Getting Started

If you're new to Beancount-format files or double-entry accounting in general, we recommend Command-line Accounting in Context, a motivational document written by Martin Blais, the creator of the Beancount format.

To learn how to create your ledger file, refer to Getting Started with Beancount guide. There is extensive documentation for the Beancount file format at the Beancount Documentation page.

Installation

Rustfava runs on macOS, Linux, and Windows. You will need Python 3 and uv.

Then you can install rustfava or update your existing installation by running:

uv pip install --upgrade rustfava

Rustfava uses rustledger, a Rust-based parser compiled to WebAssembly, to parse your Beancount files. No separate Beancount installation is required.

If you want to export query results to Microsoft Excel or LibreOffice Calc, use the following command to install the optional dependencies for this feature:

uv pip install --upgrade rustfava[excel]

Starting Rustfava

After installing rustfava, you can start it by running:

rustfava ledger.beancount

pointing it to your Beancount file -- and visit the web interface at http://localhost:5000.

There are some command-line options available, run rustfava --help for an overview.

For more information on rustfava's features, refer to the help pages that are available through rustfava's web-interface. Rustfava comes with Gmail-style keyboard shortcuts; press ? to show an overview.