MCP Tasks
A comprehensive and efficient Model Context Protocol server for task management that works with Claude, Cursor, and other MCP clients, providing powerful search, filtering, and organization capabilities across multiple file formats.
What is MCP Tasks?
MCP Tasks is a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that allows AI assistants like Claude, Cursor, and VS Code to comprehensive and efficient model context protocol server for task management that works with claude, cursor, and other mcp clients, providing powerful search, filtering, and organization capabilities...
A comprehensive and efficient Model Context Protocol server for task management that works with Claude, Cursor, and other MCP clients, providing powerful search, filtering, and organization capabilities across multiple file formats.
This server falls under the Business Applications category on MCPgee, the world's largest MCP server directory with 33,000+ servers.
Features
- A comprehensive and efficient Model Context Protocol server
Use Cases
Maintainer
Works with
Installation
Manual Installation
npx mcp-tasksConfiguration
Configuration Details
claude_desktop_config.json
Performance
Response Metrics
Resource Usage
How to Set Up and Use MCP Tasks
MCP Tasks is a lightweight yet powerful Model Context Protocol server for task management that works with Claude, Cursor, and other MCP-compatible clients. It lets AI assistants create, search, update, and summarize tasks stored in Markdown, JSON, or YAML files — keeping your to-do lists version-controllable and human-readable. Teams use it to let their AI coding assistant track work-in-progress items, filter tasks by status, and enforce WIP limits automatically.
Prerequisites
- Node.js 20 or higher installed
- npx available (comes with npm)
- An MCP-compatible client such as Claude Desktop or Cursor
- A dedicated task file (e.g. tasks.md) — use a new file to avoid content loss
Add MCP Tasks to your client configuration
Open your MCP client config file (claude_desktop_config.json for Claude Desktop or ~/.cursor/mcp.json for Cursor) and add the server entry below. No separate installation step is needed — npx downloads and runs it automatically.
{
"mcpServers": {
"mcp-tasks": {
"command": "npx",
"args": ["-y", "mcp-tasks"]
}
}
}Restart your MCP client
Restart Claude Desktop or Cursor so the new server is picked up. The server communicates via stdio with no additional ports required by default.
Initialize a task file
Ask your AI to call the setup tool pointing at a dedicated task file. Supported formats are .md, .json, and .yml. Using a new, dedicated file is strongly recommended.
Configure optional environment variables
You can customize status labels, WIP limits, and retention behavior via environment variables in the config.
{
"mcpServers": {
"mcp-tasks": {
"command": "npx",
"args": ["-y", "mcp-tasks"],
"env": {
"STATUS_TODO": "To Do",
"STATUS_WIP": "In Progress",
"STATUS_DONE": "Done",
"AUTO_WIP": "true",
"KEEP_DELETED": "true"
}
}
}
}Tell the AI to use mcp-tasks
Instruct your AI assistant to track work using the mcp-tasks tools. The five core tools are: setup (initialize), add (create task), search (filter by status/text/IDs), update (change status or position), and summary (count overview).
MCP Tasks Examples
Client configuration
Minimal Claude Desktop configuration using npx to run mcp-tasks.
{
"mcpServers": {
"mcp-tasks": {
"command": "npx",
"args": ["-y", "mcp-tasks"],
"env": {
"AUTO_WIP": "true",
"KEEP_DELETED": "true"
}
}
}
}Prompts to try
Example prompts that instruct the AI to use mcp-tasks for tracking work.
- "Use mcp-tasks tools to track our work in tasks.md"
- "Add a task to implement the login page and mark it In Progress"
- "Search for all tasks that are To Do and show me a summary"
- "Mark the login page task as Done"
- "Show me a summary of all tasks and current WIP count"
- "Add three tasks for the refactor: extract service layer, add unit tests, update docs — use mcp-tasks"Troubleshooting MCP Tasks
Tasks are being added to an existing file and corrupting its content
Always point the setup tool at a new, dedicated task file. MCP Tasks is designed for files it owns entirely — using it on existing markdown documents can overwrite content.
npx fails with 'engine unsupported' or similar error
MCP Tasks requires Node.js 20 or higher. Run `node --version` to check, and upgrade via https://nodejs.org if needed.
Tools appear with or without the 'tasks_' prefix unexpectedly
The PREFIX_TOOLS environment variable (default true) controls whether tools are named tasks_add, tasks_search, etc. Set PREFIX_TOOLS=false if your client has trouble discovering prefixed tools.
Frequently Asked Questions about MCP Tasks
What is MCP Tasks?
MCP Tasks is a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that comprehensive and efficient model context protocol server for task management that works with claude, cursor, and other mcp clients, providing powerful search, filtering, and organization capabilities across multiple file formats. It connects AI assistants to external tools and data sources through a standardized interface.
How do I install MCP Tasks?
Follow the installation instructions on the MCP Tasks GitHub repository. Clone the repo, install dependencies, and add the server config to your AI client.
Which AI clients work with MCP Tasks?
MCP Tasks works with all major MCP-compatible AI clients including Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Cursor, VS Code (GitHub Copilot), Windsurf, and Cline.
Is MCP Tasks free to use?
Yes, MCP Tasks is open source and available under the MIT License license. You can use it freely in both personal and commercial projects.
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