What the tools can do
A connected client sees a list of tools and picks the ones it needs. You do not call them yourself; you ask a question or give an instruction in plain language and the client decides.
Thirty tools are available. Which of them a given client actually sees depends on your approval settings and on the token it connected with, so a client may see fewer. See permissions.
Reading
Always available once MCP is on. None of these change anything.
| Tool | What it does |
|---|---|
search_notes | Search and filter by text, folder, tag, or favorite |
get_note_content | Read one note in full, by exact title |
get_recent_notes | The most recently edited notes |
list_folders | Folder structure with note counts |
list_tags | Every tag, with how many notes use each |
list_workspaces | Workspaces with folder and note counts |
list_trash | Notes currently in Trash |
get_note_stats | Totals: notes, favorites, recent activity, audio notes |
find_similar_notes | Notes related in meaning to a given one |
get_backlinks | Notes linking to a given note through [[wiki-links]] |
search_notes returns a snippet of each note rather than the whole body, so a client will often read one in full afterwards.
Creating and organizing
Available once MCP is on. These change your notes but do not destroy anything.
| Tool | What it does |
|---|---|
create_note | Create a note, optionally with content, tags, and a folder |
create_folder | Create a folder, nesting with a slash-separated path |
create_workspace | Create a workspace |
move_note | Move a note to a different folder |
tag_note | Add tags to a note |
toggle_favorite | Favorite or unfavorite a note |
duplicate_note | Copy a note |
restore_note | Restore a note from Trash |
A note always belongs to a folder. If a client names a folder that does not exist, the tool refuses and says so rather than creating a note with nowhere to live.
Needs AI
| Tool | What it does |
|---|---|
generate_tags | Suggest tags for a note from its content |
generate_summary | Summarize a note |
These call AI on Notate’s side rather than in your client, so they need AI on your account: either the AI plan, where they are metered against your Notate AI usage, or the Sync plan with your own Anthropic key, where they run on your key and are metered by nobody. Without either, they are refused with an explanation.
Searching by meaning is in the same category: with AI, search_notes matches meaning as well as wording. Without it, search falls back to keyword matching and tells the client that it did.
Needs your permission first
Each of these is off until you turn it on, individually, in Settings, Features, MCP.
| Tool | What it does |
|---|---|
delete_note | Move a note to Trash |
delete_folder | Move a folder to Trash |
update_note_content | Replace a note’s content |
rename_note | Change a note’s title |
rename_folder | Rename a folder |
rename_tag | Rename a tag everywhere it is used |
rename_workspace | Rename a workspace |
delete_workspace | Delete a workspace |
add_folder_to_workspace | Add a folder to a workspace |
remove_folder_from_workspace | Remove a folder from a workspace |
An action you have not enabled is not shown to the client at all. That is deliberate: a client that cannot see a capability will not build a plan around it and then fail halfway through.
Two safety nets apply even when you have enabled these. Deleted notes and folders go to Trash and can be restored, and update_note_content keeps the previous version in history.
Not available over MCP
open_note and switch_workspace exist for Notate’s in-app assistant, which has a window to act on. Over MCP there is no window, so they are left out rather than appearing to work.
Renaming a top-level folder is also refused. To rename one, rename it on disk and every device follows. Folders inside it rename normally.