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Apple Notes

by mgcreaversion 1.37.0i★ –iRuns on your computer
Registry nameio.github.mgcrea/mcp-apple-notes

Install

Overview

Description from the maker (original English)

Search, read and act on Apple Notes — folders, attachments, writes off by default

PopNx MCP’s three pillars

These three are never merged into one score: opinions, measurements and popularity are different things.

What you can do with it

We have not written a plain-language summary for this one yet. Below are the facts we read from the registry.

  • Connection: Runs on your computer
  • Transport: stdio
  • Category: Docs, sheets & office work

Install

Pick the AI app you use, then copy the settings.

Before you install

  • Basic checks: 1 of 1 passed
  • Runs on your computer with your user’s permissions (files, network, apps).
  • You fill in yourself: APPLE_NOTES_ALLOW_WRITES, APPLE_NOTES_ACCOUNTS

You need

  • npmNode.js installed (for the npx command)

Which app do you use?

Pick your app above. We remember it, so next time the button says “Install in …”.

Open Claude Desktop → Settings → Developer → Edit Config, and paste this into claude_desktop_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "apple-notes": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@mgcrea/mcp-apple-notes"
      ],
      "env": {
        "APPLE_NOTES_ALLOW_WRITES": "your-value",
        "APPLE_NOTES_ACCOUNTS": "your-value"
      }
    }
  }
}

Run this in your terminal

claude mcp add apple-notes --env APPLE_NOTES_ALLOW_WRITES=your-value --env APPLE_NOTES_ACCOUNTS=your-value -- npx -y @mgcrea/mcp-apple-notes

Fill in the empty values before running it.

Open in Cursor

Or copy the settings yourself

Paste into .cursor/mcp.json in your project, or ~/.cursor/mcp.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "apple-notes": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@mgcrea/mcp-apple-notes"
      ],
      "env": {
        "APPLE_NOTES_ALLOW_WRITES": "your-value",
        "APPLE_NOTES_ACCOUNTS": "your-value"
      }
    }
  }
}

Your browser asks to open the app, then the app shows the settings and asks you to confirm. Key values are left empty for you to fill in.

Open in VS Code

Or copy the settings yourself

Paste into .vscode/mcp.json in your project

{
  "servers": {
    "apple-notes": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@mgcrea/mcp-apple-notes"
      ],
      "env": {
        "APPLE_NOTES_ALLOW_WRITES": "your-value",
        "APPLE_NOTES_ACCOUNTS": "your-value"
      }
    }
  }
}

Your browser asks to open the app, then the app shows the settings and asks you to confirm. Key values are left empty for you to fill in.

This one runs on your computer, and ChatGPT can only connect to servers on the internet. Pick another app.

Your choice stays on this device in a cookie; no account needed.

Values you fill in

  • APPLE_NOTES_ALLOW_WRITES env
    Register the mutating tools. Off by default, and the gate decides whether the write tools exist at all rather than merely refusing — an agent with writes off cannot see them.
  • APPLE_NOTES_ACCOUNTS env
    Restrict every read and write to these Notes accounts, by name.

These settings are generated from the maker’s registry entry. If the README says otherwise, follow the README.

What it can do

Runs on your computer; the tool list appears in your AI app after you install it.

Basic checksi

We check information anyone can see; we have not read the code. Checks that do not apply are left out of the count. · Checked Nov 7, 2026

  • ✓ Pass

    Maker matches the repo

    The registry name was verified with the GitHub account mgcrea, which owns the repo

  • … Not checked yet

    Still maintained

    We have not read this repo from GitHub yet

  • … Not checked yet

    Has a licence

    We have not read this repo from GitHub yet

  • – Not applicable

    Endpoint responds

    This one runs on your computer; there is no internet endpoint

  • – Not applicable

    Sign-in with OAuth

    Runs on your computer and uses local settings instead

  • … Not checked yet

    No hidden instructions in tool descriptions

    Runs on your computer; we can only read tool lists from internet endpoints

Compared with others in Docs, sheets & office worki

  • More stars than 0% of the other 2193 servers in this category
  • Published to the registry more recently than 95% of the other 2193 servers in this category
  • Basic checks equal to or better than 100% of the other 2193 servers in this category

Compared with every active server in this category in the registry. Stars count only when the publisher owns the repo.

