Overview

The macOS Notification MCP is a lightweight server that bridges AI assistants with the native notification ecosystem of macOS. It exposes a set of tools—sound alerts, banner messages, and text‑to‑speech—that can be invoked from any Model Context Protocol (MCP) client, such as Claude Desktop. By turning simple function calls into system‑level notifications, the server lets developers embed real‑time alerts directly into AI workflows without writing platform‑specific code.

At its core, the server solves the problem of cross‑platform notification consistency for developers building AI‑powered productivity tools. On macOS, notifications can be delivered through audible cues, visual banners, or spoken messages, each with configurable parameters like title, subtitle, voice, and volume. The MCP server wraps these capabilities in a uniform API, so an AI assistant can trigger a “task completed” banner or announce a long‑running job’s status, all from the same context. This eliminates the need for separate scripts or third‑party libraries and keeps the AI experience seamless.

Key features include:

• Sound Notifications – Play any of the built‑in system sounds (e.g., Ping, Submarine) with a single function call.
• Banner Notifications – Display rich notifications that can include a title, message, optional subtitle, and an attached sound.
• Speech Notifications – Convert arbitrary text into speech using macOS’s command, with adjustable voice selection, speaking rate, and volume.
• Voice Management – Enumerate available TTS voices so AI assistants can choose the most appropriate one for a given context.
• Testing Utilities – A diagnostic routine that exercises all notification paths, ensuring the server is functioning correctly.

Real‑world use cases span from developer tools that notify users when a build finishes, to AI assistants that provide audible reminders or status updates during long computations. In an IDE integration, for example, a Claude‑powered helper could say “Compilation succeeded” and flash a banner once the code compiles. In a project management workflow, an AI bot could announce when a deadline is approaching or when a task moves to the next stage.

Integration with AI workflows is straightforward: the MCP server registers its capabilities via FastMCP, allowing any compliant client to discover and invoke them on demand. Because notifications are queued with a half‑second interval, the server guarantees that messages do not overlap or overwhelm the user. The design leverages native macOS utilities (, , ), ensuring low latency and high reliability while keeping the server lightweight. The result is a dependable, developer‑friendly bridge that turns AI prompts into audible or visual cues on macOS.