one controlled sync. |
| OTP is rejected or expires | The code is time-limited, belongs to an earlier attempt, or was entered in the wrong provider flow. | Wait for the active prompt, request a fresh code, enter it once, and never save the OTP as a password or permanent credential. |
| A cooldown or retry block appears | The bank or card provider is rate-limiting login attempts. | Stop retrying and wait until the displayed retry time. Verify credentials before the next attempt. |
| Credit-card spending is missing | The card account is stale, unmatched, or did not return the expected period. | Open Pair Accounts, inspect unmatched accounts and freshness, then use Recovery Sync when ShekelSync offers it. |
| Expenses look duplicated | Card purchases and their bank settlement are not paired, or duplicate imported records remain. | Review the matching bank and card records in Pair Accounts. Confirm dates and amounts before linking or excluding duplicates. |
| Automatic sync did not run | Automatic sync, startup, or tray execution is disabled, the device was unavailable, or the previous run was blocked. | Open Settings → Sync, review the enabled state, next-run time, tray/startup options, and last result, then run Sync now as a test. |
| Dashboard remains out of date | A sync is still running, completed partially, or one connected account remains stale. | Wait for completion, compare account freshness and transaction counts, then reopen the view. Investigate any account that still shows an older timestamp. |
| IBKR imports no portfolio data | The Flex Query token, Query ID, query availability, or selected IBKR account is incorrect. | Verify the Flex Query in IBKR Reports, update the token and Query ID in account details, then retry the IBKR synchronization. |
| Restored data looks older than expected | The selected backup is an earlier snapshot or the app needs to reload the restored database. | Restart when prompted, verify the backup date and key records, and run a fresh sync only after confirming that the correct snapshot was restored. |
Good to know: Do not delete and recreate an account as the first troubleshooting step; deletion can remove associated local records and make diagnosis harder.
These definitions explain how common labels are used inside ShekelSync. They are product definitions, not accounting, tax, or investment advice.
Good to know: If a number looks wrong, verify the period, source accounts, last sync, categories, pairing, and underlying transactions before interpreting the result.
Documentation should reflect the product users actually see. Share corrections, vote on community posts, or request the next walkthrough.