{"slug": "show-hn-primetask-an-offline-first-work-os-with-byo-ai-through-mcp", "title": "Show HN: PrimeTask, an offline-first work OS with BYO AI through MCP", "summary": "PrimeTask, an offline-first work operating system, launches with a Bring Your Own AI feature via the Model Context Protocol (MCP), allowing users to integrate their own AI models. The platform combines tasks, projects, CRM, calendar, and a visual canvas into a single locally-run system, emphasizing ownership over subscription-based software.", "body_md": "Software you own. Not software you rent.\n\n# The productivity system\n\nthat's yours forever.\n\nTasks, projects, CRM, calendar, focus, and a visual canvas. One connected system, on your machine.\n\nProject management\n\n## Start with a project.\n\nOpen a new project and give the work a shape from day one. Goals, milestones, notes, tasks, and health all live together, so the project is more than a folder.\n\nPrimeTask helps you see what matters: what you are trying to achieve, what is already moving, what is slipping, and what needs attention next.\n\nIncluded in Standard.\n\n[Explore project management](/features/project-management)\n\nTask management\n\n## Add tasks the way you actually think.\n\nType what needs to happen in plain language. PrimeTask can understand dates, projects, priorities, tags, assignees, contacts, companies, statuses, and durations as you write.\n\nNo structured form. No modal maze. Just capture the task while the thought is still fresh, then let PrimeTask turn it into something organised.\n\nIncluded in Standard.\n\n[Explore task management](/features/tasks)\n\nWhat's inside\n\n## Everything you need. Nothing you don't.\n\n### Task Management\n\nQuick Add, List, Board, Calendar, and Gantt views. Capture work fast, then manage it from the view that fits the moment.\n\nLearn more\n\n### Project Management\n\nGoals, milestones, notes, health tracking, and progress context. Give every project a clear shape from day one.\n\nLearn more\n\n### Calendar & Day Planner\n\nDay, Week, Month, Agenda, and Day Planner views. Apple Calendar and Reminders sync keep capture close at hand.\n\nLearn more\n\n### Focus Mode\n\nPomodoro and custom timers, pop-out task windows, break tracking, and focus session statistics.\n\nLearn more\n\n### PrimeFlow\n\nA visual canvas on live project data. Mind maps, task nodes, CRM nodes, media embeds, and FlowMode presentations.\n\nLearn more\n\n### Automations\n\nTrigger-condition-action rules, built-in presets, and custom workflows that run locally without monthly automation caps.\n\nLearn more\n\n### Integrations\n\nBring Your Own AI via MCP, Obsidian plugin, Apple Calendar & Reminders sync, imports, exports, and deep links.\n\nLearn more[Pro](/features/crm)\n\n### PrimeCRM\n\nContacts, companies, deal pipeline, outreach tracking, sales dashboards, and relationship workspaces connected to projects.\n\nLearn more[Pro](/features/custom-fields)\n\n### Custom Fields\n\nField types, rollups, financial summaries, and structured project data for teams that need more than progress bars.\n\nLearn morePrimeCRM\n\nPro## Every contact is a workspace.\n\nA contact in PrimeTask is not a row in a database. It is a workspace: projects this person touches, every activity logged, deals in flight, files attached, and tasks tied to the relationship.\n\nPersonal contacts and business contacts can live in the same system, while Spaces and project-level CRM modes keep context separated when you need boundaries.\n\nAvailable on Pro.\n\n[Explore PrimeCRM](/features/crm)\n\nCustom Fields\n\nPro## Most project dashboards stop at progress bars.\n\nPrimeTask lets projects carry the numbers that actually matter: budget, burn rate, runway, billing status, risk, owner, priority, and any custom field your work needs.\n\nRollups turn those fields into live project context, so you are not just tracking whether tasks are done. You can see whether the project is healthy, affordable, and still worth the plan.\n\nAvailable on Pro.\n\n[Explore custom fields](/features/custom-fields)\n\nPrimeFlow\n\n## Now see everything connected.\n\nProjects, tasks, contacts, and custom fields are not separate stacks in PrimeTask. They live on the same canvas, and every link between them is bidirectional.\n\nPrimeFlow is the visual layer where all of it comes together. Build a deal pipeline, sketch a project plan, map a system, or just lay out today's work. Drop in any task, contact, project, or note. They keep their data, and they update wherever else they appear.