Autotask MCP Server

A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that provides AI assistants with structured access to Kaseya Autotask PSA data and operations.

Quick Start

Claude Desktop — download, open, done:

1. Download autotask-mcp.mcpb from the latest release

2. Open the file (double-click or drag into Claude Desktop)

3. Enter your Autotask credentials when prompted (Username, Secret, Integration Code)

No terminal, no JSON editing, no Node.js install required.

Claude Code (CLI):

See Installation for Docker and from-source methods.

Related MCP server: Tiny TODO MCP

Features

• 🔌 MCP Protocol Compliance: Full support for MCP resources and tools

• 🛠️ Comprehensive API Coverage: 35 tools spanning companies, contacts, tickets, projects, notes, attachments, and more

• 🔍 Advanced Search: Powerful search capabilities with filters across all entities

• 📝 CRUD Operations: Create, read, update operations for core Autotask entities

• 🔄 ID-to-Name Mapping: Automatic resolution of company and resource IDs to human-readable names

• ⚡ Intelligent Caching: Smart caching system for improved performance and reduced API calls

• 🔒 Secure Authentication: Enterprise-grade API security with Autotask credentials

• 🌐 Dual Transport: Supports both stdio (local) and HTTP Streamable (remote/Docker) transports

• 📦 MCPB Packaging: One-click installation via MCP Bundle for desktop clients

• 🐳 Docker Ready: Containerized deployment with HTTP transport and health checks

• 📊 Structured Logging: Comprehensive logging with configurable levels and formats

• 🧪 Test Coverage: Comprehensive test suite with 80%+ coverage

Table of Contents

• Installation

• Configuration

• Usage

• API Reference

• ID-to-Name Mapping

• HTTP Transport

• Docker Deployment

• Development

• Testing

• Troubleshooting

• Contributing

• Contributors

• License

Installation

Option 1: MCPB Bundle (Claude Desktop)

The simplest method — no terminal, no JSON editing, no Node.js install required.

1. Download autotask-mcp.mcpb from the latest release

2. Open the file (double-click or drag into Claude Desktop)

3. Enter your Autotask credentials when prompted (Username, Secret, Integration Code)

For Claude Code (CLI), one command:

Option 2: Docker

Local (stdio — for Claude Desktop or Claude Code):

Remote (HTTP Streamable — for server deployments):

Clients connect to http://host:8080/mcp using MCP Streamable HTTP transport.

Option 3: From Source (Development)

Then point your MCP client at dist/entry.js:

Prerequisites

• Valid Autotask API credentials (API user email, secret, integration code)

• MCP-compatible client (Claude Desktop, Claude Code, etc.)

• Docker (for Option 2) or Node.js 18+ (for Option 3)

Configuration

Environment Variables

Create a .env file with your configuration:

💡 Pro Tip: Copy the above content to a .env file in your project root.

Autotask API Setup

1. Create API User: In Autotask, create a dedicated API user with appropriate permissions

2. Generate Secret: Generate an API secret for the user

3. Integration Code: Obtain your integration code from Autotask

4. Permissions: Ensure the API user has read/write access to required entities

For detailed setup instructions, see the Autotask API documentation.

Usage

Command Line

MCP Client Configuration

See Installation for all setup methods.

API Reference

Resources

Resources provide read-only access to Autotask data:

• autotask://companies - List all companies

• autotask://companies/{id} - Get specific company

• autotask://contacts - List all contacts

• autotask://contacts/{id} - Get specific contact

• autotask://tickets - List all tickets

• autotask://tickets/{id} - Get specific ticket

• autotask://time-entries - List time entries

Tools

The server provides 35 tools for interacting with Autotask:

Company Operations

• autotask_search_companies - Search companies with filters

• autotask_create_company - Create new company

• autotask_update_company - Update existing company

Contact Operations

• autotask_search_contacts - Search contacts with filters

• autotask_create_contact - Create new contact

Ticket Operations

• autotask_search_tickets - Search tickets with filters

• autotask_get_ticket_details - Get full ticket details by ID

• autotask_create_ticket - Create new ticket

Time Entry Operations

• autotask_create_time_entry - Log time entry

Project Operations

• autotask_search_projects - Search projects with filters

• autotask_create_project - Create new project

Resource Operations

• autotask_search_resources - Search resources (technicians/users)

Note Operations

• autotask_get_ticket_note / autotask_search_ticket_notes / autotask_create_ticket_note

• autotask_get_project_note / autotask_search_project_notes / autotask_create_project_note

• autotask_get_company_note / autotask_search_company_notes / autotask_create_company_note

Attachment Operations

• autotask_get_ticket_attachment - Get ticket attachment

• autotask_search_ticket_attachments - Search ticket attachments

Financial Operations

• autotask_get_expense_report / autotask_search_expense_reports / autotask_create_expense_report

• autotask_get_quote / autotask_search_quotes / autotask_create_quote

• autotask_search_invoices - Search invoices

• autotask_search_contracts - Search contracts

Configuration Items

• autotask_search_configuration_items - Search configuration items (assets)

Task Operations

• autotask_search_tasks - Search project tasks

• autotask_create_task - Create project task

Utility Operations

• autotask_test_connection - Test API connectivity

Example Tool Usage

ID-to-Name Mapping

The Autotask MCP server includes intelligent ID-to-name mapping that automatically resolves company and resource IDs to human-readable names, making API responses much more useful for AI assistants and human users.

