Summarize and find PDFs on your Mac with ChatGPT
Ask ChatGPT or Claude to summarize a folder of PDFs, find the quote or contract you got last month, or collect the action items. BCD finds and reads the documents on your Mac.
One computer free, with 20,000 tool calls a month. No card required. Your AI app’s subscription is separate.
Before you start
Keep your Mac on and online, install and approve BCD, then connect it in your AI app. Your AI account must support custom MCP connections; its plan and workspace rules still apply. Setup instructions are in the dashboard.
Finish your first task
Put the PDFs you want to review in one folder and tell the AI where it is. Ask it to list the files before reading them.
Ask for a short summary of each PDF, then a table of open tasks, owners and due dates. Request the source file and page for each item.
Check the cited pages. Ask it to mark missing owners or dates as “not stated” and to separate completed tasks from open ones.
Check the result
You should get a summary and a task table that you can trace back to the original PDFs. Check the spelling of names and the dates on scanned pages. Save to a new document only if you want a separate report.
Watch PDF receipt totals (English) ›
This recording uses sample files on a real Mac.
How it works
Create a free account and install BCD on your Mac by pasting one command into Terminal.
Click Approve in your browser to connect that Mac to your account.
Add BCD to ChatGPT or Claude as a connector, then ask in plain words.
Try asking
Read the PDFs in the Meeting notes folder on my Desktop. Summarize each in five bullet points and list only open tasks, with owner, due date, source file and page. Mark anything not in the documents as “not stated”. Do not change the PDFs.
Find the estimate PDF from the printing company somewhere in Documents or Downloads and tell me the total and the delivery date.
Find the contract PDF I got from Acme last month somewhere in Documents or Downloads and tell me the renewal date.
Compare proposal-v2.docx and proposal-v3.docx on my Desktop and tell me what changed.
What BCD does on your Mac
Finds documents
Searches your folders by file name, so the AI can locate a document you only half remember.
Reads PDFs and Word files
Reads PDF pages as text and Word documents by outline. Scanned pages can be read with Apple’s text recognition on the Mac, in Korean and English.
Writes a summary if you want
With write permission, it can save the summary or to-do list as a new Word document or PDF.
Safe by default
New computers start read-only: the AI can look but can’t change anything. Writing files and running commands only work after you turn them on for that Mac in your dashboard. There are no open ports: the Mac connects out to BCD.
Finding and reading documents works read-only. Saving a summary file needs write permission on that Mac.
Questions
Can it summarize multiple PDFs and extract tasks with sources?
Yes. Give BCD the folder containing the PDFs and ask the AI for a summary and task table with file names and page numbers. Text PDFs can be read directly. Scanned PDFs need OCR, whose accuracy depends on the image and language; check the cited pages before relying on the result.
Why can’t the AI see my Mac?
Check that the Mac is awake and online in the BCD dashboard, and that BCD is connected in the AI app you are using. Allow the folder you want to work with. Reading needs read permission; moving or saving files also needs write permission.
Can it read scanned PDFs?
Yes. Scanned pages go through Apple’s text recognition on your Mac, which handles Korean and English.
Do my files get uploaded?
BCD doesn’t copy your folders anywhere. When the AI reads a file, that content passes through BCD’s relay in memory to reach your AI app, and BCD doesn’t store it. Your AI app handles it under its own policy.
Do I need a paid BCD plan?
One computer is free on BCD, with 20,000 tool calls a month; paid plans have unlimited tool calls. New accounts can also try Personal, for up to 3 computers, free for a month, with no card needed. Your AI app has separate plan and custom-connector requirements.
One computer free, with 20,000 tool calls a month. No card required. Your AI app’s subscription is separate.
Related use cases
Total and compare Excel spreadsheets with ChatGPT
Sum and compare spreadsheet data without opening Excel.
Organize files on your Mac with ChatGPT
Sort Downloads and Desktop into folders, rename photos.
Run Terminal commands on your Mac from ChatGPT
Run commands, tests and scripts and read the results from chat.