Connect Todoist to an AI assistant

Let your trusty AI assistant read and manage your Todoist tasks without you ever leaving the chat. Learn how the connection works, how to set up your AI assistant to work with your Todoist account, and what to do if there's a technical issue with the connection.

About the Todoist MCP

Todoist runs a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server, which is a single address that any AI assistant connects to, so they can talk to Todoist to work on your tasks and projects. Any AI assistant that supports the MCP can connect to this endpoint:

https://ai.todoist.net/mcp

Once you've set up the connection and approve access, you can ask it to read or add Todoist tasks, make changes to existing tasks, or reorganize a project. 

Read and write permissions

When you connect your AI assistant to your Todoist account, it asks for the data:read_write scope. Granting this lets it read and make changes to your Todoist data: create tasks and projects, edit what's there, and complete tasks.

The "allow access" screen

The connection between your AI assistant and Todoist uses OAuth, which is where you approve access when signing in to one app with another app.

After completing the setup, your AI assistant sends you to Todoist where you'll enter your account credentials, if you aren't already logged in. Then, Todoist shows a screen listing what permissions or access the AI assistant is asking for. Approving it hands the assistant a token, not your password. Your Todoist password is never shared with the AI assistant.

You can review or revoke that access token at any time in Todoist under Settings > Integrations.

Set up Todoist with an AI assistant

Get started by following the setup steps for your preferred AI assistant:

Troubleshoot issues between Todoist and the AI assistant

These are some of the most common issues that may affect the connection between your AI assistant and the Todoist MCP. Follow these steps to resolve the issue: 

The sign-in window doesn't open, or it keeps failing

You're trying to authenticate your Todoist account, but the sign-in window doesn't open, or it fails and becomes unresponsive. Turn off strict pop-up blockers specifically for the sign-in flow in your web browser, and try again.

"Sorry, something went wrong" error after allowing access

After allowing access to Todoist, you may see a "Sorry, something went wrong" error message on your screen. This means your browser didn't send the security token Todoist needs to finish authorizing the connection. 

This may happen because cookies for todoist.com are blocked, or the page sat open for too long. Here's how to resolve the issue:

1. Open the privacy settings of your preferred web browser.
2. Allow third-party cookies for todoist.com.
3. Log in to Todoist in that same browser window.
4. Turn off strict tracking protection, ad blockers, or privacy extensions for todoist.com.
5. Repeat the setup steps of your AI assistant to establish the connection again.
6. Approve access right away.
7. Clear todoist.com cookies and try once more if it persists.

The assistant is connected, but its Todoist tools don't appear

You started a new conversation with your AI assistant, but you noticed it isn't loading the Todoist MCP tools. Most AI assistants load their tools only after a conversation starts. Open and initiate a new chat, especially if you've just connected.

If starting a new chat doesn't help, check that Todoist is still connected in your AI assistant's settings, and update the AI assistant to its latest version.

You're asked to approve every change

You're trying to make changes to your tasks, but the AI assistant keeps prompting you to approve every single change. Since you've granted the read and write scope for the connection, most assistants confirm before writing anything.

Check your AI assistant settings for the Todoist MCP connection to see if you can adjust how often to ask for approval. Keep in mind that even after making these adjustments, some AI assistants will still pause on sensitive actions.

You can't connect a work or school account

If you finished authenticating Todoist, but your AI assistant still reports missing permissions, check if you're using a managed account (it may be for work or school). The organization's administrator often has to permit third-party connections before you can add one. This isn't something that you can control in Todoist. 

If you have a separate personal account, connect it to the Todoist MCP to confirm. If the connection is successful, ask whoever manages your organization's account to allow the connection.

The Todoist connection drops mid-conversation

The Todoist MCP server can have brief interruptions. If your connection fails or drops mid-conversation in the chat, wait a few minutes and start the conversation with your AI assistant again.

If it keeps happening, disconnect from both sides:

1. Remove Todoist from your AI assistant's settings.
2. Switch to Todoist.
3. Click Settings > Integrations.
4. Revoke the connection with your AI assistant.

After completing these steps, go back to the setup guide to reconnect Todoist and your AI assistant.

You have to keep reconnecting to Todoist

You may notice that your AI assistant keeps prompting you to reconnect to the Todoist MCP, even after completing the setup successfully. This can happen when the AI assistant marks Todoist access tokens as expired after a period of time, even if you've configured it to keep using the existing token.

This is often an issue from the AI assistant's side, so check the Known Issues page if it's currently being investigated, or if there's a fix.

You see an invalid_client error

If you see an invalid_client error message at the sign-in step, and before the "allow access" screen, this is a known issue on the Todoist side of the connection. Moreover, it may have more than one cause depending on how an AI assistant registers with Todoist. Get in touch with the details about the error, and we'll help you sort the issue out and reconnect again.

A recurring task lost its repeat schedule

If you created a recurring task, but it lost its repeat schedule, it's because the AI assistant is configured to change the date, instead of rescheduling it. Use prompts like "reschedule this task to [insert date]", instead of "change the task date".

If the task already lost its recurrence, set it again manually in the task's Date field.

Completed recurring tasks are missing

If you noticed that completed recurring tasks aren't visible in the project, it's because completing one shifts its date to the next occurrence, rather than marking it done. 

However, Todoist records these completed tasks in your activity log, so ask your AI assistant for the activity log by name or completion date:

Using my Todoist activity log, what did I complete yesterday?

How much activity history is available depends on your Todoist plan. The Beginner plan keeps up to 7 days of activity history, while the Pro and Business plans keep and provide your full activity history. Learn how to view and use Reporting in Todoist.

A project wasn't added to the workspace folder

If you asked your AI assistant to create a project, but it wasn't added to the right team workspace folder, it's because the Todoist MCP server can't place a new project inside a workspace folder as it's created. Ask your assistant to create the project first. Then, ask it to move the project to the right folder in Todoist.

Disconnect Todoist from an AI assistant

If you no longer want your AI assistant to read or write your Todoist data, disconnect or remove the connection from either side:

When you disconnect Todoist from your AI assistant, it revokes the token. When this happens, the assistant loses access to your Todoist data straight away.

Get in touch

Ready to offload some of the repetitive work you do in Todoist? Check the dedicated guide for your preferred AI assistant to connect it to the Todoist MCP. Then, start with something small, like asking what's overdue or sharing a list of existing projects.

If you're having trouble connecting the Todoist MCP, or if your AI assistant isn't working, get in touch with us.