OneNote MCP Server

An MCP (Model Context Protocol) server that gives Claude access to your local Microsoft OneNote notebooks. It reads .one files directly from disk and writes to OneNote via the COM API — no Azure registration, no API keys, no authentication required.

What It Does

This server parses the OneNote backup files that the desktop app stores locally and exposes them as tools that Claude can use to browse, read, and write to your notes.

Reading Tools

Tool	Description
`list_notebooks`	List all locally available OneNote notebooks (from backup files)
`list_sections`	List all sections in a specific notebook
`read_section`	Read the full text content of a section
`search_notes`	Search for text across all notebooks and sections
`list_all_sections`	List every section across every notebook
`get_notebook_summary`	Get a notebook overview with content previews

Writing Tools

Tool	Description
`list_live_notebooks`	List notebooks/sections from the running OneNote app
`create_page`	Create a new page in any notebook section
`list_live_pages`	List pages in a section (with IDs for appending)
`append_to_page`	Append content to an existing page

Writing tools use the OneNote COM API and require the OneNote desktop app to be running on Windows.

Prerequisites

Python 3.12+
uv (recommended) or pip
Microsoft OneNote desktop app (with local backup files)

Installation

git clone https://github.com/mhzarem/onenote-mcp.git
cd onenote-mcp
uv sync

Or with pip:

git clone https://github.com/mhzarem/onenote-mcp.git
cd onenote-mcp
pip install "mcp[cli]" pyOneNote

Setup

Claude Code

claude mcp add --transport stdio onenote -- uv --directory /path/to/onenote-mcp run server.py

Verify it's connected:

claude mcp list

Claude Desktop

Add this to your claude_desktop_config.json:

macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "onenote": {
      "command": "uv",
      "args": [
        "--directory",
        "/absolute/path/to/onenote-mcp",
        "run",
        "server.py"
      ]
    }
  }
}

On Windows, use the full path to uv.exe and double backslashes:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "onenote": {
      "command": "C:\\Users\\YOUR_USER\\.local\\bin\\uv.exe",
      "args": [
        "--directory",
        "C:\\path\\to\\onenote-mcp",
        "run",
        "server.py"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Restart Claude Desktop after saving.

Where It Reads Files From

By default, the server reads from the OneNote desktop app's local backup directory:

C:\Users\<user>\AppData\Local\Microsoft\OneNote\16.0\Backup\

To use a different location, set the ONENOTE_BACKUP_DIR environment variable:

# Claude Code
claude mcp add --transport stdio --env ONENOTE_BACKUP_DIR=/path/to/notes onenote -- uv --directory /path/to/onenote-mcp run server.py

# Or export it
export ONENOTE_BACKUP_DIR=/path/to/your/onenote/files

Usage Examples

Once connected, you can ask Claude:

Reading:

"List my OneNote notebooks"
"Show me the sections in my Machine Learning notebook"
"Read my Algorithm notes"
"Search my notes for transformers"
"Give me a summary of my Programming notebook"

Writing:

"Create a new page in My Notebook / Quick Notes titled 'Meeting Notes'"
"Add my interview prep notes to OneNote"
"Append today's summary to my existing page"

How It Works