Receipt Scanning Tools Skill

Project Overview

This skill helps you work with the receipt scanning tools in the nonprofit_finance_db project. It includes manual entry tools, automated OCR scanning, and database integration for tracking receipts and expenses.

Critical Project Paths

Virtual Environment

# Virtual environment location (IMPORTANT!)
VENV_PATH=/home/adamsl/planner/.venv

# Always activate before running Python scripts:
source /home/adamsl/planner/.venv/bin/activate

Project Root

PROJECT_ROOT=/home/adamsl/planner/nonprofit_finance_db

Receipt Scanning Tools Directory

TOOLS_DIR=/home/adamsl/planner/nonprofit_finance_db/receipt_scanning_tools

Key Files

Receipt Tools:

• receipt_scanning_tools/receipt_tools_menu.py

  - Main menu for all receipt tools

• receipt_scanning_tools/manual_entry.py

  - Manual receipt entry CLI tool

• receipt_scanning_tools/delete_expenses_by_date.py

  - Delete expenses by date tool

Backend Services:

• app/services/receipt_parser.py

  - Receipt parsing service

• app/services/receipt_engine.py

  - AI-powered OCR engine

• app/api/receipt_endpoints.py

  - REST API endpoints

• app/models/receipt_models.py

  - Data models

• app/db/pool.py

  - Database connection pool

Database Schema

Categories Table

-- Actual schema (no category_path column!)
CREATE TABLE categories (
    id INT PRIMARY KEY AUTO_INCREMENT,
    name VARCHAR(255) NOT NULL,
    parent_id INT,
    created_at TIMESTAMP DEFAULT CURRENT_TIMESTAMP,
    FOREIGN KEY (parent_id) REFERENCES categories(id)
);

-- To get full category path, use recursive query:
WITH RECURSIVE category_hierarchy AS (
    SELECT id, name, parent_id, name as full_path
    FROM categories
    WHERE parent_id IS NULL
    UNION ALL
    SELECT c.id, c.name, c.parent_id,
           CONCAT(ch.full_path, ' > ', c.name) as full_path
    FROM categories c
    INNER JOIN category_hierarchy ch ON c.parent_id = ch.id
)
SELECT * FROM category_hierarchy ORDER BY full_path;

Merchants Table

CREATE TABLE merchants (
    id BIGINT UNSIGNED PRIMARY KEY AUTO_INCREMENT,
    name VARCHAR(255) NOT NULL UNIQUE,
    category VARCHAR(100),
    notes TEXT,
    created_at TIMESTAMP DEFAULT CURRENT_TIMESTAMP,
    updated_at TIMESTAMP DEFAULT CURRENT_TIMESTAMP ON UPDATE CURRENT_TIMESTAMP,
    INDEX idx_name (name),
    INDEX idx_category (category)
);

-- Categories for church non-profit:
-- Gifts and Love Offerings: Guiding Light, Mel Trotter Ministries,
--                            Salvation Army, Samaritan Purse, Jews for Jesus,
--                            Intercessors for America, Segals in Israel,
--                            Chosen People, Columbia Orphanage, Right to Life,
--                            Johnsons in Dominican Republic, Jewish Voice
-- Ministers and Workers: EG Adams, Snowplow Person
-- Presents for ROL Friends and Members: James Abney, Cliff Baker, Annie Baker,
--                                        Karen Cook, Richard Meninga, Karen Roark,
--                                        Hannah Schneider, Rebecca Esposito,
--                                        Karen Vander Vliet, Mark Vander Vliet,
--                                        Alexander Vander Vliet, John Roark,
--                                        Joshua McKay, Eddie Hoekstra, Ian Gonzalez
-- Food & Supplies: Meijer, Gordon Foods, Walmart, Target, Costco,
--                  Sams Club, Kroger, Aldi, Family Fare, Spartan Stores

Expenses Table

CREATE TABLE expenses (
    id BIGINT UNSIGNED PRIMARY KEY AUTO_INCREMENT,
    org_id BIGINT UNSIGNED NOT NULL,
    expense_date DATE NOT NULL,
    amount DECIMAL(12,2) NOT NULL,
    category_id BIGINT UNSIGNED,
    merchant_id BIGINT UNSIGNED,  -- Links to merchants table
    method ENUM('CASH','CARD','BANK','OTHER'),
    description VARCHAR(255),
    receipt_url VARCHAR(500),
    paid_by_contact_id BIGINT UNSIGNED,
    created_at TIMESTAMP DEFAULT CURRENT_TIMESTAMP,
    FOREIGN KEY (org_id) REFERENCES organizations(id),
    FOREIGN KEY (category_id) REFERENCES categories(id),
    FOREIGN KEY (merchant_id) REFERENCES merchants(id)
);