\n\nIncluded in Standard. Advanced nodes and FlowMode are available on Pro.\n\n[Explore PrimeFlow](/features/primeflow)\n\nApple ecosystem\n\n## Capture tasks from anywhere.\n\nPrimeTask syncs bidirectionally with Apple Reminders. Add tasks from your iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, or Siri. They flow straight into your projects.\n\n### iPhone & iPad\n\nAdd tasks in Reminders on any Apple device. They appear in PrimeTask on your Mac automatically.\n\n### Siri\n\n\"Hey Siri, remind me to review the proposal.\" Done. It appears in PrimeTask.\n\n### Apple Watch\n\nRaise your wrist, speak, done. Tasks captured in seconds without reaching for your phone.\n\n### Works offline\n\nReminders works without internet on all devices. PrimeTask syncs when both are online.\n\n### Bidirectional\n\nChanges flow both ways. Complete a task in PrimeTask and it's done in Reminders too.\n\n### One list, one Space\n\nPick a Reminders list to sync. Synced tasks land in the PrimeTask Space you choose.\n\nBuilt with native Swift using EventKit. Not a workaround. A first-class integration.\n\nPrimeTask Mobile is in development.\n\nFirst of its kind\n\n## We checked. Nothing else does this.\n\nNo product on the market combines tasks, projects, CRM, calendar, canvas, focus, and automations into one offline-first desktop app you own. PrimeTask is the first.\n\nWe looked. The category didn't exist before we built it.\n\nBuilt for\n\n## For people who take their work seriously.\n\n### Freelancers & consultants\n\nManage multiple clients with CRM context tied to projects. Stop paying for three separate subscriptions.\n\n### Small business owners\n\nRun operations, sales, and delivery from one desk. Everything in one place without enterprise complexity.\n\n### Agencies\n\nProject isolation with confidential client separation. Parallel campaigns without data leaking between them.\n\n### Developers & designers\n\nKeyboard-driven workflows, attention to detail, software that doesn’t get in the way.\n\n### Creators & makers\n\nManage projects, clients, deadlines, and assets in one place. Game devs, audio producers, content creators, indie publishers.\n\n### Individuals & personal use\n\nPlan your life, not just your work. Day planning, focus sessions, personal projects, trip planning, all in one private space.\n\nMore than software\n\n## Direct chat with the people building PrimeTask.\n\nEvery customer gets a private channel to the dev team. Not a support queue. Not a contact form. A real conversation with the people shipping the product.\n\nReport bugs and watch them get fixed. Vote on features and shape the roadmap. Track what is being worked on, what is shipping next, and what just landed. Manage your license and download builds, all in one place.\n\nPro customers get Beta Channel Access (early builds before stable release) and priority support.\n\nPrivacy by design\n\n## Software you use every day should belong to you.\n\nYour data lives on your device. No servers hold it, no telemetry phones home, no account is required to use any feature. Lock the app behind a PIN when you step away. Export to open JSON or CSV anytime. Take your data with you, forever.\n\nPrivacy by architecture, not by policy.\n\nTrusted by early adopters\n\n## What people are saying.\n\nSimple pricing\n\n## One purchase. Yours forever.\n\nStandard\n\nA fully functional productivity system. No soft limits, no caps.\n\n- Unlimited tasks, projects, and spaces\n- Quick Add with natural language (e.g. \"Call dentist tomorrow 3pm\")\n- List, Board, Calendar, and Day Planner views\n- Bring Your Own AI (MCP server, core task tools)\n- PrimeFlow visual canvas (core nodes & mind maps)\n- Focus Mode (Pomodoro, timers, session tracking)\n- Apple Calendar & Reminders sync (capture from any Apple device)\n- 6 built-in automations\n- Goals & Milestones (OKR-style key results)\n- Project Health tracking (progress, recommendations)\n- PIN lock, AES-256 encryption, backup & restore\n- Import/export, personal sync (iCloud or your own sync folder)\n- External Integrations & Deep Links\n- Customer Portal access\n- Free updates included\n\n190+ features\n\nEverything you need to manage tasks, projects, and goals. No limits, no caps.\n\n[Buy Now](/checkout?tier=standard)\n\nPro\n\nEverything in Standard, plus the advanced toolkit.