Apple MCP Server

Fast, native MCP server for macOS Apple Reminders via Apple EventKit. 10–200× faster than AppleScript.

Local serverstdio

What is the Apple MCP server?

Connect Apple to Claude, Cursor or any other MCP client and it stops being a tab you switch to. Fast, native MCP server for macOS Apple Reminders via Apple EventKit. 10–200× faster than AppleScript. The apple mcp server is what makes that connection.

What the server does

Fast, native Apple Reminders access for Claude — works in Claude Desktop, Claude Cowork, and Claude Code (CLI). One signed Swift/EventKit binary, three distribution packages.

Apple Reminders for Claude gives Claude full CRUD access to your macOS Reminders app. It wraps Apple's native EventKit framework in a signed Swift binary that returns stable UUIDs and structured JSON, and ships three ways:

  • 13 MCP tools — covering the full reminder lifecycle: list lists, list reminders (open/completed/all), full-text search, today/overdue/scheduled smart queries, CRUD on individual reminders
  • Native EventKit — — not AppleScript, not reverse-engineered SQLite scraping
  • Stable UUIDs — — reminder IDs survive across sessions, unlike AppleScript URIs or CLI positional indexes
  • Tool safety annotations — — every tool declares readOnlyHint / destructiveHint so Claude clients can auto-run queries but prompt for mutations
  • Language-neutral — — the skill matches on intent, not keywords. Works identically in German, French, Spanish, Japanese, etc
  • Sub-second latency — — full CRUD smoke-test completes in under 1 s on a database with 300+ reminders across 10 lists

Available tools

The toolset is worth reading before you wire it up, because it tells you what the integration is really for:

  • get_lists — read-only
  • get_list_info — read-only
  • list_reminders — read-only
  • search_reminders — read-only
  • get_today — read-only
  • get_overdue — read-only
  • get_scheduled — read-only
  • get_reminder — read-only
  • create_reminder — additive
  • update_reminder — destructive, idempotent
  • complete_reminder — destructive, idempotent
  • uncomplete_reminder — destructive, idempotent

Installation

Installation goes through your MCP client rather than a global install: point it at @high5ventures/apple-reminders-mcp on npm and it is fetched when the client starts. The copy-paste blocks for Claude Desktop, Claude Code and Cursor are further down this page.

Credentials and setup notes

Configuration is passed through the environment: REMINDERS_BINARY. Treat anything key-shaped as a real credential — scope it to the minimum the server needs, and rotate it if it ever lands in a shared config.

Where it fits

This sits in the database access group, where several servers overlap in what they claim to do but differ sharply once you actually set them up. Apple's toolset — get_lists, get_list_info, list_reminders and 10 more — is a fair guide to whether it matches your workflow. It is maintained by high5cw; worth a glance at recent repository activity before you build anything load-bearing on it.

This entry was verified against Apple's own documentation before publication; SyncDev keeps the directory reviewed rather than auto-generated.

Worth knowing first

  • It runs with your machine's permissions. That is convenient and also the reason to think about what you point it at before you approve a tool call.
  • With 13 tools registered it takes up a noticeable share of the context window; turn it off in projects that never touch Apple.
  • Keep per-call confirmation enabled while you learn its behaviour; it is the cheapest safeguard you have.

Available tools

ToolWhat it does
get_listsread-only
get_list_inforead-only
list_remindersread-only
search_remindersread-only
get_todayread-only
get_overdueread-only
get_scheduledread-only
get_reminderread-only
create_reminderadditive
update_reminderdestructive, idempotent
complete_reminderdestructive, idempotent
uncomplete_reminderdestructive, idempotent
delete_reminderdestructive, idempotent

How to install the Apple MCP server

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "apple-reminders-1": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@high5ventures/apple-reminders-mcp"],
      "env": {
        "REMINDERS_BINARY": "your-value"
      }
    }
  }
}

Add to claude_desktop_config.json, then restart Claude Desktop.

Configuration

VariableDescriptionRequired
REMINDERS_BINARYConfiguration value read at startup.Optional

Example prompts to try

  • Use Apple to get lists.
  • Use Apple to get list info.
  • Use Apple to list reminders.

Frequently asked questions

It connects Apple to MCP-compatible AI assistants such as Claude and Cursor, exposing 13 tools (get_lists, get_list_info, list_reminders, and more) that the assistant can call on your behalf. Instead of copying data back and forth by hand, the assistant works with Apple directly.