basecamp_skill

Overview

This skill provides a command-line interface to interact with Basecamp projects and resources. It exposes JSON-output commands to list and manage projects, boards, cards, todos, messages, documents, schedules, people, uploads, and more. Use it to automate or script common Basecamp workflows from terminals and CI pipelines.

How this skill works

Commands talk to the Basecamp API and always return JSON, making output easy to parse with jq or other tools. You can set a default project per directory with a .basecamp.yml file so commands omit the project_id. Many commands accept flags like --comments, --completed, or --all-day and support creating, updating, moving, and archiving records.

When to use it

• Automating project tasks or reporting from the terminal or CI
• Scripting bulk updates to cards, todos, or checklists
• Searching across projects for todos, messages, or documents
• Uploading files to a project vault or listing vault contents
• Managing project membership, check-ins, or scheduled events

Best practices

• Confirm installation and authentication with 'basecamp version' and 'basecamp projects' before scripting
• Create a .basecamp.yml in a workspace to set project_id and avoid repeating it
• Pipe JSON output to jq for targeted fields and filtering in scripts
• Use --comments on supported commands when you need discussion context
• Treat recording IDs as reusable across cards, todos, messages, and other record types

Example use cases

• List all cards on a board and move selected cards to another column in a script
• Create todo lists and todos for a sprint kickoff, including due dates and assignees
• Search across projects for a keyword and export matching todos, messages, and documents
• Upload a build artifact to a project vault and record the returned sgid for tracking
• Automate daily check-ins by listing questions and posting answers programmatically