Shortcut MCP server

This MCP server provides a convenient way to interact with Shortcut (formerly Clubhouse) via the Model Context Protocol. It allows you to view, search, and create items within Shortcut while implementing safety features to prevent accidental data modifications or deletions.

Installation

Prerequisites

You'll need Python installed on your system. The recommended approach is using asdf:

asdf install

Setting Up the Environment

1. Create a virtual environment and install dependencies:

uv venv
source .venv/bin/activate  # On Windows: .venv\Scripts\activate
uv pip install -e .  # Install package in editable mode

2. Configure your environment variables:

cp .env.example .env
# Edit .env and add your Shortcut API token

Starting the Server

Run the server with:

python -m shortcut_mcp

Usage

Integration with Claude Desktop

You can configure Claude Desktop to use this MCP server for Shortcut integration.

On macOS (~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "shortcut": {
      "command": "python",
      "args": ["-m", "shortcut_mcp"],
      "env": {
        "SHORTCUT_API_TOKEN": "your_token_here"
      }
    }
  }
}

On Windows (%AppData%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "shortcut": {
      "command": "python",
      "args": ["-m", "shortcut_mcp"],
      "env": {
        "SHORTCUT_API_TOKEN": "your_token_here"
      }
    }
  }
}

Testing the Server

You can verify the server is working correctly using the MCP Inspector:

npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector python -m shortcut_mcp

Features and Capabilities

The server provides the following functionality:

• View data: Access projects, stories, epics, and objectives
• Search functionality: Find specific stories using search queries
• Create new items: Add new stories, epics, and objectives to your Shortcut workspace
• Safety measures: Implements read-only operations with safe creation capabilities, with no ability to update or delete existing data

All operations performed through this server will be attributed to the owner of the API token you configure.

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 "shortcut" '{"command":"python","args":["-m","shortcut_mcp"],"env":{"SHORTCUT_API_TOKEN":"your_token_here"}}'

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": {
        "shortcut": {
            "command": "python",
            "args": [
                "-m",
                "shortcut_mcp"
            ],
            "env": {
                "SHORTCUT_API_TOKEN": "your_token_here"
            }
        }
    }
}

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": {
        "shortcut": {
            "command": "python",
            "args": [
                "-m",
                "shortcut_mcp"
            ],
            "env": {
                "SHORTCUT_API_TOKEN": "your_token_here"
            }
        }
    }
}

3. Restart Claude Desktop for the changes to take effect