# Tiong Creative assistant (MCP server)

Lets an AI assistant on your Mac, such as Claude Desktop, use your Tiong Creative apps while
they are open. Ask "what's on this month" and it reads Due Again, Gift Keeper, Client Manager, Lists & Notes, Budget Planner and DiagramSnap; say "mark the car insurance
done" and Due Again records it and works out the next date, the same as if you had clicked.

It only works with the apps, and only while each app has **Settings → Assistant → Allow
assistant access** turned on. With it off, or the app closed, the assistant is told so and
nothing else happens.

## Apps

| App                                                                                                  | Reads                                                                                                                                                                                                                         | Changes                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 |
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Due Again 1.1.0 or later                                                                             | items with status and next due date, an item's history                                                                                                                                                                        | add an item, record that an item was done, change an item's advance reminders                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           |
| Gift Keeper 1.3.0 or later (start years and changing ideas need 1.4.0; a store on ideas needs 1.5.0) | people with interests, sizes and preferences; upcoming occasions with budget, spend, whether a gift is chosen, and the age or years married (milestones flagged) when a start year is known; ideas and gifts show their store | add a gift idea for a person, mark a gift as given, add a start year (year born or married) to a yearly birthday, anniversary or wedding, change a gift idea's name, who it is for, notes, price, link or priority; turn a gift idea into a tracked gift for an occasion (by name), for the idea's person or another; optionally keep the idea for later; add a store; set the store on ideas and gifts |
| Client Manager 1.6.0 or later                                                                        | pending reminders, open tasks, invoices owing with totals and balance, one client with each job's details, renewal periods and invoices                                                                                       | add a client, a job, a reminder or a task, record an invoice made in another system such as Square against a job's renewal period, change a job, task or reminder, log an activity. Existing invoices cannot be changed                                                                                                                                                                                 |
| Lists & Notes 1.22.0 or later (changes need 1.23.0; adding and renaming categories need 1.24.0)      | lists with their items, notes with previews, the full text of a note, categories with their list and note counts                                                                                                              | add a list or a note, add items, tick off or reword items, add to, rename or move a note to another category, move a list or note to a category, add or rename a category                                                                                                                                                                                                                               |
| Budget Planner 2.2.0 or later (updating balances needs 2.3.0)                                        | the budget for any week, fortnight, month or year, payments coming up, expenses, accounts and net worth, scenario results and comparisons                                                                                     | add an expense, change an expense's amount from a date, rename it or set when it stops, change a scenario's loan, dates or keep-aside, add a scenario or a copy of one, set account balances with the date they were true, and add, change or remove a scenario's costs                                                                                                                                 |
| DiagramSnap 0.7.0 or later                                                                           | diagrams and slide decks, shown as pictures in the chat                                                                                                                                                                       | create a diagram or a deck, add a slide, change a diagram or slide's name, title, notes or drawing. Nothing is deleted                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  |

More apps follow, and the assistant can also open an app for you, but only after you agree. Its
`assistant_info` tool reports the server version, each app's version, whether each app can be
reached, and which apps need a newer version.

## Prompts

The server also offers ready-made starters for common routines. Pick one from your AI app's
menu (in Claude Desktop: + then "Add from tiongcreative"). A prompt is listed only when the apps it needs are
installed.

| Prompt                              | App                         | What it does                                                                                                                            |
| ----------------------------------- | --------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| What needs my attention this week   | Any app                     | Lists what is overdue or due in the next 7 days, grouped by app, and offers to deal with each item.                                     |
| Check a statement against my budget | Budget Planner              | Compares a bank or card statement you attach or paste with your recurring expenses, proposes changes, and makes the ones you agree to.  |
| Review this month's budget          | Budget Planner              | Shows this month's income, expenses and surplus, the biggest categories, and what is due for the rest of the month.                     |
| Plan gifts for upcoming occasions   | Gift Keeper                 | Shows the occasions coming up, what is sorted, and which saved ideas could become gifts. Takes an optional number of days (default 60). |
| Tidy my notes                       | Lists & Notes               | Suggests moves, merges and archiving across your categories, lists and notes, and changes nothing until you agree.                      |
| What can you do with my apps?       | Any app                     | Shows which apps are connected, what you can ask for in each, and the routines you can run. Changes nothing.                            |
| Add things from an email or message | Any app                     | Works out what in a pasted or attached email, booking, receipt or message belongs in which app, and adds it once you agree.             |
| Who owes me money                   | Client Manager              | Lists unpaid and overdue invoices, oldest first, with a draft follow-up for each client. Takes an optional client name.                 |
| Plan my client week                 | Client Manager              | Reminders and tasks due in the next 7 days, plus overdue invoices, in one plan.                                                         |
| What's coming up this month         | Due Again                   | Renewals, appointments and other items due in the next 31 days, by week, with expected costs.                                           |
| Turn a note into a diagram          | Lists & Notes + DiagramSnap | Draws a note (a process, a plan, a set of ideas) as a diagram, after you agree the layout in words. Takes an optional note title.       |

