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Connect GTD Brain through Docker's MCP Toolkit

If Docker's MCP Toolkit is how you manage the tools your AI assistants can use, GTD Brain is one profile entry away: add it from the MCP community registry, sign in once, and every client you have connected to Docker's MCP gateway (Claude Desktop, Cursor, VS Code, Claude Code, and the rest) can capture to your Inbox, list your next actions, and move cards on the same board you see on the web and your phone.

GTD Brain is a remote MCP (Model Context Protocol) server, so nothing runs in a container: the toolkit proxies to GTD Brain's hosted server and keeps the sign-in for you. There is no API key to create or paste. The authorization step is the same email-code login the web app uses, and Docker stores the resulting token securely.

What you’ll need

  • A GTD Brain account — free to create at gtdbrain.com.
  • The docker mcp CLI: it ships with Docker Desktop 4.48 or later (MCP Toolkit enabled), and the open-source gateway installs it on plain Docker Engine.
  • At least one MCP client you want to use through the gateway — Claude Desktop, Cursor, VS Code, Claude Code, or another client the toolkit supports.

Your connection address

The setup below uses this address — GTD Brain’s hosted MCP server:

Step-by-step setup

  1. Create a profile with GTD Brain in it

    GTD Brain is published in the official MCP registry, and the toolkit can add a server straight from its registry entry. No image is pulled and there is no catalog to browse. One line creates a profile named gtd that holds it (use docker mcp profile server add if you already have a profile):

    docker mcp profile create --name gtd --server 'https://registry.modelcontextprotocol.io/v0/servers/com.gtdbrain%2Fgtd-brain/versions/latest'

  2. Authorize with your email code

    Run the authorization once. Your browser opens GTD Brain's sign-in page — enter your email, type the code we send you, and click Allow. Docker keeps the token; you never see or copy it. In Docker Desktop the same step is the Authorize button on the server's Configuration tab.

    docker mcp oauth authorize com-gtdbrain-gtd-brain

  3. Connect your client to the gateway

    Connect the client you use to the profile, in Docker Desktop's Clients tab or from the terminal (docker mcp client connect --profile gtd claude-desktop, cursor, vscode, claude-code, and so on), then restart that client. It now reaches every server in the profile — GTD Brain included — through Docker's single MCP gateway, so there is nothing to configure per client.

  4. Try it

    In the connected client, ask “what's in my GTD Brain inbox?” or tell it to capture something. GTD Brain's tools are discovered after you sign in, so the tool list fills in once the authorization step is done.

What you can do once connected

The gateway serves every client the same board, so the prompts are whatever fits the tool you are in — a coding agent capturing what it just noticed, a desktop chat running your review. Things people actually say:

  • “Add a card for booking a dentist appointment to my inbox.”
  • “What are my next actions I can do from my phone?”
  • “Capture a card for each TODO comment in this file, with the file path in the note.”
  • “Go through my inbox with me and sort everything into the right lists.”
  • “Who am I waiting on? Show my Waiting For list.”
  • “Help me run my weekly review.”

Every change lands on the same board as the web, iOS, and Android apps — instantly. And whatever you ask, cards can be archived but never deleted, so nothing is ever lost to a misfired prompt.

One board: web, iPhone, Android, ChatGPT and Claude

GTD Brain is one board, and every surface reads and writes the same cards: the web app, the iPhone app, the Android app, and the assistants you connect over MCP — ChatGPT, Claude and the rest on the connect page. One account and one subscription cover all of them; the AI clarifying and the guided weekly review are described on GTD with AI.

Troubleshooting

GTD Brain is not in the Catalog tab.

Docker's own curated catalog is closed to new entries, so GTD Brain is not in it. It lives in the MCP community catalog Docker builds every day from the official registry: run docker mcp catalog pull mcp/community-registry:latest and the entry com-gtdbrain-gtd-brain appears, or skip the catalog and add the server from its registry entry as in step 1.

The server is enabled but shows no tools.

GTD Brain's tools are only listed once you are signed in. Run the authorization in step 2 (or use the Authorize button on the server's Configuration tab); the tool list appears right after.

I signed in, but my client still cannot see GTD Brain.

The client reads the gateway's server list when it starts. Restart the client after adding and authorizing GTD Brain, and check docker mcp client ls (or MCP Toolkit → Clients) still shows it as connected.

I run Docker Engine without Docker Desktop.

The open-source gateway supports a standalone mode: set DOCKER_MCP_USE_CE=true, configure a Docker credential helper, then run the same authorization command — the sign-in callback lands on localhost instead of going through Docker Desktop.

Frequently asked questions

Which clients does this cover?

Any client connected to Docker's MCP gateway. The toolkit connects Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Cursor, VS Code, Gemini CLI, Codex, Cline, Continue, Goose, Kiro, Zed and more with one command each, and all of them get GTD Brain through the same sign-in. If you use only one client, its own guide (Claude, Claude Code, Cursor) is the shorter route.

Does anything run in a container?

No. GTD Brain is a remote server, so Docker pulls no image — the gateway forwards requests to GTD Brain's hosted MCP server over HTTPS and adds your stored sign-in to each one.

Is it safe to let an AI assistant touch my GTD board?

The connection is deliberately limited: your assistant can read, add, edit, move, and archive cards, but it can never delete one. Archived cards stay recoverable, so nothing is ever lost to a misfired prompt. You can disconnect at any time from the assistant's connector settings.

Do I need a paid GTD Brain subscription?

Using the connection needs a GTD Brain subscription — the same one subscription that covers the web, iOS, and Android apps, and it comes with a free month.

What is MCP?

MCP (Model Context Protocol) is an open standard that lets AI assistants securely talk to outside tools and data. GTD Brain hosts an MCP server, so any MCP-capable assistant — ChatGPT, Claude, Claude Code, and others — can work with your board without a plugin or API key.

Do changes made by the assistant sync to my other devices?

Yes. The assistant works on the same board as the web, iOS, and Android apps, and every change syncs in real time. Add a card from a chat and it is on your phone before you switch apps.

Further reading

The GTD method, explained

Other connections

Connect ChatGPT · Connect Claude · Connect Claude Code · Connect Cursor · VS Code extension · Obsidian plugin · Connect Telegram · Connect Gemini CLI · Connect Notion · Connect Microsoft 365 Copilot

New to GTD Brain? Get started free — create your board first, then connect Docker MCP Toolkit from this page in a couple of minutes.