\n\n- Unlimited Contacts, Companies & Deals\n- PrimeCRM (deal pipeline, sales dashboards, activity tracking)\n- Company Linking (competitor, partner, supplier, subsidiary & more)\n- LinkedIn Outreach, Sequences & Message Templates\n- Call, Email & Meeting Trackers\n- CRM Import & Export (CSV, vCard, JSON)\n- Custom Fields (14 types, cross-entity connections, rollups)\n- Full MCP toolset for your AI (100+ tools, incl. CRM & Custom Fields)\n- Custom Statuses & Custom Priorities\n- Gantt View (dependencies, zoom, drag-resize)\n- Custom Kanban Boards\n- PrimeFlow advanced nodes, Portals & FlowMode and more\n- Custom Automations (unlimited rules)\n- Project Metrics (snapshots, velocity, charts, export)\n- Collaboration & Shared Spaces (team sync, assignments, notifications)\n- CRM & Sales Reports (activity tracking, sales funnel)\n- Beta Channel Access (early builds & new features)\n- Priority support\n\n280+ features\n\n[Buy Now](/checkout?tier=pro)\n\n## Ready to own your productivity?\n\nStart with a 14-day free trial. Full Pro access. No credit card required. Install once, own forever.\n\n[Start Free Trial](/download)\n\nYour tools should outlive the companies that made them.\n\nCommon questions\n\n## Frequently asked questions\n\nPrimeTask Mobile is in development. In the meantime, PrimeTask syncs bidirectionally with Apple Reminders, so you can capture tasks from your iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, or Siri and they appear in PrimeTask automatically. It's not a workaround. It's a native Swift integration built into the app.\n\nPrimeTask believes AI should assist your workflow, not do your work for you. Rather than building its own chatbot, it connects to the AI you already use, whether that's Claude, Cursor, or a local model like LM Studio, through an open standard called MCP. Your AI then works directly with your tasks, projects, and CRM through 100+ local tools. You pick the brain, PrimeTask supplies the hands. Everything runs on your machine, so your data never leaves your device. That's AI done right.\n\nYour data is stored locally in open JSON format, readable by any text editor and exportable to CSV. PrimeTask runs entirely on your machine with no server dependency. Even if we disappeared tomorrow, your data and the app itself would continue to work exactly as before.\n\nPrimeTask's privacy is architectural, not a policy. Your data stays on your device by default. It only leaves when you explicitly enable a sync method such as iCloud or your own sync folder. There's no telemetry, no tracking, no analytics. We literally cannot see your data, because it doesn't exist anywhere we can reach.\n\nYes. Your one-time purchase includes all future updates within your major version. We ship updates regularly (new features, performance improvements, and bug fixes), all included at no extra cost.\n\nEvery PrimeTask user gets access to a personal Customer Portal at primetask.app. From your portal you can download the latest release, view your license and activation details, submit bug reports with attachments, read announcements, join the community wall, access the public roadmap, and manage billing. Eligible users may also be invited to the affiliate program. It's your hub for everything PrimeTask. No account on a third-party platform required.\n\nNewsletter\n\n## Stay in the loop\n\nGet product updates, productivity tips, and early access to new features. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.\n\nYour tools should outlive the companies that made them.", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/show-hn-primetask-an-offline-first-work-os-with-byo-ai-through-mcp", "canonical_source": "https://www.primetask.app/", "published_at": "2026-07-18 15:15:57+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-07-18 15:51:43.424554+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["ai-tools", "ai-infrastructure", "developer-tools"], "entities": ["PrimeTask", "Model Context Protocol", "MCP"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/show-hn-primetask-an-offline-first-work-os-with-byo-ai-through-mcp", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/show-hn-primetask-an-offline-first-work-os-with-byo-ai-through-mcp.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/show-hn-primetask-an-offline-first-work-os-with-byo-ai-through-mcp.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/show-hn-primetask-an-offline-first-work-os-with-byo-ai-through-mcp.jsonld"}}