Common questions

Is Apple Notes safe?

It passed 1 of 1 applicable basic checks. We have not read the code. Before adding a key or token, see what access the server asks for and use a key with only the permissions you need.

What keys or codes does it need?

The registry does not list a required key, though some servers ask you to sign in on first use.

Does it run on my computer or in the cloud?

It runs on your computer. Your AI app starts it when needed, and data does not pass through the maker’s servers (unless it calls an online service itself).

Is it still maintained?

The GitHub repo last changed –, and the latest version (1.37.0) reached the registry yesterday.

Which apps can use it?

Apps that support MCP, such as Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Cursor and VS Code. You also need Node.js on your computer.

What can I use instead?

In the same category: Agent-Native Calendar, Excel MCP Server, MCP Server for Excel

Alternatives

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README from the maker

Open the README

Copied from the maker’s repo as written. PopNx MCP has not reviewed or endorsed it. HTML, images and scripts are removed. Links lead off this site.

@mgcrea/mcp-apple-notes

Model Context Protocol server for the macOS Apple Notes app.

Unofficial. Not affiliated with Apple. It drives the Notes app that is already on your Mac.

Two lanes

  • Apple Events lane — accounts, folders, bodies, and every mutation. Always the authority: after a write, the result is what Notes re-read.
  • Index lane — read-only SQLite over NoteStore.sqlite, for search and metadata at a scale Apple Events cannot reach. Needs Full Disk Access.

Unlike Mail, the Apple Events lane alone is a working server. Measured on a 921-note library, a full-text search takes 97 ms — against the 74 s that forced Mail onto its index. So you can install this, use it, and only then decide whether to grant Full Disk Access.

It does not scale for ever: there is no index behind it, so every query pays the full cost again. The wall is around 5–10k notes. apple_notes_diagnostics tells you which lane is answering.

PermissionNeeded forWithout it
Automation → Noteseverythingnothing works; you get a -1743 error
Full Disk Accesssearch at scale, save_attachmentthe server still runs, on the Apple Events lane

Neither is granted to Notes.app — it is the _reader_ that needs permission.

Tools

Read: diagnostics, list_accounts, list_folders, list_notes, search_notes, get_note, list_attachments, save_attachment.

Write, registered only when APPLE_NOTES_ALLOW_WRITES=1 — with the flag off they are invisible to the model, not merely refused: create_note, update_note, move_note, delete_notes, add_attachment.

add_attachment is the only way to put an image in a note. An tag in a note's body creates an attachment whose bytes Notes never loads — see docs/notes.md.

Configuration

VariableDefault
APPLE_NOTES_ALLOW_WRITESoffRegister the mutating tools.
APPLE_NOTES_ACCOUNTSallRead-side allowlist, comma-separated.
APPLE_NOTES_INDEX_MODEautoauto \ro \immutable \off.
APPLE_NOTES_STOREautoExplicit NoteStore.sqlite path.
APPLE_NOTES_SEARCH_CACHE_TTL_MS60000How long the body corpus stays warm.
APPLE_NOTES_ATTACHMENT_DIR~/DownloadsThe only directory attachments may be saved into.
APPLE_NOTES_BODY_MAX_BYTES262144Body truncation, to protect the context window.
APPLE_NOTES_OSASCRIPT_TIMEOUT_MS30000Sized for the first-run permission prompt.

Notes that will bite you

  • Notes takes a note's title from the first line of its body. Setting name is silently ignored, so create_note prepends the title as a heading instead.
  • Password-protected notes cannot be read at all. Their text is AES ciphertext at rest, which is why ZICNOTEDATA carries crypto columns; no permission makes it readable.
  • Folders nest. A folder map has to recurse even if your own library happens to be flat.
  • Search caches on a TTL, not on invalidation. Checking whether the cache is stale costs _more_ over Apple Events (128 ms) than redoing the scan (97 ms), so bounded staleness is the honest trade. See docs/notes.md.

Licence

MIT.

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