Use GCal with an AI assistant

Connect your assistant

GCal connects your calendar to an AI assistant through MCP, short for Model Context Protocol. This lets your assistant use GCal’s calendar tools when you ask for help with your day. You need an assistant that supports local MCP servers on your Mac.

1. In GCal, open Settings → AI Tools and turn on the switch beside AI Tools.
2. Under Connections, enter an Assistant name and choose Create Connection.
3. Choose Copy Configuration. Add this configuration to your assistant’s local MCP server settings, following its setup instructions. The configuration contains a private connection token that GCal shows only once.
4. Connect or restart the assistant as its instructions require, then ask it to use GCal. Approve access to the tools if your assistant asks.

To answer questions about your agenda, GCal needs connected calendar sources and selected calendars or task lists. Signing in to Google Calendar in the main window is a separate step. See Set up GCal on your Mac if you have not connected your agenda yet.

Try an everyday request

Start with a specific request that tells the assistant to use GCal:

• “Use GCal to show me tomorrow’s events and tasks.”
• “Use GCal to find a free hour this week between 9 am and 5 pm.”
• “Use GCal to find events about the launch in the next month.”
• “Use GCal to list my overdue tasks.”
• “Use GCal to prepare an event called Project review tomorrow from 2 pm to 3 pm.”
• “Use GCal to join my next video meeting.”

Include dates, duration, and preferred hours when they matter. Free-time suggestions use the calendars available to GCal, so include all calendars that affect your availability.

What your assistant can do

• Read your schedule: get events, tasks, or both for a chosen date range.
• Search your agenda: find events and tasks by words in their title, notes, location, or calendar or task-list name.
• Get item details: look up a specific event or task returned by GCal.
• Find your next event: check what starts next within a chosen range.
• List overdue tasks: find unfinished tasks whose due date has passed.
• Find free time: look for gaps between events, using your requested duration and hours.
• List calendars and task lists: see the calendar and task-list catalog available to GCal.
• Open GCal: show the calendar window, jump to a date, or open a particular agenda item.
• Prepare an event draft: fill in a new event for you to review and save in Google Calendar.
• Join your next meeting: open the next upcoming event with a recognized conference link. See Join meetings from GCal for other ways to join.
• List Calendar Sets: find the saved sets available for the account in the main Google Calendar window.
• Apply a Calendar Set: switch the visible calendars to a saved set. See Create and switch Calendar Sets.
• Refresh calendar data: request an update from your active calendar sources.
• Read official GCal help: search and read the help bundled with your installed version of GCal, even when the assistant cannot browse the web.
• Open a GCal settings pane: take you directly to a requested settings section after explaining the relevant steps.

Review an event before saving

When you ask your assistant to prepare an event, include its title, start time, and end time. You can also specify a location, description, time zone, or an all-day date range.

GCal opens the filled-in event in Google Calendar using the account active in the main window. Check the account, calendar, date, and time, make any changes, then choose Save. The draft is not saved automatically.

Add guests, repeating schedules, and video meeting details in Google Calendar before saving. The AI draft tool does not fill in those options.

Manage connections and access

Each assistant has its own connection. To disconnect one, open Settings → AI Tools and choose Revoke beside its name. To stop access for all assistants, turn off AI Tools.

A connected assistant can request information from your selected calendars and task lists, including event and task details, and use the actions listed above. The connection runs locally on your Mac, but information returned to the assistant may be processed by its provider according to that assistant’s settings and policies.

Keep the copied configuration private. If you lose it or need to replace it, revoke the old connection and create a new one. Revoking a connection prevents further access through GCal; it does not remove information already shared with the assistant.

If something is not working

• The assistant cannot find GCal: check that it supports local MCP servers, that you added the complete configuration, and that AI Tools is enabled. Reconnect or restart the assistant after changing its setup.
• The connection is rejected: check whether it was revoked. Create a new connection if you no longer have a valid configuration.
• Events or tasks are missing: check your connected accounts and selected calendars or task lists. Use Find missing calendars or events to work through the setup.
• The agenda is unavailable or outdated: reconnect to the internet and ask the assistant to refresh GCal, then try again. AI agenda tools need fresh, complete data and may fail even when cached events remain visible elsewhere.
• A Calendar Set is unavailable: open the main Google Calendar window. GCal adapts the available sets to the account shown there.
• AI Tools cannot be enabled: check feature availability for your current access.