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MCP Kanban in Claude Code

A task board per project that hands off to the time tracker. It keeps tasks per project in columns with due dates, estimates, priorities and tags, shows the board, overdue items and a weekly review of planned versus done, and starts a time-tracker timer from a task with the link recorded on it.

Give the board the repository's own name as its project so `task_add` in that directory files against the right board automatically, and `claude mcp add kanban -- npx -y @theluckystrike/mcp-kanban --scope project` keeps that mapping in the repo rather than only on your machine.

What you get in Claude Code

You say	Tool
Add a task to the nova site board: write the launch email, due Friday, 90 minutes.	`task_add`
What's overdue, and start the timer on the API task.	`overdue then task_start_timer`
Weekly review.	`weekly_review`

Two server processes on one data directory firing 40 concurrent task_add calls at the same board all persisted with unique ids and the counter landed on exactly 41, which is what the advisory lock around the id counter is there to guarantee.

Install it in Claude Code

The file is .mcp.json, and the key inside it is mcpServers.

Scope	Path
local (default)	`~/.claude.json, this project only`
project	`.mcp.json at the repository root`
user	`~/.claude.json, every project`

claude mcp add kanban -- npx -y @theluckystrike/mcp-kanban
claude mcp list    # health-check it before the first prompt

# or --scope project, committed to .mcp.json for the team

No restart. The entry is picked up in the next session, and `/mcp` reconnects one on demand.

The npm publish of @theluckystrike/mcp-kanban is pending; until then use the .mcpb bundle or a clone and build from the latest release.

No install: the hosted endpoint

There is no hosted endpoint for this one yet. MCP Kanban runs locally over stdio with the config above, which is also the only form in which it reads and writes files on your own disk. Three of the servers in this collection are served at https://mcp.zovo.one/mcp/<name> over MCP streamable HTTP: time-tracker, price-tracker and invoice.

Claude Code notes worth knowing first

The `--` is load-bearing: it separates Claude Code's own options, such as --transport, --env and --scope, from the command that runs the server. And the default scope is local, private to you and to the directory you ran it in, so adding it in the wrong folder leaves the tools absent with no error at all.

Free: 3 project boards, 200 open tasks, the default five columns. Pro is $19 once, verified offline.

Questions

Which scope should I use for MCP Kanban?

Local, the default, writes ~/.claude.json and is private to you and that directory. --scope project writes .mcp.json at the repository root, shared through version control. --scope user loads it everywhere.

Why did my first prompt ignore the server?

Measured, not documented: of three fresh projects, one first prompt made zero tool calls although initialize answered in 1.05 seconds. Run claude mcp list once first: it prints Connected, and the next run used the tool.

Can I use MCP Kanban without installing anything?

Not yet. MCP Kanban runs locally over stdio, which is also how it reads and writes files on your disk. The hosted endpoints at https://mcp.zovo.one/mcp currently cover time-tracker, price-tracker and invoice.

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