How to Connect ChatGPT to Your Mac

Two steps: install LMCP on your Mac, then add it as a custom connector at chatgpt.com.

To connect ChatGPT to your Mac apps, install LMCP and add it as a custom connector at chatgpt.com. LMCP is a local MCP server for macOS that reaches Mail, Calendar, Contacts, Messages, Notes, Reminders, Teams, Slack, Files and more through native macOS APIs. Requests travel over an encrypted relay to your own Mac and execute there; requested results return through the relay to ChatGPT, which can receive and process them under its applicable data policy.

What This Lets You Do

ChatGPT runs in the cloud, but your email, calendar, and Teams chats live on your Mac. With LMCP plus the Cloud Relay, ChatGPT can call tools that run directly on your Mac. Ask it from any device:

• “Summarize my unread emails from this week”
• “What’s on my calendar tomorrow?”
• “Find the Teams message where Marco mentioned the API migration”
• “Draft a reply to Sarah’s email about the budget”

ChatGPT sends the request to the LMCP backend, the backend forwards it through an encrypted WebSocket tunnel to your Mac, your Mac runs the tool, and the result comes back to ChatGPT — usually in under 2 seconds.

What You Will Need

• macOS 13 (Ventura) or later — Apple Silicon or Intel
• Access to Plugins in ChatGPT — MCP apps are added fromPlugins; on Business/Enterprise/Edu a workspace admin may need to allow custom apps first
• A browser on chatgpt.com — creating the connector is web-only (the desktop/mobile apps can use it afterward)

How to Connect ChatGPT to Your Mac

Prefer to watch? Here’s the full walkthrough, step by step:

Create the connector from the web at chatgpt.com — the desktop and mobile apps can use a connector once it exists, but can’t create one. On Business/Enterprise/Edu a workspace admin may need to allow custom apps first.

You never handle a token: ChatGPT authorizes through OAuth when you click Sign in with LMCPand approve on your Mac. You only approve once; with forwarding ON, ChatGPT then discovers the full catalog (201+ tools).

Try It

Start a new conversation in ChatGPT. Make sure the LMCP connector is enabled in the chat (the connector toggle in the input bar). Then ask:

• “List my email accounts”
• “What meetings do I have today?”
• “Search my emails for ‘invoice’ this month”
• “Show me the latest messages in the engineering Teams channel”

ChatGPT will route the request through the Cloud Relay to your Mac, which executes the tool and returns the result. You’ll see a tool call indicator in ChatGPT’s UI, and the response usually arrives in under 2 seconds.

Privacy Story

The Cloud Relay is on after installation. You can turn it off at any time from the menu bar, and ChatGPT can only use it after you connect it and approve the connection on your Mac. With Cloud Data Forwarding off, the connector's tools/list advertises only setup_install — data tools are not listed.

Turning it on does not move your apps to the cloud: the tools still run on your Mac, and the relay between your Mac and the LMCP backend carries the request and its result rather than keeping them. What ChatGPT receives is what the tool returned, and OpenAI handles it under its own terms. Turn forwarding off and ChatGPT loses access immediately.

If you would rather nothing crossed the network at all, use the local lmcp connector inside Claude Desktop, Cursor or VS Code instead — those tool calls go over stdio. The privacy guide has the full breakdown.

What Tools Are Available?

With Cloud Data Forwarding on, ChatGPT sees the same 201+ tools as the local lmcp connector:

• Mail (Mail.app + Outlook): list, read, search, send, reply, move, save attachments
• Calendar: list events, create, delete, check availability
• Contacts: search, list, get details
• Microsoft Teams: list chats, read messages, channel messages, through your connected Microsoft 365 account
• OneDrive: list, read, write, move, delete, search files
• Notes & Reminders: list, search, create, complete
• Messages: read iMessage chats
• OmniFocus: list tasks, projects, complete, search
• Word, Excel, PowerPoint, PDF: read and create
• Finder: search files (Spotlight), list folders

Use Cases

Inbox triage from your phone

You’re away from your Mac but want to triage your inbox. Open ChatGPT on your phone: “Summarize new emails from the last 24 hours, group by sender, flag anything from legal or finance.” ChatGPT calls your Mac, reads Mail.app, returns a categorized summary in seconds.

Meeting prep before walking into the room

You have a 3pm meeting and 5 minutes to prepare. From ChatGPT: “Prep me for the 3pm with Maria and Juan. Find recent emails, Teams chats, and shared docs from the last week.” ChatGPT cross-references your calendar attendees with email/Teams/OneDrive activity and gives you a context brief.

Weekly status report

Friday afternoon: “Write my weekly status report based on this week’s emails, calendar events, and Teams discussions.” ChatGPT pulls the data, generates the report, you copy-paste to Slack or send by email.

