OmniFocus MCP Server

A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that integrates with OmniFocus to enable Claude (or other MCP-compatible clients) to interact with your tasks and projects.

Overview

This MCP server creates a bridge between AI assistants (like Claude) and your OmniFocus task management system. It gives AI models the ability to view, create, edit, and remove tasks and projects in your OmniFocus database through natural language conversations. Some ways you could use it:

• Translate the PDF of a syllabus into a fully specified project with tasks, tags, defer dates, and due dates.
• Turn a meeting transcript into a list of actions
• Create visualizations of your tasks, projects, and tags
• Process multiple tasks or projects in a single operation
• Bulk manage your OmniFocus items efficiently

Roadmap

• Add MCP prompt features
• Support manipulating notifications for projects and tasks
• See the GitHub issues for feature requests and known issues

Quick Start

Prerequisites

• macOS with OmniFocus installed

Connecting to Claude

1. In Claude Desktop, add this MCP server to your configuration file at:

~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

2. Add the following configuration:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "omnifocus": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "omnifocus-mcp"]
    }
  }
}

3. Restart Claude Desktop

Use Cases

Efficient Task Queries

Use the new query_omnifocus tool for fast, targeted searches:

"Show me tasks due today" "Get all flagged items in my Work project"
"Count how many tasks are in each project"

Reorganize your projects, tasks, and tags

"I want every task to have an energy level tag. Show me a list of all the tasks that don't have an energy level tag and your suggestions for what tag to add. I'll make any changes I think are appropriate. Then make the changes in OmniFocus."

Add tasks from any conversation

"Ok, thanks for the detailed explanation of why the rule of law is important. Add a recurring task to my activism project that reminds me to call my representative weekly. Include a summary of this conversation in the notes field."

Quick, Virtual Perspectives

Get a summary of your current tasks and manage them conversationally:

"Show me all my flagged tasks due this week"

Or create custom views:

"What are my next actions in the Work folder?"

Work with OmniFocus Perspectives

List and view your perspectives:

"What perspectives do I have available?" "Show me what's in my Inbox perspective" "Get the flagged items from my current perspective"

Process Transcripts or PDFs

Extract action items from meeting transcripts, academic research articles, or notes:

"I'm pasting in the transcript from today's meeting. Please analyze it and create tasks in OmniFocus for any action items assigned to me. Put them in my 'Product Development' project."

Resources

Resources let MCP clients preload OmniFocus data as context without needing tool calls. Clients that support MCP resources (like Claude Desktop) can attach these directly to a conversation.

Fixed Resources

URI	Description
omnifocus://inbox	Current inbox items (tasks not assigned to any project)
omnifocus://today	Today's agenda — tasks due today, planned for today, and overdue
omnifocus://flagged	All flagged items
omnifocus://stats	Quick database statistics (task counts, project counts, overdue, etc.)

Template Resources

URI Pattern	Description
omnifocus://project/{name}	Tasks in a specific project (supports autocomplete)
omnifocus://perspective/{name}	Items visible in a named perspective (supports autocomplete)

All resources return JSON (application/json). Template resources support listing all available values and autocompletion for the {name} parameter.

Available Tools

The server currently provides these tools:

query_omnifocus

Efficiently query your OmniFocus database with powerful filters. Get specific tasks, projects, or folders without loading the entire database.

Key Features:

• Filter by multiple criteria: project, tags, status, due dates, flags, notes, and more
• Request specific fields: Reduce response size by only getting the data you need
• Sort and limit results: Control the output format
• Much faster than dump_database for targeted queries

Common Uses:

"Show me all flagged tasks due this week"
"Get next actions from my Work project"
"Count tasks in each project" (use with summary: true)
"Find all tasks deferred until tomorrow"

Parameters:

• entity: Type to query ('tasks', 'projects', or 'folders')
• filters: (Optional) Narrow results by project, tags, status, dates, etc.
  • projectName, projectId, folderId: Filter by container
  • tags: Filter by tag names (OR logic, case-sensitive)
  • status: Filter by status (OR logic)
  • flagged: Filter by flagged status
  • inbox: Filter by inbox status (true = inbox only, false = exclude inbox)
  • dueWithin, deferredUntil, plannedWithin: Range date filters (days from today)
  • dueOn, deferOn, plannedOn: Exact date filters (0 = today, 1 = tomorrow, etc.)
  • hasNote: Filter by note presence
• fields: (Optional) Specific fields to return (id, name, note, dueDate, etc.)
• limit: (Optional) Maximum items to return
• sortBy: (Optional) Field to sort by
• includeCompleted: (Optional) Include completed items (default: false)
• summary: (Optional) Return only count instead of full details

dump_database

Gets the complete current state of your OmniFocus database. Best for comprehensive analysis or when you need everything.

Parameters:

• hideCompleted: (Optional) Hide completed/dropped tasks (default: true)
• hideRecurringDuplicates: (Optional) Hide duplicate recurring tasks (default: true)

add_omnifocus_task

Add a new task to OmniFocus.

