How to Connect Claude to Your Mac To-Do List With MCP
Connect Claude to a Mac to-do list in about a minute: install NotchOwl, open Settings › AI agents and click Connect for Claude Code, the Claude app or Cursor.
MCP, the Model Context Protocol, is the standard way for AI apps like Claude to use tools on your computer. Connect a to-do app that has an MCP server, and you can say “move everything I didn’t finish to tomorrow” instead of dragging tasks around yourself.
NotchOwl has an MCP server built in. This guide shows how to connect it to Claude Code, the Claude desktop app or Cursor, what Claude can do once it is connected, and how to keep it safe.
What you need
- A Mac with Apple silicon running macOS 14 Sonoma or later.
- NotchOwl installed in your Applications folder. AI apps remember the path to the server, so NotchOwl has to be in Applications before you connect it.
- At least one MCP client: Claude Code, the Claude desktop app or Cursor.
Connect Claude in one click
- Open NotchOwl and go to Settings › AI agents.
- Click Connect next to Claude Code, the Claude app or Cursor. Cursor appears only when it is installed.
- If the Claude app or Cursor is open, click Restart so it quits, reopens and loads NotchOwl. NotchOwl checks that its entry survived the restart.
- Once something is connected, Try asking shows example prompts you can copy with a click.
That is the whole setup. There is no API key to create and no account to sign in to.
What Claude can do with your tasks
| Area | What the agent can do |
|---|---|
| Tasks | Add, rename, delete and move tasks on today or a later day, list any day’s tasks, and complete or reopen today’s |
| Task details | Change a task’s title, reminder, priority, project, notes, repeat, time limit and steps, or snooze it |
| Notepad | Read any day’s notepad, and write to today’s or a later day’s |
| Projects | List your projects |
| Insights | Read today’s progress, your streak, the last seven days against the seven before, and your peak hours |
| Focus timer | Start, pause, resume or stop the focus timer |
New tasks are read the way NotchOwl reads what you type, so a title like “call mom tomorrow at 5pm !high #family” gets its day, a 5 PM reminder, high priority and the family project. Agents can also add a title exactly as written when you need that.
Prompts worth trying
- “Add the three things I mentioned in this chat to today in NotchOwl, the urgent one first.”
- “Move every unfinished task from today to tomorrow morning.”
- “Start a 25-minute focus timer on the proposal task.”
- “Read today’s notepad and turn each action item into a task.”
- “How did my focus time this week compare with last week?”
Connect it yourself
If you would rather add the server by hand, Claude Code takes one command:
claude mcp add --scope user notchowl -- "/Applications/NotchOwl.app/Contents/MacOS/NotchOwl" --mcp
For the Claude desktop app (claude_desktop_config.json) or Cursor (~/.cursor/mcp.json), add a notchowl entry under mcpServers with the same command and --mcp as its argument, keeping your other servers as they are. NotchOwl’s Connect button does exactly this.
How NotchOwl keeps agents in check
- Local only. The server runs on your Mac and speaks to the AI app over standard input and output. Your planner is not uploaded anywhere by NotchOwl.
- Undoable. Changes an agent makes land as undoable changes in NotchOwl.
- Signed requests. Commands that change existing tasks carry a per-Mac key, so a web page cannot send them.
- Limited reach. Agents cannot read your Calendar events or change NotchOwl’s settings.
NotchOwl’s MCP server lets Claude Code, the Claude app and Cursor manage tasks, reminders, the notepad and the focus timer on a Mac, connected in one click from Settings › AI agents, with no Terminal and no cloud account.
Other to-do apps you can connect to Claude
NotchOwl is not the only option. Most popular task apps now have an MCP server, but they work differently: the official servers from Todoist, TickTick, Sunsama and Akiflow are hosted in the cloud and sign in to your account, while Things, OmniFocus and Apple Reminders only have servers written by the community that run on your Mac.
| App | Server | Where it runs | How you connect |
|---|---|---|---|
| NotchOwl | Built in, by NotchOwl | On your Mac | One click in Settings › AI agents |
| Todoist | Official, by Doist | Cloud, or locally with npx | Sign in at https://ai.todoist.net/mcp |
| TickTick | Official endpoint, listed as a Premium feature | Cloud | Sign in at https://mcp.ticktick.com |
| Sunsama | Official | Cloud | Sign in at https://api.sunsama.com/mcp |
| Things 3 | Community (things-mcp) | On your Mac | uvx things-mcp, with Things URLs turned on |
| OmniFocus | Community (OmniFocus-MCP) | On your Mac | npx -y omnifocus-mcp |
| Apple Reminders | Community (mcp-server-apple-events and others) | On your Mac | An npm package |
If your tasks already live in Todoist or TickTick and you use them on several devices, their official servers are the natural choice. If you want a planner whose MCP server ships inside the app, runs locally and needs no account, that is what NotchOwl does. See the best menu bar to-do apps for Mac for how these apps compare beyond AI.
Without an AI app
The same building blocks are open to scripts. Opening a link like notchowl://add?title=Buy%20milk adds a task, and repeating title adds several at once, which makes NotchOwl easy to reach from Shortcuts, Raycast or Alfred.
If you are choosing a planner for your Mac, see the best notch apps for Mac. NotchOwl costs $9 once for up to three Macs, and you can download it here.
Frequently asked questions
Can Claude add tasks to my to-do list?
Yes. With an MCP server connected, Claude can add tasks to a to-do app on your Mac. NotchOwl’s built-in MCP server lets Claude add, complete, move, rename and snooze tasks, set reminders, write in the daily notepad and run the focus timer.
Do I need to use Terminal to connect Claude to NotchOwl?
No. In NotchOwl, open Settings › AI agents and click Connect next to Claude Code, the Claude app or Cursor. NotchOwl writes the configuration for you. A Terminal command is still available if you prefer to add it yourself.
Does NotchOwl’s MCP server send my tasks to the cloud?
No. The MCP server runs on your Mac and talks to the AI app over standard input and output. Your tasks stay in NotchOwl on your Mac; only what the AI app itself sends to its model leaves the Mac, as with any MCP tool.
Can Claude see my calendar through NotchOwl?
No. NotchOwl does not give agents access to Calendar events or to its settings. Agents can work with tasks, the notepad, Insights and the focus timer.
Which AI apps work with NotchOwl’s MCP server?
NotchOwl connects in one click to Claude Code, the Claude desktop app and Cursor. Any other MCP client that can launch a local stdio server can use the same command: /Applications/NotchOwl.app/Contents/MacOS/NotchOwl --mcp.