Integration

Connect Claude to Todoist

Get Claude reading and writing your tasks — so you can capture things without breaking your flow, and start your day knowing exactly what's waiting for you.

daily systems workflow

What you can actually do with this

The integration isn't just a novelty — it's most useful when you're already in a chat working on something and you don't want to lose a thought or a task by switching apps. A few things that actually get used:

⚡

Capture without switching

Think of something mid-conversation? Just say "add that to my Todoist." It lands in your inbox without you leaving the chat.

📋

Start your day with context

Ask Claude what's on your list for today. It can pull tasks, filter by due date, and summarize what actually needs attention.

✅

Complete tasks in conversation

Finished something? Mark it done without opening the app. Useful when you're in a debrief and closing out the day.

🧠

Capture ideas as they surface

The best use for low-friction capture: anything that comes up while you're working that you don't want to lose but can't deal with right now.

Set your permissions first

Before you start using it, it's worth deciding how much autonomy you want Claude to have with your tasks. You can configure this in Settings → Connectors → Todoist. Three buckets:

🚫 Never allow

Deleting tasks
Anything irreversible you'd regret

🤔 Ask me first

Completing tasks
Editing existing tasks
Creating tasks in specific projects

✅ Auto-allow

Reading tasks
Creating tasks in Inbox
Anything low-stakes and reversible

There's no single right answer — it depends on how much you trust the integration and how organized your Todoist is. Tighter is always safer to start. You can loosen it once you've got a feel for how it behaves.

Setup — step by step

Open Claude Settings

Web or desktop app: click your profile picture in the bottom-left corner → Settings.

Desktop app on Mac: Claude menu in the top menu bar → Settings.
Desktop app on Windows: menu button (three lines) top-left → File → Settings.

Go to Connectors

In the left sidebar, click Connectors. This is where all your integrations live.

Add a custom connector

Scroll to the bottom and click Add custom connector. Paste this URL: https://ai.todoist.net/mcp — then click Add.

Don't click "Advanced settings" — Todoist handles OAuth automatically.

Authenticate with Todoist

Find Todoist in your Connectors list (shows as "Custom") and click Connect. You'll be redirected to Todoist to authorize — log in if prompted and click Allow.

Configure permissions

While you're in the Connectors settings, click into the Todoist connector and set your permissions — what Claude can do automatically vs. what requires your approval. See the section above for guidance.

Enable it in a conversation

Open a chat, click the + icon (Search and tools) in the lower-left of the chat box → Connectors → enable Todoist. You need to do this per conversation — it doesn't stay on automatically.

This is the step people forget most often. If Claude says it can't access your tasks, this is probably why.

Test it

Try: "Create a task in my Inbox called 'Todoist integration works!' due today." Check your Todoist app — it should be there within a few seconds.

Gotchas worth knowing

🔄

Re-authorization happens more than you'd expect

The connection times out periodically and you'll need to go back to Settings → Connectors and re-authorize. It's not broken — just a session expiry thing. Takes about thirty seconds to fix.

🔍

Completed tasks with times can be hard to find

If a completed task had a specific time attached to it, queries don't always surface it cleanly. If Claude says it can't find a completed task you know exists, try asking without the time reference — just the task name or date.

🔌

Enable per conversation, every time

The connector doesn't stay enabled between chats. Every new conversation, you need to turn it on via the + menu. If you use it regularly, it becomes muscle memory fast — but it'll catch you off guard the first few times.

🎬

Setup instructions adapted from Lotfi Drif's excellent walkthrough — Claude x Todoist: MCP connection, audio workflows & more! on YouTube. Worth watching if you want to see the full setup in action and explore some more advanced use cases.

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