tempo

Tempo MCP Server provides a set of MCP tools for managing Tempo worklogs in Jira. It exposes operations to retrieve, create, bulk-create, edit, and delete worklogs via a consistent MCP interface, making it accessible to Claude, Cursor, and other MCP-compatible clients. When configured, you can interact with the server's tools to pull historical worklog data, log time against Jira issues, update existing entries, or remove entries as needed. The server supports both basic authentication (via Jira API token plus email) and an optional OAuth 2.0 bearer setup for Jira access, depending on how you configure the environment.

To use, configure the MCP client in your environment (for example Claude Desktop or Cursor) to point at the Tempo MCP server by providing the appropriate command and environment variables. The key tools exposed are retrieveWorklogs, createWorklog, bulkCreateWorklogs, editWorklog, and deleteWorklog. Each tool has a defined set of parameters (issue keys, dates, times, descriptions, and IDs) so you can script precise time-tracking workflows or integrate tempo worklog management into your automation pipelines.

Prerequisites:

• Node.js v18+ (LTS recommended) installed on the machine where you’ll run the NPX option or where you’ll clone the repo for local development
• Access to Jira Cloud and Tempo API tokens with appropriate permissions

Option A: Quick NPX usage (no installation required)

1. Ensure Node.js is installed
2. Run the MCP server via NPX (no local installation needed):

# In your MCP client config, use this server entry:
# command: npx, args: [-y, @ivelin-web/tempo-mcp-server]

Option B: Local clone and run (development or customization)

1. Clone the repository

git clone https://github.com/ivelin-web/tempo-mcp-server.git
cd tempo-mcp-server

2. Install dependencies

npm install

3. Build TypeScript sources (if you’re using the built server)

npm run build

4. Run in development or production mode (examples)

# Using MCP Inspector for development/debugging
npm run inspect

# Or run the built server with Node (point to the built index.js)
node build/index.js

Environment variable setup can be provided either in MCP client configuration or in your shell environment depending on the deployment method.

Environment variables required by the server include TEMPO_API_TOKEN, JIRA_API_TOKEN, JIRA_EMAIL, and JIRA_BASE_URL. Optional: JIRA_AUTH_TYPE can be 'basic' (default) or 'bearer' for OAuth 2.0 tokens; JIRA_TEMPO_ACCOUNT_CUSTOM_FIELD_ID can specify a custom field for Tempo accounts. When using bearer tokens, JIRA_EMAIL is not required. If you encounter issues, verify that the Tempo and Jira tokens have the correct permissions and that the Jira Base URL is reachable. The server exposes tools with explicit parameters for time tracking (dates, hours, descriptions, and IDs), making it straightforward to integrate into automation scripts or chat clients. If you’re debugging, try the MCP Inspector (npm run inspect) to step through tool executions and responses.