Buddy AI Setup & Cron Configuration

Configure Buddy AI for automated financial insights using Anthropic's Claude API.

Setup Checklist

code

Buddy AI Setup:
- [ ] Add ANTHROPIC_API_KEY to .env
- [ ] Install anthropic package (>=0.40.0)
- [ ] Create database tables (weekly_reflections, etc.)
- [ ] Test manual insight generation
- [ ] Set up 3 cron jobs (daily, weekly, monthly)
- [ ] Create logs directory
- [ ] Verify cron jobs installed

Quick Start

1. Add API Key

bash

# Add to .env file
echo "ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=sk-ant-your-key-here" >> .env

Get key from: https://console.anthropic.com/

2. Install Package

bash

source .venv/bin/activate
pip install anthropic>=0.40.0

3. Create Database Tables

bash

sqlite3 budget_buddy.db < backend/database/migrations/create_buddy_insights_tables.sql

Verify:

bash

sqlite3 budget_buddy.db ".tables" | grep -E "weekly|reflection"

Should show:

•weekly_reflections
•weekly_plans
•monthly_reflections

4. Test Manual Generation

bash

# Test daily insight
python backend/scripts/generate_buddy_daily.py

# Test weekly insight
python backend/scripts/generate_buddy_weekly.py

# Test monthly insight
python backend/scripts/generate_buddy_monthly.py

Expected output:

code

Generating daily insight...
Fetched 42 transactions from last 7 days
Calling Claude API...
Insight saved to database
Done!

5. Set Up Cron Jobs

bash

# Edit crontab
crontab -e

# Add these 3 lines (use absolute paths):
0 6 * * * /full/path/to/.venv/bin/python /full/path/to/backend/scripts/generate_buddy_daily.py >> /full/path/to/logs/buddy_daily.log 2>&1
0 6 * * 1 /full/path/to/.venv/bin/python /full/path/to/backend/scripts/generate_buddy_weekly.py >> /full/path/to/logs/buddy_weekly.log 2>&1
0 6 1 * * /full/path/to/.venv/bin/python /full/path/to/backend/scripts/generate_buddy_monthly.py >> /full/path/to/logs/buddy_monthly.log 2>&1

Schedule:

•Daily: 6 AM every day (rolling 7-day insights)
•Weekly: 6 AM every Monday (full week insights)
•Monthly: 6 AM 1st of month (monthly review)

6. Create Logs Directory

bash

mkdir -p logs

7. Verify Installation

bash

# Check cron jobs
crontab -l | grep buddy

# Should show 3 lines

Configuration

Model: claude-sonnet-4-20250514 Max Tokens: 1024 Temperature: 0.7 Rate Limit: 1 refresh per insight type per day

Config file: /backend/config/buddy_config.py

Customize model, tokens, or temperature if needed.

Insight Scripts

Daily (generate_buddy_daily.py):

•Last 7 days transactions (rolling)
•Quick spending analysis
•Budget comparison

Weekly (generate_buddy_weekly.py):

•Last Monday-Sunday
•Full week analysis
•Category breakdowns
•Recommendations

Monthly (generate_buddy_monthly.py):

•Full previous month
•Comprehensive review
•Budget vs actual
•Long-term trends

Common Issues

API Key Invalid

bash

# Check format (should start with sk-ant-)
grep ANTHROPIC_API_KEY .env

# Verify at console.anthropic.com
# Regenerate if needed

No Insights Generated

bash

# Run manually to see errors
python -u backend/scripts/generate_buddy_daily.py

# Check logs
tail -100 logs/buddy_daily.log

# Verify transactions exist
sqlite3 budget_buddy.db "SELECT COUNT(*) FROM transactions WHERE date >= date('now', '-7 days');"

Cron Jobs Not Running

bash

# View cron logs (macOS)
log show --predicate 'process == "cron"' --last 1h

# Verify absolute paths match
which python  # Should match crontab path

# Test cron syntax at https://crontab.guru/

Permission Denied

bash

# Make script executable
chmod +x backend/scripts/generate_buddy_daily.py

# Make logs writable
chmod 755 logs/

Testing

Test API Connection

python

import anthropic
import os
from dotenv import load_dotenv

load_dotenv()

client = anthropic.Anthropic(api_key=os.getenv('ANTHROPIC_API_KEY'))
response = client.messages.create(
    model='claude-sonnet-4-20250514',
    max_tokens=100,
    messages=[{'role': 'user', 'content': 'Say hello!'}]
)
print(response.content[0].text)

Verify Database

bash

sqlite3 budget_buddy.db "
SELECT week_start_date, substr(spending_summary, 1, 100)
FROM weekly_reflections
ORDER BY created_at DESC
LIMIT 1;
"

Detailed Setup & Troubleshooting

Complete cron configuration and troubleshooting: See CRON_SETUP.md

Includes:

•Cron syntax reference
•Detailed insight script documentation
•Full configuration options
•Complete troubleshooting guide
•API cost optimization tips
•Rate limiting implementation
•Frontend integration examples

Integration with Other Skills

•Full-Stack Setup - Requires ANTHROPIC_API_KEY from .env
•Backend Server Startup - API endpoints serve insights
•Database Migration Runner - Creates Buddy AI tables
•Development Diagnostics - Validates configuration

References

•CRON_SETUP.md - Complete cron and troubleshooting guide
•/backend/config/buddy_config.py - Configuration
•/backend/scripts/generate_buddy_*.py - Generation scripts
•Anthropic API: https://docs.anthropic.com/

Last Updated

January 1, 2026