Receipt Metadata Table

CREATE TABLE receipt_metadata (
    id INT PRIMARY KEY AUTO_INCREMENT,
    expense_id INT NOT NULL,
    model_name VARCHAR(100),
    confidence_score DECIMAL(3,2),
    raw_response TEXT,
    created_at TIMESTAMP DEFAULT CURRENT_TIMESTAMP,
    FOREIGN KEY (expense_id) REFERENCES expenses(id)
);

Common Commands

Database Inspection

# Connect to database (with venv activated)
source /home/adamsl/planner/.venv/bin/activate
cd /home/adamsl/planner/nonprofit_finance_db

# Check categories structure
python3 -c "
from app.db import get_connection
with get_connection() as conn:
    cursor = conn.cursor()
    cursor.execute('DESCRIBE categories')
    for row in cursor.fetchall():
        print(row)
"

# View categories with hierarchy
python3 -c "
from app.db import get_connection
with get_connection() as conn:
    cursor = conn.cursor()
    cursor.execute('''
        WITH RECURSIVE category_hierarchy AS (
            SELECT id, name, parent_id, name as full_path, 0 as level
            FROM categories
            WHERE parent_id IS NULL
            UNION ALL
            SELECT c.id, c.name, c.parent_id,
                   CONCAT(ch.full_path, \" > \", c.name) as full_path,
                   ch.level + 1
            FROM categories c
            INNER JOIN category_hierarchy ch ON c.parent_id = ch.id
        )
        SELECT id, name, full_path FROM category_hierarchy ORDER BY full_path
    ''')
    for row in cursor.fetchall():
        print(f'{row[0]:3d} | {row[1]:30s} | {row[2]}')
"

Running Tools

# Always activate venv first!
source /home/adamsl/planner/.venv/bin/activate
cd /home/adamsl/planner/nonprofit_finance_db

# Run main receipt tools menu (RECOMMENDED)
python3 receipt_scanning_tools/receipt_tools_menu.py

# Or run individual tools directly:
python3 receipt_scanning_tools/manual_entry.py
python3 receipt_scanning_tools/delete_expenses_by_date.py

# Other services:
python3 api_server.py  # API server
python3 scripts/view_transactions.py  # Transaction viewer

Typical Workflows

Workflow 1: Manual Receipt Entry

1. Activate virtual environment
2. Run manual entry tool
3. Select merchant from categorized menu:
   • Gifts and Love Offerings (12 ministries: Guiding Light, Mel Trotter, Salvation Army, Samaritan Purse, Jews for Jesus, etc.)
   • Ministers and Workers (2 people: EG Adams, Snowplow Person)
   • Presents for ROL Friends and Members (15 people: James Abney, Baker family, Karen Cook, etc.)
   • Food & Supplies (grocery stores: Meijer, Gordon Foods, Walmart, etc.)
   • Option to add custom merchant with category
4. Enter receipt amount and date
5. Select expense category from hierarchical list
6. Review summary and confirm
7. Save to database

Merchant Selection Features:

• Organized by category for church non-profit giving and ministry
• Pre-populated with actual ministry partners and recipients
• Separate categories for love offerings, worker support, and member gifts
• Option to add custom merchant names with category selection (5 categories)
• Merchants stored in database for reuse across entries
• Alphabetically sorted within each category

Workflow 2: Fix Schema Issues

When you encounter column errors like "Unknown column 'category_path'":

1. Check actual table schema:

   from app.db import get_connection
   with get_connection() as conn:
       cursor = conn.cursor()
       cursor.execute('DESCRIBE categories')
       print(cursor.fetchall())
   

2. Update query to use actual columns

3. Use recursive CTE for hierarchical path if needed

Workflow 3: Add New Receipt Scanning Tool

1. Create new Python file in

   receipt_scanning_tools/

2. Import database connection:

   from app.db import get_connection

3. Use Rich library for CLI formatting
4. Follow pattern from

   manual_entry.py

5. Make executable:

   chmod +x receipt_scanning_tools/your_tool.py

Environment Configuration

Database Connection

# Environment variables in .env file
DB_HOST=127.0.0.1
DB_PORT=3306
NON_PROFIT_USER=adamsl
NON_PROFIT_PASSWORD=<password>
NON_PROFIT_DB_NAME=nonprofit_finance

API Keys

# For AI-powered OCR
GEMINI_API_KEY=<your_key>

Code Patterns

Getting Merchants

from app.db import get_connection

def get_merchants():
    """Fetch merchants from database"""
    with get_connection() as conn:
        cursor = conn.cursor()
        cursor.execute("""
            SELECT id, name, category
            FROM merchants
            ORDER BY name
        """)
        return cursor.fetchall()

