kanban

Kanban MCP bridges Planka (an open-source kanban board) with Cursor's Machine Control Protocol, enabling AI assistants like Claude to view and manage your kanban entities. With this MCP server running, you can instruct the AI to create and update projects, boards, lists, and cards, move cards between lists, add comments, and track time spent on tasks. To use it, first deploy Planka using the provided Docker setup and run the MCP server so Cursor can connect through the configured endpoint. In Cursor, configure a new MCP server with the kanban entry, pointing to the Node-based MCP entry point and supplying the Planka base URL and agent credentials. Once connected, you can issue natural-language commands to manage your Kanban workspace, and the MCP layer translates those into Planka API calls behind the scenes.

Prerequisites:

• Docker (recommended for Planka) and Docker Compose
• Git
• Node.js v18+ and npm

Installation steps:

1. Clone the repository and install dependencies:

git clone https://github.com/bradrisse/kanban-mcp.git
cd kanban-mcp
npm install

2. Build the TypeScript code:

npm run build

3. Start the Planka containers (via provided script):

npm run up

4. Verify Planka is running (default URL):

• http://localhost:3333

5. Run the MCP server (Node) locally for Cursor integration:

npm run start-node

6. Configure Cursor to connect to the MCP server as described in the README example, or create a project-local .cursor/mcp.json with the kanban configuration.

Note: For Docker-based deployment or advanced options, refer to the Installation Guide in the repository wiki.

Tips and notes:

• Ensure PLANKA_BASE_URL matches your Planka instance URL and that the agent credentials are valid.
• The MCP server expects the built dist/index.js at the specified path; adjust the path in mcp_config to your environment.
• If you use Docker for Planka, you can map ports and environment as described in the docs; the MCP server itself runs via Node and can be started from your project root.
• In Cursor, you can switch between different MCP servers or project-scoped configurations by editing .cursor/mcp.json or the UI settings.
• Common issues often involve connectivity between Cursor and the MCP server or access to Planka; verify network reachability and correct credentials.