How to use Claude + MCP to get a daily calendar briefing by email

Download and install Claude Desktop from claude.ai/download. MCP (Model Context Protocol) is built into Claude Desktop — it lets Claude connect to external tools and data sources on your machine.

Open Claude Desktop, go to Settings → Developer and click Edit Config. This opens your claude_desktop_config.json file where MCP servers are configured.

Install an MCP calendar server via npm. For iCal-compatible calendars (Google Calendar, Apple Calendar, Outlook):

npm install -g @modelcontextprotocol/server-google-calendar

Or for a generic iCal URL feed:

npm install -g mcp-server-ical

Add the server to your claude_desktop_config.json. For a Google Calendar setup it looks roughly like this:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "calendar": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@modelcontextprotocol/server-google-calendar"],
      "env": {
        "GOOGLE_CLIENT_ID": "your-client-id",
        "GOOGLE_CLIENT_SECRET": "your-client-secret",
        "GOOGLE_REFRESH_TOKEN": "your-refresh-token"
      }
    }
  }
}

Getting those Google credentials requires creating a project in Google Cloud Console, enabling the Calendar API, creating OAuth credentials, and going through an authorization flow to get a refresh token. This is the most involved part of the setup — plan for 30–60 minutes.

Create a file called briefing.js. Install dependencies:

npm install @anthropic-ai/sdk nodemailer

The script structure looks like this — you'll need to fill in your API keys, email credentials, and calendar tool name:

import Anthropic from "@anthropic-ai/sdk";
import nodemailer from "nodemailer";

const client = new Anthropic({ apiKey: process.env.ANTHROPIC_API_KEY });

const response = await client.messages.create({
  model: "claude-sonnet-4-6",
  max_tokens: 1024,
  tools: [{ type: "calendar_read" }], // depends on your MCP server
  messages: [{
    role: "user",
    content: `Read my calendar for today and tomorrow.
    Write a friendly morning briefing that covers:
    - What's happening today, in order
    - Anything I need to prepare or bring
    - Any conflicts or tight timing
    - What tomorrow looks like
    Keep it warm and practical. Under 300 words.`
  }]
});

const briefingText = response.content
  .filter(b => b.type === "text")
  .map(b => b.text)
  .join("\n");

const transporter = nodemailer.createTransport({
  host: "smtp.youremailprovider.com",
  port: 587,
  auth: { user: process.env.EMAIL_USER, pass: process.env.EMAIL_PASS }
});

await transporter.sendMail({
  from: "briefing@yourdomain.com",
  to: "you@youremail.com",
  subject: `Your morning briefing — ${new Date().toLocaleDateString()}`,
  text: briefingText
});

On Mac, use launchd to schedule the script. Create a plist file at ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.you.briefing.plist:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
  <key>Label</key>
  <string>com.you.briefing</string>
  <key>ProgramArguments</key>
  <array>
    <string>/usr/local/bin/node</string>
    <string>/path/to/your/briefing.js</string>
  </array>
  <key>StartCalendarInterval</key>
  <dict>
    <key>Hour</key><integer>7</integer>
    <key>Minute</key><integer>0</integer>
  </dict>
  <key>EnvironmentVariables</key>
  <dict>
    <key>ANTHROPIC_API_KEY</key>
    <string>your-key-here</string>
  </dict>
</dict>
</plist>

Load the schedule:

launchctl load ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.you.briefing.plist

Your Mac needs to be awake at 7am for this to fire. If it's asleep, the briefing won't run until the next morning.