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iwork-mcp

by reichenbach
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iwork-mcp

MCP server for Apple iWork automation — 113 tools for Numbers, Pages, and Keynote.

One line to install. Works with Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Codex, and any MCP client.

What it does

Ask Claude to build spreadsheets, write documents, and create presentations — it controls the real iWork apps on your Mac through Apple's JavaScript for Automation (JXA) scripting bridge.

Q4 Revenue Dashboard in Numbers

Product Brief in Pages

Presentation Deck in Keynote

Numbers — Browse built-in templates (budget, invoice, schedule, etc.) or create from scratch, read/write cells and ranges, set formulas (including cross-sheet references like SUMIFS), sort rows, merge cells, format cells (fonts, colors, backgrounds, alignment, number formats like percent and currency), manage sheets and tables, set column widths and row heights, bulk-create sheets with data and formatting in one call, export to PDF/Excel/CSV.

Pages — Browse built-in templates (resume, report, letter, flyer, newsletter, etc.) or create from scratch, create documents with formatted content in one call, read and insert text at any position, find and replace (preserves formatting), format paragraphs (font, size, color), insert images and tables, export to PDF/Word/EPUB.

Keynote — Browse available themes or create with a specific theme, create presentations with multiple fully-configured slides in one call (layouts, titles, body, notes, transitions), add/delete/duplicate/reorder/skip slides, choose slide layouts from master slides, read slide content, set titles and bullet points, add images and shapes, start/stop slideshows, export to PDF/PowerPoint/HTML.

2026 Calendar in Numbers

Apple Financial Report in Numbers

Apple Q1 FY2026 Earnings — Executive Summary

Apple Q1 FY2026 Earnings — Revenue by Product

Apple Q1 FY2026 Earnings — Geographic Revenue

Apple Q1 FY2026 Earnings — Profitability

Install

Claude Desktop

npx iwork-mcp install

Then restart Claude Desktop (Cmd+Q and reopen). Done.

Claude Code

claude mcp add iwork -- npx -y iwork-mcp

Codex

codex mcp add iwork -- npx -y iwork-mcp

Requirements

  • macOS 13 Ventura or later (tested on macOS 14 Sonoma)

  • Numbers, Pages, and Keynote 14.0+ (tested on 14.5 and 15.1.1 Creator Studio; free from the App Store)

  • Node.js 18+ (brew install node if you have Homebrew)

  • On first use, macOS will ask to grant Automation permission — click OK

iWork 15.1+ (Creator Studio): Fully supported — tested on 15.1.1 (February 2026). Creator Studio is auto-detected and used when available. Creator Studio subscribers get 8 additional AI tools (Magic Fill, Clean Up Slide, Super Resolution, Remove Background). See Creator Studio known issues below for export/save-as limitations.

Examples

Build a monthly budget spreadsheet in Numbers with income, expenses, and a net savings row. Color positive differences green and negative red.

Create a professional resume in Pages for a software engineer with experience at three companies, education, and skills sections.

Make a Keynote presentation for a Q4 business review with 6 slides — highlights, revenue, product milestones, and roadmap. Add presenter notes on every slide.

Open my budget spreadsheet at ~/Documents/budget.numbers and add a new row for February.

Create a 2026 calendar in Numbers with a sheet for each month, colored headers, and weekend highlighting.

Tools

Numbers (50 tools)

Tool

Description

numbers_list_documents

List all open documents

numbers_list_templates

List available templates (e.g. Personal Budget, Invoice)

numbers_create_document

Create a new spreadsheet

numbers_open_document

Open a .numbers file

numbers_save_document

Save a document

numbers_export_document

Export to PDF, Excel, or CSV

numbers_close_document

Close a document

numbers_list_sheets

List sheets in a document

numbers_add_sheet

Add a new sheet

numbers_rename_sheet

Rename a sheet

numbers_delete_sheet

Delete a sheet

numbers_list_tables

List tables with dimensions

numbers_add_table

Create a new table (configurable headers)

numbers_rename_table

Rename a table

numbers_delete_table

Delete a table

numbers_read_table

Read all data as a 2D array

numbers_read_cell

Read a single cell

numbers_read_range

Read a specific cell range

numbers_get_table_info

Get table metadata (name, dimensions, position)

numbers_get_cell_format

Read a cell's number format and alignment

numbers_move_table

Move a table to a new position on the sheet

numbers_write_cell

Write a value to a cell

numbers_write_cells

Batch write multiple cells

numbers_write_table

Bulk write a 2D array (fast)