Adding a New Merchant

from app.db import get_connection

def add_merchant(name, category="Food & Supplies"):
    """Add a new merchant to the database"""
    with get_connection() as conn:
        cursor = conn.cursor()
        cursor.execute("""
            INSERT INTO merchants (name, category)
            VALUES (%s, %s)
        """, (name, category))
        conn.commit()
        return cursor.lastrowid

Getting Categories with Full Path

from app.db import get_connection

def get_categories_with_path():
    """Fetch categories with full hierarchical path"""
    with get_connection() as conn:
        cursor = conn.cursor()
        cursor.execute("""
            WITH RECURSIVE category_hierarchy AS (
                SELECT id, name, parent_id, name as full_path
                FROM categories
                WHERE parent_id IS NULL
                UNION ALL
                SELECT c.id, c.name, c.parent_id,
                       CONCAT(ch.full_path, ' > ', c.name) as full_path
                FROM categories c
                INNER JOIN category_hierarchy ch ON c.parent_id = ch.id
            )
            SELECT id, name, full_path
            FROM category_hierarchy
            ORDER BY full_path
        """)
        return cursor.fetchall()

Saving an Expense

from app.db import get_connection
from datetime import datetime

def save_expense(org_id, date, amount, category_id, description):
    """Save expense to database"""
    with get_connection() as conn:
        cursor = conn.cursor()
        cursor.execute("""
            INSERT INTO expenses (
                org_id, expense_date, amount, category_id,
                payment_method, description, created_at
            )
            VALUES (%s, %s, %s, %s, %s, %s, %s)
        """, (
            org_id,
            date,
            amount,
            category_id,
            "CASH",
            description,
            datetime.now()
        ))
        conn.commit()
        return cursor.lastrowid

Using Rich for CLI Output

from rich.console import Console
from rich.table import Table
from rich.prompt import Prompt, FloatPrompt, Confirm
from rich import box

console = Console()

# Display table
table = Table(box=box.ROUNDED, show_header=True)
table.add_column("ID", style="cyan")
table.add_column("Name", style="yellow")
table.add_row("1", "Groceries")
console.print(table)

# Get user input
amount = FloatPrompt.ask("Enter amount")
confirm = Confirm.ask("Save this?")

Troubleshooting

Issue: "Unknown column 'category_path'"

Cause: Query assumes column that doesn't exist in schema Fix: Use recursive CTE to build hierarchical path, or just use

name

column

Issue: "ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'mysql'"

Cause: Virtual environment not activated Fix:

source /home/adamsl/planner/.venv/bin/activate

Issue: "No categories found"

Cause: Database not initialized or connection failed Fix:

1. Check DB connection settings in

   .env

2. Run database initialization:

   python3 scripts/init_db.py

3. Check if MySQL server is running

Issue: Import errors from

app.*

modules

Cause: Wrong working directory or Python path Fix:

# Add to top of script
import sys
from pathlib import Path
sys.path.insert(0, str(Path(__file__).parent.parent))

Testing Commands

Quick Database Check

source /home/adamsl/planner/.venv/bin/activate
cd /home/adamsl/planner/nonprofit_finance_db
python3 -c "from app.db import get_connection; print('✓ Database connection OK')"

List Recent Expenses

python3 -c "
from app.db import get_connection
with get_connection() as conn:
    cursor = conn.cursor()
    cursor.execute('SELECT id, expense_date, amount, description FROM expenses ORDER BY id DESC LIMIT 5')
    for row in cursor.fetchall():
        print(row)
"

Count Categories

python3 -c "
from app.db import get_connection
with get_connection() as conn:
    cursor = conn.cursor()
    cursor.execute('SELECT COUNT(*) FROM categories')
    print(f'Total categories: {cursor.fetchone()[0]}')
"

Best Practices

1. Always activate virtual environment first - Most import errors come from forgetting this
2. Check schema before writing queries - Don't assume column names
3. Use context managers for DB connections - Ensures proper cleanup
4. Validate user input - Especially dates and amounts
5. Provide clear error messages - Help users understand what went wrong
6. Use Rich library for CLI - Makes tools more user-friendly
7. Test with small data first - Before processing large batches

Next Steps / TODO

• Create merchants table for storing common merchants
• Add merchant selection menu (smart menu style)
• Update manual entry to use merchant selection
• Create main menu for receipt scanning tools
• Add delete expenses by date tool
• Add view recent expenses feature
• Add basic merchant management
• Add receipt image upload tool
• Integrate OCR scanning with manual entry
• Add bulk import from CSV
• Create receipt preview/validation tool
• Add advanced merchant management (edit, delete)
• Add category management CLI
• Build receipt search/filter tool