Can I list contacts from a specific group only?

Yes. list_contacts accepts an optional group filter, so you can say "list my Work contacts" and the tool returns only the people in that Contacts group instead of your whole address book.

Does list_contacts send my contacts to the cloud?

No. The tool reads directly from the Contacts app on your Mac and returns results to your AI client over a local connection. Nothing is stored on an LMCP server, and no API keys are required.

Which AI assistants can use list_contacts?

Desktop clients like Claude Desktop, Cursor, VS Code, Windsurf and Zed auto-configure via local stdio. Web AIs including ChatGPT, Claude.ai, Grok and Perplexity connect through the LMCP Cloud Relay connector.

List Mac Contacts With AI: list

The list_contacts tool lets an AI assistant read the contacts stored in your macOS Contacts app, right on your Mac. It returns names, phone numbers, emails and other card details, and you can optionally narrow the results to a single Contacts group. A typical prompt looks like: "List everyone in my Work group and show their email addresses." The AI calls list_contacts, filters by the group you named, and hands back a clean list you can act on.

Because LMCP runs as a native macOS MCP server, the AI talks to the real Contacts app, not a copy or an export. Download LMCP to get this and 150+ tools across Mail, Calendar, Messages, Notes and more.

Which AI agents work?

list_contacts works with every major AI client LMCP supports:

Desktop apps (auto-configure via local stdio): Claude Desktop, Cursor, VS Code (GitHub Copilot), Windsurf and Zed. Install LMCP, restart the app, and the tool appears automatically.
Web AIs (connect through the LMCP Cloud Relay connector): ChatGPT, Claude.ai (web), Grok and Perplexity. You add the LMCP connector once and your browser-based assistant can reach your Mac's contacts securely.

Automation

list_contacts is a building block for richer workflows. Chain it with other LMCP tools to get things done in one prompt:

Pull a group with list_contacts, then draft and send a message to each person via the Mail or Messages tools.
Find a contact's email, then create a calendar invite with the Calendar tools.
Export a filtered group into a Numbers or Excel sheet using the Office document tools.
Look up a number, then start a WhatsApp or iMessage conversation.

The AI decides which tools to call, so you describe the outcome instead of clicking through apps.

Context

Generic chatbots have no idea who your colleagues, family or clients are. With list_contacts the AI works from your real address book: the actual groups you created, the people you actually know, and the up-to-date phone numbers and emails on their cards. Ask "Who do I have in my Family group?" and you get a true answer, not a guess. That grounding makes every downstream action, like emailing or scheduling, accurate.

Productivity

Looking up and copying contact details by hand is slow: open Contacts, find the group, click each card, copy the email, paste it somewhere. A single list_contacts prompt replaces all of that. "Give me the emails of everyone in my Newsletter group" takes seconds instead of minutes, and the AI can immediately reuse those details to send messages or build a spreadsheet. Over a week of outreach, scheduling and follow-ups, that adds up to real time saved.

Privacy & GDPR

Everything runs locally on your Mac. list_contacts reads from the Contacts app on your machine and returns the data to your AI client through a local connection. No contact information is copied to an LMCP server, and there are no API keys or third-party cloud accounts involved. You stay in control of your address book. This local-first design is GDPR-compliant by architecture, since personal data never leaves your device for processing by LMCP.