numbers_set_formula

Set a formula on a cell

numbers_add_row

Add rows with optional data

numbers_insert_row_at

Insert rows at a specific position, shifting existing rows down

numbers_add_column

Add a column

numbers_insert_column_at

Insert columns at a specific position, shifting existing columns right

numbers_delete_row

Delete rows

numbers_delete_column

Delete columns

numbers_sort_rows

Sort table by a column

numbers_set_header_rows

Set header row count (0 removes header styling)

numbers_set_header_columns

Set header column count

numbers_merge_cells

Merge a cell range

numbers_unmerge_cells

Unmerge cells

numbers_clear_cells

Clear cell contents

numbers_format_cells

Set font, size, color, bold, italic, alignment, background, number format (percent, currency, etc.)

numbers_set_column_width

Set column width

numbers_set_row_height

Set row height

numbers_format_range

Apply multiple formatting rules to different cell ranges in one call

numbers_auto_format

Auto-detect and apply formatting (currency, percent, number) from string values

numbers_copy_range

Copy values between open documents

numbers_add_image

Add an image to a sheet from a file path

numbers_list_images

List all images on a sheet with positions and sizes

numbers_add_chart

Create charts (bar, line, pie, area, scatter) from table data

numbers_create_sheet_with_table

Create a full sheet with table, data, and formatting in one fast call

numbers_magic_fill

AI pattern fill — provide examples, fill remaining cells automatically (Creator Studio)

numbers_super_resolution

AI image upscaling — increase resolution while preserving quality (Creator Studio)

numbers_remove_background

AI background removal from images (Creator Studio)

Pages (22 tools)

Tool

Description

pages_list_documents

List all open documents

pages_list_templates

List available templates (e.g. Resume, Report, Letter)

pages_create_document

Create a new document

pages_open_document

Open a .pages file

pages_save_document

Save a document

pages_export_document

Export to PDF, Word, EPUB, or plain text

pages_close_document

Close a document

pages_get_body_text

Read all body text

pages_get_paragraphs

Get paragraphs as indexed array

pages_get_document_info

Get word count, character count, page count, modified status

pages_list_images

List all images in a document with positions and sizes

pages_add_text

Append text (preserves formatting)

pages_insert_text_at

Insert text at a paragraph index

pages_delete_text

Delete a paragraph

pages_replace_text

Find and replace (preserves formatting)

pages_format_text

Set font, size, color, bold, italic on a paragraph

pages_add_image

Insert an image

pages_add_table

Insert a table

pages_insert_page_break

Insert a page break between paragraphs

pages_create_document_with_content

Create a document with multiple formatted paragraphs in one fast call

pages_super_resolution

AI image upscaling — increase resolution while preserving quality (Creator Studio)

pages_remove_background

AI background removal from images (Creator Studio)

Keynote (41 tools)

Tool

Description

keynote_list_presentations

List all open presentations

keynote_list_themes

List available themes (e.g. White, Black, Gradient)

keynote_get_theme

Get the current theme of a presentation

keynote_set_theme

Change the theme of an existing presentation

keynote_create_presentation

Create a new presentation

keynote_open_presentation

Open a .key file

keynote_save_presentation

Save a presentation

keynote_export_presentation

Export to PDF, PowerPoint, HTML, or images

keynote_close_presentation

Close a presentation

keynote_list_slides

List slides with titles

keynote_get_slide_content

Read all content from a slide

keynote_list_slide_items

List all items on a slide with types, positions, and sizes

keynote_list_master_slides

List available slide layouts

keynote_add_slide

Add a slide with optional layout

keynote_delete_slide

Delete a slide

keynote_duplicate_slide

Duplicate a slide

keynote_reorder_slide

Move a slide to a new position

keynote_skip_slide

Hide/unhide a slide

keynote_set_slide_layout

Change the master slide layout of an existing slide

keynote_set_slide_title

Set slide title text

keynote_set_slide_body

Set slide body / bullet points

keynote_add_image_to_slide

Add an image to a slide

keynote_add_shape

Add a shape with text

keynote_add_line

Add a line between two points on a slide

keynote_position_item

Move/resize a shape, image, or text item by type and index

keynote_align_items

Align 2+ items along an edge or center (left, right, top, bottom, center, middle)

keynote_distribute_items

Evenly space 3+ items horizontally or vertically

keynote_get_shape_info

Read shape properties (position, size, opacity, rotation, text formatting)