Parameters:

• name: The name of the task
• projectName: (Optional) The name of the project to add the task to
• note: (Optional) Additional notes for the task
• dueDate: (Optional) The due date of the task in ISO format
• deferDate: (Optional) The defer date of the task in ISO format
• plannedDate: (Optional) The planned date of the task in ISO format - indicates intention to work on this task on this date
• flagged: (Optional) Whether the task is flagged or not
• estimatedMinutes: (Optional) Estimated time to complete the task
• tags: (Optional) Tags to assign to the task
• parentTaskId: (Optional) Create under an existing parent task by ID
• parentTaskName: (Optional) Create under first matching parent task by name (fallback)

add_project

Add a new project to OmniFocus.

Parameters:

• name: The name of the project
• folderName: (Optional) The name of the folder to add the project to
• note: (Optional) Additional notes for the project
• dueDate: (Optional) The due date of the project in ISO format
• deferDate: (Optional) The defer date of the project in ISO format
• flagged: (Optional) Whether the project is flagged or not
• estimatedMinutes: (Optional) Estimated time to complete the project
• tags: (Optional) Tags to assign to the project
• sequential: (Optional) Whether tasks in the project should be sequential

remove_item

Remove a task or project from OmniFocus.

Parameters:

• id: (Optional) The ID of the task or project to remove
• name: (Optional) The name of the task or project to remove
• itemType: The type of item to remove ('task' or 'project')

edit_item

Edit a task or project in OmniFocus.

Parameters:

• id: (Optional) The ID of the task or project to edit
• name: (Optional) The name of the task or project to edit
• itemType: The type of item to edit ('task' or 'project')
• Various parameters for editing properties

batch_add_items

Add multiple tasks or projects to OmniFocus in a single operation.

Parameters:

• items: Array of items to add, where each item can be:
  • type: The type of item ('task' or 'project')
  • name: The name of the item
  • note: (Optional) Additional notes
  • dueDate: (Optional) Due date in ISO format
  • deferDate: (Optional) Defer date in ISO format
  • plannedDate: (Optional) Planned date in ISO format (tasks only)
  • flagged: (Optional) Whether the item is flagged
  • estimatedMinutes: (Optional) Estimated completion time
  • tags: (Optional) Array of tags
  • projectName: (Optional) For tasks: the project to add to
  • folderName: (Optional) For projects: the folder to add to
  • sequential: (Optional) For projects: whether tasks are sequential
  • parentTaskId: (Optional, tasks): Parent task by ID
  • parentTaskName: (Optional, tasks): Parent task by name (fallback)
  • tempId: (Optional, tasks): Temporary ID for within-batch references
  • parentTempId: (Optional, tasks): Reference to another item's tempId to establish hierarchy
  • hierarchyLevel: (Optional, tasks): Ordering hint (0 for root, 1 for child, ...)

Examples:

{
  "items": [
    { "type": "project", "name": "My Project", "tempId": "proj1" },
    { "type": "task", "name": "First task", "parentTempId": "proj1" },
    { "type": "task", "name": "Parent task", "parentTempId": "proj1", "tempId": "t1" },
    { "type": "task", "name": "Subtask", "parentTempId": "t1" }
  ]
}

batch_remove_items

Remove multiple tasks or projects from OmniFocus in a single operation.

Parameters:

• items: Array of items to remove, where each item can be:
  • id: (Optional) The ID of the item to remove
  • name: (Optional) The name of the item to remove
  • itemType: The type of item ('task' or 'project')

list_perspectives

List all available perspectives in OmniFocus, including built-in and custom perspectives.

Parameters:

• includeBuiltIn: (Optional) Include built-in perspectives like Inbox, Projects, Tags (default: true)
• includeCustom: (Optional) Include custom perspectives (Pro feature) (default: true)

Returns:

• List of perspectives with their names, types (builtin/custom), and whether they can be modified

get_perspective_view

Get the items visible in the current OmniFocus perspective. Shows what tasks and projects are displayed.

Parameters:

• perspectiveName: Name of the perspective to view (e.g., 'Inbox', 'Projects', 'Flagged')
• limit: (Optional) Maximum number of items to return (default: 100)
• includeMetadata: (Optional) Include additional metadata like tags and dates (default: true)
• fields: (Optional) Specific fields to include in the response

Note: This tool returns the content of the current perspective window. Due to OmniJS limitations, it cannot programmatically switch perspectives.

list_tags

List all tags in OmniFocus with their hierarchy. Useful for discovering available tags before creating or editing tasks.

Parameters:

• includeDropped: (Optional) Include dropped/inactive tags (default: false)

Returns:

• List of tags with name, ID, parent hierarchy, active status, and task count

Server Instructions & Logging

Server Instructions

The server provides built-in instructions to MCP clients during the initialization handshake. These guide AI assistants on tool selection (e.g., preferring query_omnifocus over dump_database), available resources, and query filter tips — no user configuration needed.

Structured Logging

The server emits structured log messages via the MCP logging protocol. Clients can set the minimum log level (debug, info, warning, error, etc.) using the logging/setLevel request. Script execution timing and errors are logged automatically.

How It Works

This server uses JXA (JavaScript for Automation) to communicate with OmniFocus via osascript, allowing it to interact with the application's native functionality. The server is built using the Model Context Protocol SDK, which provides a standardized way for AI models to interact with external tools and systems.

For query tool usage details, see QUERY_TOOL_REFERENCE.md and QUERY_TOOL_EXAMPLES.md.

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request.