Managing third-party apps and AI assistants

The consent screen

Every time you authorize an app or assistant, you approve it on a Synci-hosted consent screen. It shows:

• Who is asking. The app or assistant's name, its developer, and links to its website and privacy policy if it has them.

• Whether Synci has approved it. An app that Synci hasn't approved yet shows This app has not been approved by Synci, with a reminder that it should only be used for testing. AI assistants register themselves and are never reviewed by Synci, so instead you see Connecting an AI assistant: a reminder that Synci does not verify AI assistants, plus the address the access will be delivered to, so you can check it matches the app you're connecting. Assistants that Synci recognises skip this notice.

• The exact permissions being requested, in plain language, such as "View your accounts and balances" or "View and manage your transactions". If an app asks to see your full account identifiers (IBAN, account and card numbers, account-holder names), the permission says including sensitive identifiers, and What are sensitive identifiers? explains exactly what that reveals. When an app you already use asks for more, the new permissions are marked Newly requested.

• An account picker. If the app asks for permissions that cover your accounts, the button says Select accounts, and the next screen asks which accounts it can access. Pick specific ones, or choose Share all accounts, including ones you connect later.

• Authorize or Cancel. Permissions are all-or-nothing: you either authorize the app with the permissions it asks for, or cancel. You can't approve some permissions and drop others, though you do control which accounts it can see. If a requested permission is more than you're comfortable with, cancel and let the developer know.

AI assistants need a Synci subscription. If you don't have one, the consent screen tells you the assistant needs a Synci subscription: you can finish connecting, but it won't work until you subscribe.

Your password is never shared with the app or assistant.

Per-account access control

An app or assistant only ever sees the accounts you selected at consent. This is enforced everywhere account data is read, including data embedded inside other responses, so a connection can never reach an account you didn't grant.

For AI assistants, you can change this later one account at a time: open the account, go to its Linked Accounts tab, and switch the assistant on or off under Direct access.

Where your connections live

• Third-party apps you've authorized through Connect with Synci appear under Settings > Account > Connected apps (open Settings from the user menu at the bottom of the sidebar). Each entry shows the app's developer, when you authorized it, its Permissions, and its Account access.

• AI assistants connected over MCP appear on the AI Assistants page (under Integrations in the sidebar, or in All integrations), under Connected assistants. Each entry shows the assistant, its developer, when you connected it, the permission it holds, and which accounts it can read.

For an overview of everything that can read your accounts, open the Linked Accounts page: its Direct access section lists your AI assistants, connected apps, webhooks, Actual Budget and SimpleFIN apps in one place.

Revoking access

You can revoke any app or assistant at any time:

• For apps: open Settings > Account > Connected apps and click Revoke access on the one you want to remove.

• For assistants: open the AI Assistants page and click Disconnect.

Revoking takes effect immediately, and any webhook endpoints the app created are removed with it. To reconnect later, you'll go through the consent screen again.

What apps and assistants never see

Sensitive identifiers are stripped before data leaves Synci, and the two kinds of connection differ:

• AI assistants (MCP): IBANs and account numbers, card numbers, phone numbers, and account-holder names are always hidden. There's no way for an assistant to see them.

• Third-party apps: the same identifiers are hidden by default. An app can only see your account numbers if it requests the sensitive identifiers permission and you authorize the app. If it doesn't request that permission, it only ever gets the redacted version.

What apps and assistants can change

AI assistants connected over MCP are always read-only. Third-party apps can ask for more. Depending on what an app requests, it may be able to:

• Update, sync and remove your financial accounts, and change their settings.

• Create, update and delete transactions.

• Create, update and delete transfer links, rules, webhook endpoints and destinations.

• Manage your connected institutions.

Each of these is listed on the consent screen (for example "View and manage your transactions"), so you can see exactly what an app will be able to change before you authorize it.

Write access only ever applies to your data in Synci. No app or assistant can move money or make payments through Synci, because Synci's own access to your institutions is read-only.

Notifications

For security, Synci notifies you when:

• You connect a new app or assistant, so an unexpected authorization is always visible.

• You disconnect an app or assistant.

• An app you use is removed or suspended, which ends its access.

• An app you use requests additional permissions. It keeps its current access and can't use the new permissions until you approve them, which it will ask you to do the next time it connects.

These notifications are sent by email and in-app by default. To change that, go to Settings > Notification settings and adjust Connected app activity.

If you ever get a connection notification you didn't expect, revoke the app or assistant from the relevant screen and reach out to us.