Kanban MCP server

The MCP Kanban Task Management server provides a kanban-based task management system for AI-driven development workflows. It allows AI assistants to document and track work as tasks in a kanban board during both planning and execution sessions, with features like work-in-progress limits and a web UI for monitoring.

Installation

Standard Installation

To install the MCP Kanban server:

1. Clone the repository, then run:

npm ci --prefix shared/db
npm ci --prefix mcp-server
npm run build --prefix shared/db
npm run build --prefix mcp-server

2. Add the MCP server configuration to your MCP client (e.g., Claude Desktop):

"mcpServers": {
    "kanban-mcp": {
        "command": "node",
        "args": [
            "/path/to/repo/mcp-server/dist/server.js"
        ],
        "env": {
            "MCP_KANBAN_DB_FOLDER_PATH": "/path/to/db"
        }
    }
}

Make sure to replace /path/to/repo with the location of your cloned repository and /path/to/db with your desired database folder location (it will be created if it doesn't exist).

Docker Installation

Alternatively, you can use Docker:

1. Build the Docker image:

docker build -t mcp/mcp-kanban .

2. Add the MCP server configuration to your MCP client:

"mcpServers": {
    "kanban-mcp": {
        "command": "docker",
        "args": [
            "run",
            "--rm",
            "-i",
            "-v",
            "/path/to/db:/mcp",
            "mcp/mcp-kanban"
        ]
    }
}

Replace /path/to/db with your desired database folder location.

Using the Web UI

To set up and use the web interface:

1. Build the web components:

npm ci --prefix shared/db
npm run build --prefix shared/db

npm ci --prefix web-ui
npm ci --prefix web-server
npm run build --prefix web-ui
npm run build --prefix web-server

2. Run the web server:

MCP_KANBAN_DB_FOLDER_PATH=/path/to/db npm run start --prefix web-server

3. Open your browser at http://localhost:8221 to access the UI.

Available Tools

Board Management

• create-kanban-board: Creates a new kanban board with a name and project goal.
• list-boards: Lists all kanban boards in the database.
• get-board-info: Gets detailed information about a specific board, including its columns and tasks.

Task Management

• add-task-to-board: Adds a new task to the to-do column of a kanban board.
• move-task: Moves a task from one column to another, respecting work-in-progress limits.
• delete-task: Deletes a task from the board.
• get-task-info: Gets detailed information about a specific task, including its content.

Using Predefined Prompts

The system provides two built-in prompts for common workflows:

Creating a New Project

Use the create-kanban-based-project prompt with a project description to:

• Create a new kanban board
• Plan the project by dividing it into manageable tasks
• Add these tasks to the board

Continuing Existing Projects

Use the make-progress-on-a-project prompt with a project description to:

• Locate the existing kanban board for the project
• Select the next task to work on
• Make progress on that task

Basic Usage Flow

1. Start by asking the AI assistant to create a kanban board for your project
2. Let the assistant divide the work into specific tasks
3. The assistant will track progress by moving tasks through the workflow columns
4. Use the web UI to monitor progress or manually adjust tasks if needed
5. In follow-up sessions, ask the assistant to resume work by locating the existing board

How to install this MCP server

For Claude Code

To add this MCP server to Claude Code, run this command in your terminal:

claude mcp add-json "kanban-mcp" '{"command":"node","args":["/path/to/repo/mcp-server/dist/server.js"],"env":{"MCP_KANBAN_DB_FOLDER_PATH":"/path/to/db"}}'

See the official Claude Code MCP documentation for more details.

For Cursor

There are two ways to add an MCP server to Cursor. The most common way is to add the server globally in the ~/.cursor/mcp.json file so that it is available in all of your projects.

If you only need the server in a single project, you can add it to the project instead by creating or adding it to the .cursor/mcp.json file.

Adding an MCP server to Cursor globally

To add a global MCP server go to Cursor Settings > Tools & Integrations and click "New MCP Server".

When you click that button the ~/.cursor/mcp.json file will be opened and you can add your server like this:

{
    "mcpServers": {
        "kanban-mcp": {
            "command": "node",
            "args": [
                "/path/to/repo/mcp-server/dist/server.js"
            ],
            "env": {
                "MCP_KANBAN_DB_FOLDER_PATH": "/path/to/db"
            }
        }
    }
}

Adding an MCP server to a project

To add an MCP server to a project you can create a new .cursor/mcp.json file or add it to the existing one. This will look exactly the same as the global MCP server example above.

How to use the MCP server

Once the server is installed, you might need to head back to Settings > MCP and click the refresh button.

The Cursor agent will then be able to see the available tools the added MCP server has available and will call them when it needs to.

You can also explicitly ask the agent to use the tool by mentioning the tool name and describing what the function does.

For Claude Desktop

To add this MCP server to Claude Desktop:

1. Find your configuration file:

• macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
• Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json
• Linux: ~/.config/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

2. Add this to your configuration file:

{
    "mcpServers": {
        "kanban-mcp": {
            "command": "node",
            "args": [
                "/path/to/repo/mcp-server/dist/server.js"
            ],
            "env": {
                "MCP_KANBAN_DB_FOLDER_PATH": "/path/to/db"
            }
        }
    }
}

3. Restart Claude Desktop for the changes to take effect