Documentation

Saowa Budget Product Guide

Everything you need to launch, automate, and secure your zero-based budgeting workflow. These docs are public, printable, and kept in sync with the live platform.

Getting started

Sign up, invite your household, and create the first workspace.

Create your account

Use the Register page to set your display name, password, and preferred language. Saowa Budget enforces MFA once enabled.

Launch a workspace

The onboarding dialog seeds fixed obligations, essential, lifestyle, goal, and savings categories so your first budget is ready in seconds.

Connect accounts or import CSVs

Upload transactions via the Imports area or connect integrations (Plaid, Stripe, QuickBooks) from Settings → Integrations.

Budget & automation engine

Plan across envelopes, run automation rules, and approve scheduled transactions.

Zero-based planning

Create monthly or multi-month budgets per workspace. Every dollar is assigned to a category and tracked with live activity and available columns.

Scheduled transactions

Template recurring inflows/outflows and require explicit approval the day they become available. Posting creates real transactions that respect locks and budget rollups.

Automation rules

Rules learn from categories and merchants, automatically assigning buckets to new transactions while surfacing pending items in the review queue.

Security & operations

Bank-grade controls with real-time telemetry and audit logs.

Multi-factor authentication

Enable TOTP from Profile → Security. Scan the QR code with any authenticator app, verify the 6-digit code, and keep backup secrets in a secure vault.

Refresh-token integrity

Every refresh token is single-use. Replays instantly revoke all sessions and raise an audit event, visible in the Admin → Security tab.

Observability

Background jobs (scheduler broadcaster, integrity scanner) emit telemetry and surface in Admin metrics so you can ensure SLAs are green.

Collaboration & support

Invite collaborators, manage workspaces, and lean on support.

Workspace members

Share budgets with partners, coaches, or cohorts. Presence indicators show active sessions across devices, and locks prevent edits to finalized periods.

Snapshots & recovery

Create point-in-time snapshots before major adjustments. Snapshots include budgets, transactions, and automations for rapid restore.

Help & feedback

Use the Feedback tab to submit ideas or issues. Release notes and admin audit logs are accessible to site admins without impacting end users.

API access & integrations

Automate your own workflows using the same secure API Saowa relies on internally.

Generate API tokens

Visit Profile → Security to mint personal API keys. Each key inherits your workspace permissions and can be revoked instantly if lost.

Swagger & OpenAPI

The live API reference is available at /api/docs with schema-backed request/response samples. Export the spec to Postman, Insomnia, or codegen tools.

Best practices

Store tokens in a secret manager, prefer HTTPS endpoints, and send x-api-key headers alongside workspace IDs to stay inside Row-Level Security boundaries.

Quickstart: copy the API key from Profile → Security, then call /workspaces.

Request

curl \
  -H "x-api-key: nbk_xxxxxxxxxxxxx" \
  -H "accept: application/json" \
  https://saowabudget.example/api/v1/workspaces

Response

[
  {
    "id": "ws_01HXR6W9X0",
    "name": "Household Budget",
    "currencyCode": "USD",
    "memberCount": 2,
    "updatedAt": "2025-02-05T17:21:33.120Z"
  }
]

Each request must include x-api-key and will enforce Row-Level Security the same as the Saowa app.

Saowa Budget – Lightning-fast zero-based budgeting