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MCP Kanban in Cline

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.

board, task_list, overdue and project_list are reads and safe to auto-approve; leave task_add, task_move, task_delete and columns_set behind a click, since each one changes what the board says happened.

What you get in Cline

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 Cline

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

Scope	Path
Cline CLI	`~/.cline/mcp.json`
The editor extension	`opened from the Cline panel, not by path; the documentation deliberately calls it the MCP settings JSON used by the extension`

If you also run Claude Desktop, the shortest path there is one click: kanban.mcpb from the bundle catalog opens as an extension, with no JSON and no terminal. Cline reads its own config, so here it is:

The config block:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "kanban": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/absolute/path/to/mcp-servers/servers/kanban/dist/index.js"],
      "disabled": false,
      "autoApprove": []
    }
  }
}

The node command above wants a built file. From a clone, once:

git clone https://github.com/theluckystrike/mcp-servers.git
cd mcp-servers && npm install
npm run build -w packages/mcp-license -w servers/kanban

That writes servers/kanban/dist/index.js, and its absolute path is the one argument the config needs.

The npm packages are not published yet, so the form below returns a 404 today. It is here because it is what the entry becomes the day the publish lands, with nothing else changed:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "kanban": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@theluckystrike/mcp-kanban"]
    }
  }
}

No full-app restart. The MCP settings actions include restarting an unresponsive server if its tools do not appear.

Nothing is published to npm yet, so the working install paths are the ones above: the .mcpb bundle from the bundle catalog, a clone and build, or the hosted URL.

No install: the hosted endpoint

The same server runs at https://mcp.zovo.one/mcp/kanban over MCP streamable HTTP, no install. Mint a free token with curl https://mcp.zovo.one/mcp/token, or use a Pro key. It has no filesystem, so a file comes back as a one-hour download link.

Write the transport in. Omitting type falls back to the legacy sse transport, which will not talk to this endpoint:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "kanban": {
      "type": "streamableHttp",
      "url": "https://mcp.zovo.one/mcp/kanban",
      "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer <token>" }
    }
  }
}

Cline notes worth knowing first

Cline is the one client here with an unsafe transport default. `type` selects it, and omitting `type` falls back to the legacy sse transport, so a streamable HTTP endpoint needs it written in or you will debug a server that is fine. Local entries carry "disabled" and an "autoApprove" array.

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

Questions

Where does the config live?

The CLI reads ~/.cline/mcp.json. For the extension, do not hunt for a path: MCP Servers icon, Configure tab, Configure MCP Servers. cline mcp opens a wizard, and cline config mcp --json is the non-interactive form.

The hosted endpoint will not connect.

Set the transport explicitly. Omitting type falls back to the legacy sse transport, so streamable HTTP needs "type": "streamableHttp" written in.

Should I auto-approve MCP Kanban's tools?

Approve the read-only ones and leave the writing ones behind a click: each entry carries an autoApprove array and a disabled flag.

MCP Kanban in detail · The same server in Windsurf and Claude.ai and Claude Desktop connectors · Every server in Cline · Guides · Cline docs · Buy Pro

Related guides & tools

Run a kanban board in Claude, with time tracking on the same task · Work orders and job cards from chat, and why the markup goes on the unit cost