Automatic Enhancement

All search and detail tools automatically include an _enhanced field with resolved names:

How It Works

ID-to-name mapping is applied automatically to all search and detail tool results. No additional tools are needed — the _enhanced field is added transparently to every response that contains company or resource IDs.

Performance Features

• Smart Caching: Names are cached for 30 minutes to reduce API calls

• Bulk Operations: Efficient batch lookups for multiple IDs

• Graceful Fallback: Returns "Unknown Company (123)" if lookup fails

• Parallel Processing: Multiple mappings resolved simultaneously

Testing Mapping

Test the mapping functionality:

For detailed mapping documentation, see docs/mapping.md.

HTTP Transport

The server supports the MCP Streamable HTTP transport for remote deployments (e.g., Docker, cloud hosting). Set MCP_TRANSPORT=http to enable it.

The HTTP transport exposes:

• POST /mcp — MCP Streamable HTTP endpoint

• GET /health — Health check (returns {"status":"ok"})

Clients must send requests to /mcp with Accept: application/json, text/event-stream headers per the MCP Streamable HTTP specification.

Docker Deployment

The Docker image uses HTTP transport by default (port 8080) with a built-in health check.

Using Pre-built Image from GitHub Container Registry

The Docker image defaults to HTTP transport on port 8080 — suitable for remote/server deployments where clients connect over the network.

For stdio usage with Claude Desktop, see Installation Option 2.

Quick Start (From Source)

Production Deployment

Development Mode

Development

Setup

Available Scripts

Project Structure

Testing

Running Tests

Test Categories

• Unit Tests: Service layer and utility functions

• Integration Tests: MCP protocol compliance

• API Tests: Autotask API integration (requires credentials)

Coverage Requirements

• Minimum 80% coverage for all metrics

• 100% coverage for critical paths (authentication, data handling)

Configuration Reference

Environment Variables

Logging Levels

• error: Only error messages

• warn: Warnings and errors

• info: General information, warnings, and errors

• debug: Detailed debugging information

Log Formats

• simple: Human-readable console output

• json: Structured JSON output (recommended for production)

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

Authentication Errors

Solution: Ensure all required environment variables are set correctly.

Connection Timeouts

Solutions:

• Check network connectivity

• Verify API endpoint URL

• Confirm API user has proper permissions

Permission Denied

Solution: Review Autotask API user permissions and security level settings.

Debug Mode

Enable debug logging for detailed troubleshooting:

Health Checks

Test server connectivity:

MCP Client Issues

Problem: MCP server not appearing in Claude Desktop Solutions:

1. Check configuration file syntax (valid JSON)

2. Verify file path in the configuration

3. Ensure environment variables are set correctly

4. Restart Claude Desktop completely

Problem: "Invalid JSON-RPC message: [dotenv@...] injecting env" / Server disconnected Cause: The autotask-node library calls dotenv.config() at module load time. dotenv v17+ writes status messages via console.log to stdout, which corrupts the MCP stdio JSON-RPC channel. Solution: Ensure you're using dist/entry.js (not dist/index.js) as the entry point. The entry wrapper redirects console.log to stderr before any libraries load.

Problem: Slow responses Solutions:

1. Check network connectivity to Autotask API

2. Enable debug logging (LOG_LEVEL=debug) to identify bottlenecks

3. The server caches company/resource names for 30 minutes automatically

Security Best Practices

• Store credentials in environment variables, not directly in config files

• Limit Autotask API user permissions to the minimum required

• Rotate API credentials regularly

• For Docker deployments, use secrets management rather than plain environment variables

Contributing

1. Fork the repository

2. Create a feature branch (git checkout -b feature/amazing-feature)

3. Commit your changes (git commit -m 'Add amazing feature')

4. Push to the branch (git push origin feature/amazing-feature)

5. Open a Pull Request

Development Guidelines

• Follow TypeScript best practices

• Maintain test coverage above 80%

• Use conventional commit messages

• Update documentation for API changes

• Add tests for new features

License

This project is licensed under the Apache License 2.0. See the LICENSE file for details.

Contributor License Agreement

By submitting a pull request, you agree to the terms of our Contributor License Agreement. This ensures that contributions can be properly licensed and that you have the right to submit the code.

Contributors

Support

• 📚 Documentation

• 🐛 Issue Tracker

• 💬 Discussions

Acknowledgments

• Model Context Protocol by Anthropic

• Autotask REST API by Kaseya

• autotask-node library

Built with ❤️ for the Autotask and AI community