TextEdit MCP

A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that enables Claude Desktop to create beautifully formatted RTF documents with native macOS TextEdit compatibility.

Features

• 📝 Rich Text Formatting

  • Bold, italic, underline, strikethrough
  • Headings (H1-H2)
  • Paragraph formatting with customizable spacing

• 🎨 Colors & Highlighting

  • Text colors: Red, Blue, Green
  • Highlight colors: Yellow, Cyan, Green, Orange
  • Full color support in tables

• 📊 Tables

  • Real RTF tables with borders
  • Header row styling
  • Full formatting support within cells
  • Automatic cell padding and alignment

• 🔗 Hyperlinks

  • Clickable URLs
  • Formatted link text
  • Works in TextEdit, Pages, and Word

• 📋 Lists

  • Bullet points
  • Numbered lists
  • Proper indentation

• 🎯 Templates

  • Business (default)
  • Technical (monospace)
  • Meeting (increased line spacing)

Installation

Prerequisites

• macOS (required for NSAttributedString and RTF generation)
• Swift 5.0 or later
• Claude Desktop

Quick Install

1. Clone the repository:

git clone https://github.com/M-Pineapple/TextEdit-MCP.git
cd TextEdit-MCP

2. Run the installer:

./install.sh

3. Restart Claude Desktop

The installer will:

• Build the Swift project
• Install the MCP server binary
• Update your Claude Desktop configuration
• Create a backup of your existing config

Usage

In Claude Desktop, you can create RTF documents using natural language:

"Create an RTF document with my meeting notes"
"Make a formatted report with tables and highlights"
"Generate a technical document with code examples"

Or use the tool directly:

Use textedit:create_rtf_document to create a document at ~/Desktop/MyDoc.rtf

Formatting Syntax

The TextEdit MCP uses an intuitive markdown-like syntax:

Text Formatting

• **Bold text**
• *Italic text*
• ***Bold italic text***
• ~~Strikethrough text~~

Colors

• {red}Red text{/red}
• {blue}Blue text{/blue}
• {green}Green text{/green}

Highlighting

• ==Yellow highlight==
• [[Cyan highlight]]
• {{Green highlight}}
• ((Orange highlight))

Headings

# Heading 1
## Heading 2
### Heading 3
#### Heading 4

Lists

• Bullet point (or use - )
1. Numbered item
2. Another item

Tables

| Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 |
|----------|----------|----------|
| Data 1   | Data 2   | Data 3   |
| More     | Data     | Here     |

Links

[Link text](https://example.com)

Examples

Simple Document

# Meeting Notes

## Agenda
- Review **Q4 results**
- Discuss {red}urgent issues{/red}
- Plan for next quarter

## Action Items
1. ==Update documentation==
2. [[Review code changes]]
3. Schedule follow-up

Table with Formatting

| Task | Status | Owner |
|------|--------|-------|
| **Documentation** | {green}✅ Complete{/green} | Team A |
| *Testing* | ==In Progress== | Team B |
| Deployment | {red}Blocked{/red} | DevOps |

Development

Building from Source

swift build -c release

Running Tests

swift test

Project Structure

TextEdit-MCP/
├── Sources/
│   └── TextEditMCP/
│       ├── main.swift           # Entry point
│       ├── MCPServer.swift      # MCP protocol handler
│       ├── RTFDocumentService.swift  # RTF generation
│       └── MCPLogger.swift      # Logging utility
├── Package.swift
├── README.md
├── FORMATTING_GUIDE.md
└── install.sh

How It Works

1. MCP Protocol: Implements the Model Context Protocol to communicate with Claude Desktop
2. NSAttributedString: Uses macOS native APIs for rich text formatting
3. NSTextTable: Creates real RTF tables with proper borders and cell formatting
4. RTF Export: Generates standard RTF files compatible with TextEdit, Pages,

... View full README on GitHub