Apple adds an AI assistant and MCP support to Keynote, Pages, and Numbers

Apple will add an intelligent assistant and Model Context Protocol support to Keynote, Pages, and Numbers in an Apple Creator Studio update due in November 2026. The assistant will draw on the context of the open document. Separately, MCP support will let external AI agents and tools read content in the apps, make edits, and carry out automated actions.

Apple says the beta assistant is built on Apple models and OpenAI and will be available inside all three apps for Apple Creator Studio subscribers. Each app gets a different set of functions: Keynote can help design, animate, and refine slides; Pages can draft, restructure, and fine-tune text; and Numbers can calculate, visualise, and organise data. According to Apple, the Numbers assistant can also recommend chart types with a one-tap preview and build custom tables using world knowledge.

For compatible external tools, MCP support creates another way to act directly on iWork documents. Apple did not identify supported MCP clients, detail the permission and security model, or list the full set of actions those tools will be able to perform. It also did not say whether MCP access itself will require an Apple Creator Studio subscription.

Apple also announced Keynote Interchange Format, or .keyx, for Keynote. The company describes it as an open JSON-based bundle format intended to be read by external tools, developer workflows, and AI agents. MCP support across Keynote, Pages, and Numbers will require macOS 27 or later.

The in-app assistant will require an Apple Intelligence-capable device running iOS 27, iPadOS 27, or macOS 27 or later, and will launch only in U.S. English. Apple said the Creator Studio updates will arrive through the App Store in November at no additional cost to existing subscribers, but did not give an exact release date. Free versions of Keynote, Pages, and Numbers will remain available.