Not every client shows MCP prompts: Claude Desktop does, while ChatGPT and Codex do not yet. The same steps are also a `routine` tool the assistant calls itself, so in any client you can just ask, for example, "check this statement against my budget".

## Feedback

If something did not work, or you wish the assistant could do more, tell it (for example, say
"send feedback"). It offers to draft a note with the versions of the server and your apps
filled in, and gives you an email link that opens the note ready to send, so the assistant never
sends anything itself. Or use the contact form at https://tiongcreative.com.au/contact/ and choose
"Product support" as the topic.

## Setup

You need Node.js and Claude Desktop. If you do not have Node.js, install it from
nodejs.org (the LTS download), which also gives you the `npx` command used below.

Open Terminal and run:

```
npx @tiongcreative/assistant-mcp install
```

It adds the assistant to Claude Desktop's settings and keeps a backup of the previous file.
Then quit Claude Desktop completely, open it again, and allow the "tiongcreative" server the
first time it asks. In each app, turn on **Allow assistant access** in Settings. With the apps
open, ask Claude what's on this week.

The assistant only offers tools for the apps installed on your Mac, checked when Claude
Desktop starts it, so after installing another app restart Claude Desktop once.

To remove it: `npx @tiongcreative/assistant-mcp uninstall`. To check: `npx @tiongcreative/assistant-mcp status`. If the assistant stops appearing after you upgrade Node.js, `status` says so, and running the install command again fixes it. Run these commands from any folder except a checkout of this package.

### ChatGPT desktop on the same Mac

For ChatGPT desktop, run this one command instead:

```
npx @tiongcreative/assistant-mcp install chatgpt
```

It registers the same local server in ChatGPT's MCP settings. Restart ChatGPT, turn on
**Allow assistant access** in each app, and type `/mcp` in ChatGPT to check the connection.
The Tiong Creative apps must be open on this Mac. This setup is for ChatGPT desktop, not
ChatGPT in a web browser. To check or remove it, run `npx @tiongcreative/assistant-mcp status chatgpt`
or `npx @tiongcreative/assistant-mcp uninstall chatgpt`. If it stops appearing after you upgrade Node.js, `status chatgpt` says so, and running the install chatgpt command again fixes it.

For Claude Code: `claude mcp add tiongcreative -- npx -y @tiongcreative/assistant-mcp`.

## How it stays on your Mac

- The server opens no network connection of its own. It talks to each app on 127.0.0.1 only.
- While assistant access is on, the app writes a small file in its own data folder holding its
  port and a token made fresh for that launch, readable only by your user account. The server
  reads it and sends the token with each request. The file is removed when you turn the setting
  off or quit the app, so there is nothing to copy or store.
- On connect, the server sends the assistant a short set of instructions: which tool does which
  job for each installed app, and common rules (nothing is deleted, and closed apps are reported
  and opened only with your agreement). Clients that support server instructions, such as Claude
  Desktop and Claude Code, add them to the assistant's context.
- What the assistant reads goes to whichever AI service it uses. Turn access on only for an
  assistant you trust.
- The package holds no secrets and never contacts tiongcreative.com.au.

## Development

```bash
npm install
npm test            # needs ../due-again checked out: runs its server on a temp data folder
npm run validate
```

Registering a local checkout with Claude Code: `claude mcp add tiongcreative -- node /path/to/src/index.js`.

## Licence

Released under the MIT licence.