zPlanner (Project Management) MCP server

zPlanner is a command-line tool designed for project planning and management from your terminal. It serves as both a project organizer and a memory system for AI-assisted development, maintaining structured project context that helps AI tools provide more accurate assistance during development.

Installation

Install zPlanner globally using npm:

npm install -g zplanner

Usage Guide

Basic Project Management

Initialize a new project with a name:

zplanner init "My New Project"

List your project structure to see all phases, tasks, and subtasks:

zplanner list

Export your project to a responsive HTML report:

zplanner export ./path/report.html

Managing Phases

Organize your project into phases with these commands:

# Add a new phase
zplanner add-phase "Requirements Gathering"

# Rename an existing phase
zplanner rename-phase "Requirements Gathering" "Project Requirements"

# Reorder phases by moving to a specific position
zplanner move-phase "Project Requirements" 2

# Remove a phase (will delete all tasks within it)
zplanner remove-phase "Project Requirements"

Task Management

Add and manage tasks within your project phases:

# Add a main task to a phase
zplanner add-task "Development" "1.1" "Create user authentication system"

# Add a subtask to a main task
zplanner add-subtask "Development" "1.1" "1.1.1" "Implement login form"

# Mark a task as complete
zplanner complete "Development" "1.1"

# Update a task description
zplanner update-task "Development" "1.1" "Create secure user authentication system"

# Remove a task or subtask
zplanner remove-task "Development" "1.1"

Command Overview

Here's a quick reference for all available commands:

• Project: init, list, export
• Phases: add-phase, rename-phase, move-phase, remove-phase
• Tasks: add-task, add-subtask, complete, update-task, remove-task

Each command follows a consistent pattern with the command name followed by the required parameters.

Configuration

zPlanner uses default settings for date formats, timezone, and output formatting. These are preset and designed to work well for most users without additional configuration.

How to add this MCP server to 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 > MCP and click "Add new global MCP server".

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

{
    "mcpServers": {
        "cursor-rules-mcp": {
            "command": "npx",
            "args": [
                "-y",
                "cursor-rules-mcp"
            ]
        }
    }
}

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 explictly ask the agent to use the tool by mentioning the tool name and describing what the function does.