MCP Backlog Server

A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server for managing backlog items and todos. This server provides a structured way to track work items, their status, and associated tasks.

Features

• Backlog Management: Create, read, update, and archive backlog items

• Todo Tracking: Manage todos within backlog items with dependencies

• Status Workflow: Track items through states: new → ready → review → done

• Priority Levels: Organize items by high, medium, or low priority

• Versioning: Automatic versioning when amending backlog items

• Markdown Storage: Human-readable markdown files with frontmatter

• Prune/Clear: Remove old completed items to keep your archive clean

Installation

Quick Start (Zero Install)

Using NPX (Node.js):

Using Bunx (Bun - Faster):

Global Installation

With Bun (Recommended):

With NPM:

From Source

Usage

In your MCP client configuration

Add to your MCP client's configuration file:

Using NPX from GitHub (Recommended):

Using Bunx (Faster):

Using global install:

Using NPX:

Using local build:

Tools

backlog-read

List and filter backlog items.

Arguments:

• status (optional): Filter by status (new, ready, review, done, reopen, wontfix)

• priority (optional): Filter by priority (high, medium, low)

backlog-write

Create and manage backlog items.

Arguments:

• action: Operation to perform (create, list, amend, approve, submit, reopen, wontfix)

• topic: Topic name for the backlog item

• description: Description of the work item

• priority (optional): Priority level (default: medium)

• status (optional): Status for amend operation

Examples:

backlog-done

Mark backlog items as complete.

Arguments:

• action: done or list

• topic: Topic name to mark as done

• summary (optional): Completion summary

ticket-read

List todos for a backlog item.

Arguments:

• topic: Backlog item topic (required)

• status (optional): Filter by status

• batch (optional): Filter by batch

ticket-write

Create and update todos within backlog items.

Arguments:

• action: create, update, or list

• topic: Backlog item topic (required)

• todoId: Todo ID (for update)

• content: Todo content

• status: Todo status (pending, in_progress, completed, cancelled)

• dependencies: Array of todo IDs that must complete first

• batch: Batch identifier

ticket-done

Mark todos as complete with dependency validation.

Arguments:

• action: done or list

• topic: Backlog item topic (required)

• todoId: Todo ID to mark as done

prune

Remove old completed/archived backlog items from COMPLETED_Backlog.

Arguments:

• action: Operation to perform (list, prune, clear) - default: list

• olderThanDays (optional): For prune action, delete items older than this many days (default: 30)

• dryRun (optional): Preview what would be deleted without actually deleting (default: false)

Examples:

Directory Structure

Default Location (XDG-compliant)

By default, the server stores backlog data in XDG-compliant directories with multi-project isolation:

Multi-Project Support

Each project gets its own isolated directory:

• Git repositories: Uses the repository root directory name as project identifier

• Non-git projects: Uses directory name + hash for uniqueness

This allows you to use the same MCP server across multiple projects without conflicts.

Legacy Support

For backward compatibility, if you have an existing .agent/ directory in your current working directory, it will be used instead of the XDG directory.

Custom Locations

You can override the default location using environment variables:

Option 1: Set a custom backlog directory

Option 2: Set XDG_DATA_HOME (affects all XDG-compliant apps)

Add these to your MCP client configuration:

Configuration

See CONFIGURATION.md for detailed information about:

• XDG Base Directory support

• Multi-project isolation

• Environment variables

• Custom storage locations

• Platform-specific defaults

Development

Run tests

Build

Workflow

1. Create a backlog item with status "new"

2. Submit to move it to "ready" (ready for work)

3. Amend to update status to "review" when work is done

4. Approve to move from "review" to "done"

5. Done to archive the completed item

Or use reopen to send items back for more work, or wontfix to archive without completing.

License

MIT