Connect via MCP

Connect any client that speaks the Model Context Protocol (MCP) to Orchard so it can create reminders, check your calendar, and control your other Apple apps. This covers clients that don’t support Agent Skills, as well as any MCP client in general, whether that’s Cursor, Claude Desktop, Codex, or another tool entirely. Orchard runs locally as part of the Orchard CLI, through the orchard mcp command.

How it works

Your MCP client starts orchard mcp and talks to it directly on your Mac. There is no HTTP server and no network port involved at any point. Every tool call is passed along to Orchard.app, which is the part of the system that actually talks to your Apple apps.

flowchart LR
    A[Your MCP client] --> B[Orchard]
    B --> C[Your Apple apps]

Add the config

Orchard’s MCP Config button (in the app integrations list, or the onboarding Skill step) copies this JSON to your clipboard. It works even if you have not installed the /usr/local/bin/orchard symlink: Orchard falls back to the CLI binary embedded in the app bundle.

The example below uses Cursor to show where this JSON goes; any MCP client takes the same JSON in its own config file.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "orchard": {
      "command": "/usr/local/bin/orchard",
      "args": ["mcp"]
    }
  }
}

Auto-launch behavior

If Orchard.app is not running when your MCP client calls a tool, Orchard starts automatically within about 10 seconds and the original tool call proceeds normally. If Orchard cannot start in that time, the call fails with:

Orchard.app is not running and could not be started automatically. Please start Orchard.app and try again.

If several tool calls arrive at once while Orchard is starting, they all wait on that same launch instead of triggering duplicate copies of the app.

Tools, prompts, and resources

orchard mcp exposes 52 tools (the same set the Orchard Skill and CLI use), 11 prompts, and 18 resources under an orchard:// URI scheme.

• Prompts are parameterized, multi-step workflow templates (for example daily-briefing, compose-email, or schedule-meeting) that tell the calling agent which tools to invoke in what order.
• Resources are static, per-topic reference documents that explain which tool to use for a given need, whether it is Free or Pro, and example arguments. The one exception is orchard://clock/now, which returns the current time on every read instead of a static document.

Prompts and resources are available immediately and do not require Orchard.app to be running; only actual tool calls need the app open.

Free accounts and Pro tools

Free accounts see the full list of 52 tools in an MCP client; Orchard does not filter the tool list by plan. Calling a Pro-only tool (Notes, Mail, Messages, Contacts, Maps, Apple Music, Weather, Shortcuts) returns a response with isError: true and an upgrade message instead of executing.

Remote access over SSH

orchard mcp does not listen on any network port, so there is no way to connect to it directly from another machine. To call a Mac’s Orchard from elsewhere, have the MCP client launch orchard mcp on the remote Mac over SSH instead of locally:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "orchard-remote": {
      "command": "ssh",
      "args": ["user@mac-hostname", "/usr/local/bin/orchard", "mcp"]
    }
  }
}

Replace user@mac-hostname with the SSH login for the target Mac (a passwordless SSH key is recommended). SSH carries the connection between your local MCP client and the remote Orchard; Orchard itself still never opens a network port.

The Skill channel can reach a remote Mac the same way: tell your agent (or note it in your own instructions) to run the orchard command over SSH against another machine, and its tools execute there instead of locally.

Tips & limitations

• Restart your MCP client after editing its config file: most clients only read MCP server definitions at startup.
• Some tool calls (especially interactive ones like shortcuts_run) can take a while before they fail outright. That is expected behavior for slow or interactive operations, not a sign something is broken.
• For troubleshooting connection failures, see Troubleshooting.