Can I list notes from a specific folder?

Yes. list_notes optionally filters by folder, so you can ask your AI to list only the notes inside a folder like 'Work' or 'Travel' instead of every note you have.

Does LMCP upload my Apple Notes to the cloud?

No. list_notes runs entirely on your Mac against the local Notes app. There are no API keys and nothing is stored on any LMCP server — your notes never leave your device.

Which AI assistants can list my notes?

Claude Desktop, Cursor, VS Code, Windsurf and Zed connect locally, while ChatGPT, Claude.ai, Grok and Perplexity connect through the LMCP Cloud Relay connector. All can call list_notes once LMCP is installed.

List Apple Notes with AI on Mac — list

The list_notes tool lets your AI assistant read the index of your Apple Notes directly on your Mac. Ask in plain language and the AI returns your note titles, optionally narrowed to a single folder. A typical prompt: "List the notes in my 'Work' folder so I can find the meeting recap." The AI calls list_notes, the request runs locally against the Notes app, and you get a clean list back without ever leaving your chat window.

This is part of LMCP, a free native macOS server that connects AI assistants to your real Mac apps through the Model Context Protocol — 150+ tools across Notes, Mail, Calendar, Contacts, Reminders, Messages and more.

Which AI agents work?

Almost every major AI client can use list_notes once LMCP is installed:

Desktop clients — Claude Desktop, Cursor, VS Code (GitHub Copilot), Windsurf and Zed auto-configure over a local stdio connection. No tokens, no setup files to hand-edit.
Web AIs — ChatGPT, Claude.ai (web), Grok and Perplexity connect through the LMCP Cloud Relay connector, which securely bridges the web assistant to your local Mac.

Whichever you use, your notes stay on your machine — the AI only sees what you ask it to fetch.

Automation

list_notes is the discovery step in larger note workflows. The AI can chain it with other LMCP tools: list notes in a folder, then open and read a specific one, then summarize it, then create a Reminder or draft an email from its contents. For example: "List my 'Projects' notes, read the 'Q3 launch' note, and turn its action items into reminders due Friday." One sentence triggers list, read, and create across three apps.

Context

Because list_notes reads your actual Apple Notes, the AI works with your real data — your real folders, your real note titles, your real content. There's no copy-pasting note text into a chat box and no out-of-date export. The assistant sees the same notes you see in the Notes app right now, which makes its answers grounded and specific to your life and work.

Productivity

Scanning Notes manually for the one item you half-remember is slow — scrolling folders, squinting at titles, opening the wrong note twice. Asking your AI to "find the note where I wrote down the wifi password" or "list everything I saved in my 'Travel' folder" turns a two-minute hunt into a one-line request. Over a week of quick lookups, that adds up to real time back, and it keeps you in your AI workflow instead of switching apps.

Privacy & GDPR

Everything runs locally on your Mac. list_notes talks to the Notes app on your own machine — there are no API keys, no third-party servers, and no cloud copy of your notes. Nothing is stored on an LMCP server. This local-first design makes LMCP GDPR-compliant by architecture: your data never leaves your device, so there's no transfer to govern. Download LMCP and try it today.