What Matters

Your personal action-item list — what you owe and what you're owed.

CommunityOnlineAPI key requiredGlobalFreeRead-only

What it can do

    What data it sees

    Do you need an account

    An API key from the service settings is required

    Your personal action-item list — what you owe and what you're owed. AI proposes; you approve.

    How to connect

    How to connect What Matters to Claude

    The server address to paste into Claude settings:

    https://matters.blackdogranch.com/mcp

    1. Open Claude (claude.ai or the desktop app).
    2. Go to Settings → Connectors.
    3. Click Add custom connector.
    4. Paste the server address copied below into Remote MCP server URL and click Add.
    5. In a chat, click + → Connectors and switch the new connector on.

    Custom connectors are available on Free, Pro, Max, Team and Enterprise plans (Free is limited to one). On Team and Enterprise an organization Owner adds the connector first under Organization settings → Connectors.

    Authorization

    After you click Add, a sign-in window for the service opens. Sign in with your own account and approve access. Claude never sees your password.

    How to connect What Matters to ChatGPT

    The server address to paste into ChatGPT settings:

    https://matters.blackdogranch.com/mcp

    1. Open ChatGPT in a browser (chatgpt.com). A Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise or Edu plan is required.
    2. Turn on developer mode once: Settings → Apps → Advanced settings → Developer mode.
    3. Open Settings → Connectors and click Create.
    4. Fill in the form: Name (anything), Description (one line about what the service does), MCP server URL (copy it below).
    5. Under Authentication choose OAuth if the service requires sign-in, otherwise None. Click Create.
    6. In a new chat open + → Apps/Connectors and enable the connector.

    OpenAI has renamed this section before (Connectors → Apps/Plugins). If the label differs, search settings for "developer mode". On Business/Enterprise workspaces an admin must allow custom connectors first.

    Authorization

    On first use ChatGPT opens the service's sign-in window. Sign in and approve access.

    How to connect What Matters to Cursor

    The server address to paste into Cursor settings:

    https://matters.blackdogranch.com/mcp

    Fastest: click Open in Cursor below and confirm the prompt.

    Manually:

    1. In Cursor open Settings → Cursor Settings → MCP and click Add new global MCP server.
    2. Paste the JSON copied below into ~/.cursor/mcp.json (per project: .cursor/mcp.json in the repo root).
    3. Save the file. The server appears in the MCP list; authorize it there if asked.

    Authorization

    If the service needs sign-in, an authorize button appears next to the server in the MCP list.

    Server tool list (6)

    Raw names from tools/list. Only developers need these.

    get_documentRead everything: action items, the record of what has already been dismissed, and "focus" — the handful of terms the user says matter most. Always call this before proposing changes: it is the only way to know what was already deleted or rejected, and re-suggesting those is the main failure mode.
    put_proposalReplace the pending set of suggested changes. This is the ONLY write the scheduled run should make — nothing here reaches the list until the user reviews and accepts it. Replaces any previous proposal wholesale, so include everything still worth suggesting, up to 100 deltas.
    manage_ruleCreate, change, pause or delete a standing rule, taking effect IMMEDIATELY with no review. Use this only when the user asks you directly — "stop suggesting PTO stuff". A scheduled run must propose rules through put_proposal instead, exactly as it proposes items rather than calling add_item.
    manage_focusReplace the list of things the user says matter most — people, projects, whatever they care about. Send the WHOLE list every time, including the terms you are keeping: this replaces, it does not append, so omitting one deletes it. Read the current list from get_document first. Up to 10 terms of 60 characters; longer lists and longer terms are trimmed rather than refused, and the stored result comes back so you can see what landed. ONLY call this when the user asks you directly, in conversation. A scheduled run must never touch it: focus is the user saying what they care about, so a term they did not choose is worse than no term at all. Never infer one from their list.
    add_itemAdd an item immediately, without review. Normally use this ONLY when the user has just asked for it in conversation — they are the human in the loop at that moment, so set initiated: "human". Anything found by scanning on a schedule belongs in put_proposal instead, with ONE exception: something genuinely urgent that cannot wait for review may be added with initiated: "auto" and priority: "high", which immediately notifies the user's phone. That interruption is the point — reserve it for things that truly cannot wait, because routine "urgent" adds teach the user to ignore the one signal that means look now.
    complete_itemMark an item done, or reopen it. Idempotent.