Turning It Off

Open the LMCP menu bar popover → Web AIs section, toggle Cloud Data Forwarding back to OFF. The change is instant: ChatGPT immediately loses access to data tools. Your tunnel stays connected for setup_install, but no data flows through.

Troubleshooting

ChatGPT says “Could not reach your Mac”

The LMCP app isn’t running, or the Cloud Relay tunnel is down. Open the LMCP menu bar — the dot should be green and Cloud Relay should read Connected. If LMCP isn’t running at all, download and reinstall LMCP.

Settings shows “No app actions available yet” after connecting

This is expected — it does not mean the connector is broken. ChatGPT’s app settings panel does not enumerate MCP tools there. Once it says Connected (and the button reads Disconnect), the tools work in chat: start a new chat, enable it from the composer’s + menu, then ask e.g. “using LMCP, list my calendars.” The tool call runs and returns data from your Mac. (The connector shows up under the name you gave it when creating it — LMCP if you followed the steps above.)

LMCP’s tools don’t appear right after connecting

A known ChatGPT quirk: it caches the connector’s tool list and doesn’t always reload it the moment OAuth completes. Open Settings → Connectors → LMCP → Info and click Refresh — or just start a new chat. The full tool set then loads. (LMCP advertises 201+ tools; ChatGPT also surfaces only the few relevant to your current question and loads the rest on demand, so don’t worry if “list all tools” shows just a handful.)

Tools list shows only setup_install (no Mail, Calendar, etc.)

Cloud Data Forwarding is OFF — the cloud connector intentionally lists only setup_install while forwarding is off. Open the LMCP menu bar popover → Web AIs section, toggle Cloud Data Forwarding ON, then refresh ChatGPT.

ChatGPT says “the connector is not authenticated”

The OAuth approval is no longer valid. Connect again — click Sign in with LMCP — and approve in the dialog that opens on your Mac. The connector URL stays the same, so there is nothing to copy or re-add.

Cloud Relay isn’t connected

The Cloud Relay connects automatically when LMCP runs (green dot, reads Connected). For data tools you also need Cloud Data Forwarding ON. Check both in the Web AIs section.

Where do I add the connector in ChatGPT?

In a desktop browser on chatgpt.com, click Plugins in the sidebar (or go to chatgpt.com/plugins), then Add ▾ → Create MCP App — not “Create plugin”. On a Business/Enterprise/Edu workspace, an admin may need to allow custom apps first. The desktop and mobile apps can’t add MCP apps.

No approval dialog appears on your Mac

If nothing shows up after Sign in with LMCP, or the page says LMCP isn’t running, the approval simply expired — it only lasts 5 minutes. Click the button again; nothing needs reinstalling. There is no token to type or paste: Copy URL in the Your web AI · Cloud Relay section copies just https://www.local-mcp.com/mcp, and it only shows once the relay is connected (green dot) and web access is ON.

What About Other AI Clients?

The Cloud Relay works with any MCP-compatible client that supports custom servers and Bearer authentication:

• Claude.ai web: same flow, add as Custom Connector in Settings — see the Claude.ai guide
• Custom MCP clients: any tool that can hit a JSON-RPC endpoint over HTTPS with Bearer auth

For a desktop AI app running on your Mac, you don’t need the Cloud Relay at all — LMCP sets up the local lmcp connector during install where it can, and tool calls go through stdio without touching the cloud. See the Claude Desktop guide for that flow.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can ChatGPT access my Mac's email and calendar?

Yes. With LMCP's custom connector on chatgpt.com, ChatGPT can read your email, manage your calendar and search Teams. Requests route to your Mac over an encrypted tunnel and run locally — requested results are sent through the relay to ChatGPT under the applicable data policies.

Do I need API keys to connect ChatGPT to my Mac?

No API keys. On ChatGPT's side you add LMCP as a custom MCP app from Plugins in a desktop browser; on Business/Enterprise/Edu a workspace admin may need to allow custom apps first.

Which Mac apps can ChatGPT use through LMCP?

Mail, Calendar, Microsoft Teams, Slack, WhatsApp, Notes, Reminders, Files and more —201+ tools across 25+ domains, all on your Mac.

Related Guides

• Connect ChatGPT to Your Email on Mac
• Connect ChatGPT to Your Calendar on Mac
• How to Connect Claude.ai Web to Your Mac (Cloud Relay)
• How to Give Your AI Access to Email on Mac
• Read Microsoft Teams Messages with Claude on Mac — With Your Microsoft 365 Account
• Can AI Read Your Emails Without Sending Them to the Cloud?
• On Windows? Get Started with LMCP on Windows