apple-contacts-mcp

Apple Contacts MCP

MCP server for Apple Contacts on macOS.

Provides access to contacts for lookup, search, and recipient resolution. Use before sending messages to resolve names into phone numbers or email addresses.

When to use

• Contact-only workflows
• Recipient validation before messaging
• Contact lookup separated from the all-in-one server

What It Does

• List and search contacts
• Full contact detail lookup
• Message recipient resolution
• Tool discovery helpers search_tools and get_tool_info for context-constrained clients
• Create, update, and delete contacts
• Duplicate detection and merge-candidate suggestions (contacts_find_duplicates, contacts_suggest_merge_candidates)
• Phone number and email method editing with labels
• Directory resources and recipient-check prompts
• Health and permission checks: contacts_health, contacts_permission_guide, contacts_recheck_permissions

Install On This Mac

Quick start (uvx, from PyPI)

With uv installed:

uvx apple-contacts-mcp

No clone, no venv management.

From a clone

git clone https://github.com/JonathanRReed/Apple-MCPs.git
cd Apple-MCPs
uv sync --all-packages

This builds one workspace environment with every server's entry point in .venv/bin (for example .venv/bin/apple-contacts-mcp). You can also point an MCP client at AppleContacts-MCP/start.sh, which prefers uv run and falls back to a plain venv bootstrap (Python 3.11+ required).

Install In AI Agents

Generic MCP client config

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "apple-contacts": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["apple-contacts-mcp"],
      "env": {
        "APPLE_CONTACTS_MCP_SAFETY_MODE": "safe_manage"
      }
    }
  }
}

Running from a clone instead? Use /path/to/Apple-MCPs/AppleContacts-MCP/start.sh as the command with empty args.

Claude Code example

claude mcp add --transport stdio --scope project apple-contacts -- uvx apple-contacts-mcp

Safety Modes

• safe_readonly
• safe_manage
• full_access

Transport

stdio is the default and recommended transport. Set APPLE_CONTACTS_MCP_TRANSPORT=streamable-http (with optional APPLE_CONTACTS_MCP_HOST and APPLE_CONTACTS_MCP_PORT) to serve Streamable HTTP instead.

macOS Permissions

• Contacts access is required
• contacts_health reports whether Contacts access is currently available

Launch Checklist

• Add uvx apple-contacts-mcp (or a clone's AppleContacts-MCP/start.sh) to your MCP client
• Reload or reconnect the client so the Contacts tool surface is loaded into context
• Call contacts_health first
• If Contacts access is blocked, call contacts_permission_guide
• After changing macOS permissions, call contacts_recheck_permissions

Prompting Notes

• tools/list returns the full Contacts tool surface. Context-constrained clients can use search_tools first, then get_tool_info for the Contacts tool they need.
• Run Contacts before any iMessage or Mail action when the user gives a person name.
• Resolve by name, phone number, or email before acting.
• If multiple contacts match, confirm the intended person before sending.
• When updating a person, pass explicit phones or emails arrays only when you intend to replace that method set.
• Keep a labeled phone or email on the contact before routing Messages or Mail through it.

Related

• Apple-Tools-MCP