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iMCP for Claude Desktop: Setup & Config

Claude Desktop: Connect an MCP assistant to selected macOS personal-data services through a menu-bar app. iMCP exposes calendar, contacts, messages, reminders, location, maps, and weather capabilities with explicit system permissions.

What you can do with iMCP in Claude Desktop

Choose it for permission-controlled access to macOS personal services through an MCP assistant.

  • Ask an assistant to inspect calendar events or create a reminder.
  • Find a contact using a name, email address, or phone number.

Before you start: iMCP in Claude Desktop

  • macOS 15.3 or later
  • iMCP app installed and open
  • Permissions granted for the chosen services
  • An MCP-compatible client

The executable path appears in the README's Claude Code and Amp commands. Install the app from its download page or with brew install --cask mattt/tap/iMCP. Activate services in the app and approve the connecting client.

iMCP Claude Desktop configuration

  1. Choose Claude Desktop configuration scope

    For iMCP, open macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json. Merge under mcpServers via Settings → Developer → Edit Config when available.

  2. Add iMCP to Claude Desktop

    Use the iMCP entry below in mcpServers. Keep iMCP's documented stdio connection fields and your other Claude Desktop entries.

  3. Check iMCP in Claude Desktop

    iMCP: Fully quit and reopen Claude Desktop; check developer diagnostics.

Config file · macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

JSON
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "iMCP": {
      "command": "/Applications/iMCP.app/Contents/MacOS/imcp-server",
      "args": [],
      "env": {}
    }
  }
}

iMCP tools available to Claude Desktop

iMCP's stored tool list documents 1 tool; compare it with Claude Desktop's connected tool list, because the stored list is not a live check.

fetchContacts

When Claude Desktop requests fetchContacts from iMCP, review the action before approving it.

Retrieve contact records through Apple's Contacts framework as JSON-LD.

iMCP: full stored tool descriptions

Troubleshooting iMCP in Claude Desktop

  • Fully quit and reopen Claude Desktop for iMCP. If imcp-server is missing, check the desktop process's PATH, which may differ from your terminal.
  • iMCP uses stdio here: Claude Desktop must keep the configured process running; protocol output belongs on stdout and diagnostics on stderr.
  • Known limitation: Requires macOS 15.3 or newer.
  • Known limitation: Connected AI clients may send retrieved personal data off device.
  • Known limitation: Message access needs explicit selection of the local message database.
  • General Claude Desktop troubleshooting lives in the /clients/claude-desktop guide.

iMCP — details. Claude Desktop guide

Frequently asked questions

Claude Desktop loads iMCP from claude_desktop_config.json: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/ on macOS, or %APPDATA%\Claude\ on Windows. Open it via Settings → Developer → Edit Config when available.

Claude Desktop's iMCP example uses stdio.

iMCP's Claude Desktop configuration invokes imcp-server.

iMCP's stored list contains 1 tool, including fetchContacts. Compare those names with Claude Desktop's connected tool list; the stored list is not a live check.

The app download instructions require macOS 15.3 or later.

No. Services start inactive and are enabled individually after the relevant permission prompt.