Local API and Model Context Protocol (MCP) for Tana!
Hey Product Hunt đź‘‹
We just shipped something we’ve wanted to build for a long time: a local API and Model Context Protocol (MCP) integration for Tana.
The short version:
 AI tools like Claude Code can now read, reason over, and write back to your actual Tana workspace — including structured notes, outlines, prompts, and relationships — instead of working on pasted text or one-off prompts.
Why we built this
Most AI workflows today look like this:
Copy something out of your notes
Paste it into a chat or terminal
Lose context
Start over next time
That’s not how real work compounds.
Tana is designed as a permanent, structured thinking system. With the new API + MCP, AI tools can finally work inside that system instead of around it.
What this unlocks
A simple example we’re excited about:
Capture a voice memo in Tana
Shape it into an outline using the editor
Let Claude Code turn that structured note into a slide deck
No copy-paste. No re-explaining. The AI works from your real notes and structure.
Beyond slides, people are already using this for:
Reusable prompt libraries that evolve over time
Exploring large personal knowledge bases conversationally
Generating reports, summaries, and plans grounded in real context
Building AI-assisted workflows that write results back into Tana
Getting started
We’re also shipping a small optional skill pack for Claude Code, including:
A workspace understanding skill
A schema graph visualizer
A natural-language search builder
A slide deck generator
You can use the API directly, use MCP, or both. Documentation: https://tana.inc/docs/local-api-mcp
This is early, but intentional
We didn’t want to ship “just another integration.”
We wanted to make Tana a place AI tools can plug into as a system of record for thinking and knowledge.
We’d love feedback from builders, power users, and anyone experimenting with AI-native workflows:
What would you want AI to do with your notes?
What tools should Tana connect to next?
Happy to answer questions in the comments!
Replies
I've been exploring the new Tana Local API/MCP for the past week. I'm using it in coordination with Claude Cowork.
It's a bit too early for me to make any broad pronouncements about my life being changed, but I'll say this: now that Tana is no longer walled off from the files and folders on my Mac, a lot of workflows are possible that weren't before.
This week, I've:
Processed emails (effortlessly dropped in a folder in .eml format using an Apple Shortcut) to tease out any actions or notes, and created tasks and reference notes as needed in Tana tied to the relevant projects.
Processed my digital document Inbox (a Dropbox folder) to identify events (added to Google Calendar via a separate MCP) as well as tasks or projects (added to Tana via the new MCP). The documents were then moved to folders on my computer that correspond to Tana projects. That would have been a maintenance nightmare before, but now that one environment (Cowork) can see both my Tana projects and my project folders, it's not the slightest issue.
Reviewed my calendar for the next four weeks and processed any relevant tasks and projects, which were then added to Tana automatically.
Hashed out actions and plans for stalled projects in AI conversations. Some of this would have been possible in Tana already, but these were projects that also had PDFs, spreadsheets, etc., associated with them. Cowork could "see" the Tana projects and their related notes and such, and also parse and make use of other files.
I've done quite a bit more, too, but these were particularly powerful for me.
A caveat: The Tana Local API/MCP is still in early access, and because your Tana workspace is unique to you, there will be quite a bit of "configuration" that you'll need to do. (Not "configuration" in a technical sense. Cowork will just need docs to refer to about your specific Tana workspace to make the workflows smooth. I created those in conversations with Cowork.)
If you're a confident Tana user and you're comfortable with Claude Code or Cowork, I say take the MCP out for a spin and see what you think!