keynote_format_shape

Set opacity, rotation, and text font/size/color/alignment on a shape

keynote_add_table_to_slide

Add a table to a slide with optional data

keynote_read_slide_table

Read all data from a table on a slide

keynote_write_slide_table

Write data to cells of an existing table on a slide

keynote_format_slide_table

Format cells in a slide table (text color, number format)

keynote_set_presenter_notes

Set presenter notes

keynote_set_transition

Set slide transition effect

keynote_start_slideshow

Start playing the presentation

keynote_stop_slideshow

Stop the slideshow

keynote_create_presentation_with_slides

Create a presentation with multiple fully-configured slides in one fast call

keynote_clean_up_slide

AI slide cleanup — auto-adjust layout, spacing, alignment, and typography (Creator Studio)

keynote_super_resolution

AI image upscaling — increase resolution while preserving quality (Creator Studio)

keynote_remove_background

AI background removal from images (Creator Studio)

How it works

The server runs JXA (JavaScript for Automation) scripts via osascript to control iWork apps. Each tool call is a single osascript invocation — parameters go in as JSON via argv[0], results come back as JSON via stdout.

Claude Desktop / Claude Code / Codex
  ↓ MCP protocol over stdio
iwork-mcp server (Node.js)
  ↓ child_process.execFile
/usr/bin/osascript -l JavaScript
  ↓ JXA scripting bridge
Numbers.app / Pages.app / Keynote.app

Development

git clone https://github.com/reichenbach/iwork_mcp.git
cd iwork-mcp
npm install
npm run build

Testing

npm test              # Unit tests — tool registration + error parsing (~300ms, no apps needed)
npm run test:integration  # Integration tests — Numbers/Pages/Keynote CRUD (~6s, requires iWork apps)
npm run test:all      # Both tiers combined

Tests use node:test with in-memory MCP transport (no subprocess). Integration tests skip automatically if the corresponding app isn't installed.

Local development with Claude Desktop

To test locally with Claude Desktop, point to your local build:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "iwork": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/absolute/path/to/iwork-mcp/dist/index.js"]
    }
  }
}

Limitations

iWork's scripting dictionary defines what's automatable — some features (charts, track changes, comments) simply aren't exposed by Apple. iwork-mcp covers everything the API allows. I'm hopeful Apple expands automation capabilities as AI tooling becomes more integrated across the ecosystem.

  • macOS only — requires Numbers, Pages, and Keynote 14.0+ (tested on 14.5 and 15.1 Creator Studio; free from the App Store)

  • Apps are visible — iWork apps launch and show windows; there's no headless mode

  • ~430ms per call — osascript startup overhead per tool invocation (use compound tools like create_sheet_with_table, create_document_with_content, and create_presentation_with_slides for speed)

  • Charts are basic — numbers_add_chart creates data-bound charts (bar, line, pie, area, scatter) via an AppleScript bridge workaround, but chart customization (titles, labels, colors) is not exposed by Apple's scripting dictionary

  • Formulas are write-only — Apple's scripting dictionary returns computed values, not formula text

  • No comments or track changes — not exposed in the scripting dictionary

  • Pages formatting — paragraph formatting uses bodyText.paragraphs which supports font, size, and color; bold/italic require PostScript font names (e.g. HelveticaNeue-Bold); there is no direct bold/italic toggle

  • First-use permission prompt — macOS will ask to grant Automation access once

Creator Studio known issues

iWork 15.1–15.1.1 Creator Studio has scripting bugs that iwork-mcp works around automatically:

  • app.export() fails with error (6) for all non-PDF formats — "document could not be exported". PDF export works via a Quick Look workaround (qlmanage). Non-PDF export formats (Excel, CSV, Word, EPUB, PowerPoint, HTML, images) are broken on Creator Studio with no known workaround.

  • doc.save() hangs and shows a popup dialog that never returns (both with and without a path argument). Save-as works via a file copy workaround (copies the auto-saved iCloud file, then closes and reopens from the new path). Plain save (no path) is handled by iCloud auto-save automatically.

  • Auto-save renames documents by appending file extensions (e.g. "Untitled" becomes "Untitled.numbers"), which breaks documents.byName() lookups. iwork-mcp injects name resolution that tries both the original and extended names, with automatic retry on transient failures during auto-save.

All workarounds are applied automatically when Creator Studio is detected. If you need non-PDF export, use the classic iWork 14.x versions from the Mac App Store.

License

MIT

This server cannot be installed

A
license - permissive license
-
quality - not tested
C
maintenance

How are these scores calculated?

Maintenance

–Maintainers
–Response time
–Release cycle
1Releases (12mo)

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