System Tools

System tools are built into Atua. They let Atua do useful things on your Mac, like check your calendar, create reminders, read notes, search files, or run shortcuts.

You do not need to install anything extra to use them.

Turn Tools On Or Off

Open Settings > Tools to see all available tools.

You can turn tools on one by one, or enable or disable a whole category at once.

Disabled tools are never available to Atua.

Use Tools With A Command

If you want one command to use only certain tools:

  1. Open Settings > Commands.
  2. Select a command.
  3. Open the Tools section.
  4. Turn Enable Tools on.
  5. Choose the tools you want that command to use.

If you do not pick specific tools, the command can use all enabled system tools.

Tool Categories

Calendar

Calendar tools can:

  • Show today’s events with calendar_today
  • Show upcoming events with calendar_upcoming
  • Show the next event with calendar_next
  • Create an event with calendar_create

Reminders

Reminder tools can:

  • List reminders with reminders_list
  • Create a reminder with reminders_create
  • Mark a reminder as done with reminders_complete

Notes

Notes tools can:

  • Show recent notes with notes_list
  • Search notes with notes_search
  • Create a note with notes_create
  • Read a note with notes_read
  • Append text to a note with notes_append

Finder

Finder tools can:

  • Search files with finder_search
  • Show recent files in Downloads with finder_downloads
  • Show recent Desktop files with finder_desktop
  • Reveal a file in Finder with finder_reveal
  • Move a file to the Trash with finder_trash

Shortcuts

Shortcut tools can:

  • Run a shortcut with shortcut_run
  • List your available shortcuts with shortcut_list

Documents

Document tools can:

  • Create a PDF with document_create_pdf
  • Create a Word document with document_create_docx

These tools expect HTML content, so they are best for more structured tasks.

Network

The network category includes http_request, which lets Atua call a URL directly.

Most users can leave this off unless they have a specific task that needs it.

System

System tools include:

  • notify to show a notification
  • say to speak text aloud
  • wait to pause briefly
  • clipboard_get and clipboard_set for clipboard actions
  • shell to run Terminal commands

The shell tool is powerful. Leave it off unless you trust the task that uses it.

Files

File tools include:

  • file_read to read a file
  • file_edit to replace exact text in a file
  • file_write to write a file
  • file_list to list a folder
  • file_search to search inside files

These are useful for advanced tasks and are best enabled only when you need them.

Permissions

The first time a tool needs access to apps like Calendar, Reminders, Notes, or Finder, macOS may ask for permission.

You can review those permissions later in System Settings > Privacy & Security > Automation.

System Tools And MCP Tools

System tools are built into Atua.

MCP tools come from servers you connect yourself.

You can use both together, but most people can start with system tools and only add MCP later if needed.