Kanban

Kanban MCP bridges Planka with Cursor's MCP to let you control and automate your kanban boards through AI assistants. It exposes board, list, and card management, time tracking, and collaboration features so you can orchestrate work across your kanban setup using natural language or automation tools.

How to use

You run the Kanban MCP server locally and connect it to your MCP client. The server launches a Node process that talks to Planka and exposes MCP endpoints your client can invoke to view boards, manage lists and cards, track time, and add comments. Your MCP client can issue actions like creating cards, moving them between lists, updating descriptions, and starting or stopping time tracking. Use the MCP client’s normal workflow to request changes, and Kanban MCP will execute them on Planka and report back results.

How to install

Prerequisites you need before starting:

• Docker for running Planka containers

• Git for cloning the repository

• Node.js version 18 or above and npm for development

Concrete steps to set up Kanban MCP locally:

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

Access the Planka Kanban board at http://localhost:3333 with credentials:

• Email: demo@demo.demo
• Password: demo

Configure Cursor to use the MCP server with the following configuration snippet in your project or global Cursor MCP settings:

## Configuration details

To run the MCP server locally as described, use the Node runtime pointing to the built MCP entry. The following configuration snippet configures the server named kanban and passes required environment variables to Planka.

{ "mcpServers": { "kanban": { "command": "node", "args": ["/path/to/kanban-mcp/dist/index.js"], "env": { "PLANKA_BASE_URL": "http://localhost:3333", "PLANKA_AGENT_EMAIL": "demo@demo.demo", "PLANKA_AGENT_PASSWORD": "demo" } } } }

Replace `/path/to/kanban-mcp` with the actual absolute path to your kanban-mcp directory.

Additional setup notes

If you have a project with a Cursor workflow, you can also place a local configuration file at .cursor/mcp.json in your project root with the same settings for easier startup.

Security and maintenance

Keep your Planka instance up to date and ensure the MCP server credentials used by Cursor are rotated regularly. Store sensitive values like agent passwords in secure environment variables and avoid committing them to version control.

Troubleshooting

If you encounter connection issues between Cursor and Kanban MCP, verify that Planka is accessible at the URL you configured, and that the MCP process is running with the correct environment variables. Check the MCP server logs for any startup errors and confirm the path to the built index.js is correct.

Notes on usage with Claude or other assistants

Ask your assistant to view boards, create or move cards, add comments, or start/stop timers. The MCP server translates these requests into Planka API calls and returns results back to your assistant for display or further actions.

Project and feature coverage

Kanban MCP supports projects, boards, lists, and cards; comments, due dates, labels, and templates for cards; task tracking within cards; and time tracking through stopwatches. It enables collaborative planning and task execution with LLM-assisted guidance and human review workflows.

Available scripts

• Build the TypeScript code

• Build a Docker image

• Start the Planka containers

• Stop all containers

• Restart the Planka containers

• Start the MCP server directly with Node for testing outside Cursor

• Run quality control checks

License and contribution

Kanban MCP is open-source and accepts community contributions under the MIT license. Share improvements by submitting pull requests and following the project’s contribution guidelines.

Available tools

viewBoard

Retrieve projects, boards, and lists to display the current Kanban structure.

createCard

Create a new card on a specified board and list with optional details.

updateCard

Update card properties such as description, due date, or labels.

moveCard

Move a card between lists to reflect workflow progress.

addComment

Add a comment to a card to capture discussion.

startTimer

Start a stopwatch to track time spent on a card.

stopTimer

Stop the active stopwatch for a card.

resetTimer

Reset time tracking for a card.