taskmaster-mcp

A TypeScript MCP server that gives Claude, Cursor and other MCP hosts a set of Jira tools. Built on FastMCP + Express. This is a trimmed-down version of something we actually run internally.

Treat this as your first week on the team: get it running, poke around, find something worth improving, and ship it as a pull request.

We haven't told you what to build. Deciding that is part of the exercise.

1. Make your own copy

Use the template — don't fork.

1. On the repo page, click Use this template → Create a new repository.

2. Name it whatever you like.

3. Set the visibility to Private.

4. Create the repository.

Then add @joethompson-cintra, @dave-r-cintra and connorb-cintra as collaborators: your repo → Settings → Collaborators → Add people.

Related MCP server: JIRA MCP Server

2. Get a Jira instance

You'll need your own Jira Cloud site — the free tier takes about five minutes and doesn't need a card.

1. Sign up at atlassian.com/software/jira/free.

2. Create a project. A Scrum template gives you a backlog and sprint board, which next_jira_task expects. Note the project key (e.g. PROJ).

3. Generate an API token at id.atlassian.com/manage-profile/security/api-tokens.

Spend a couple of minutes creating issues with a mix of types, statuses and priorities, plus a subtask and an epic link. Several tools walk those relationships and an empty board won't show you much.

3. Run it

Requires Node 22+.

npm install
cp example.env .env        # fill in your Jira values
npm run dev                # http://localhost:3000

JIRA_API_URL=https://your-domain.atlassian.net
JIRA_EMAIL=the-email-you-signed-up-with@example.com
JIRA_API_TOKEN=<token from step 3 above>
JIRA_PROJECT=<your project key, e.g. PROJ>
ALLOW_UNAUTHENTICATED_LOCAL=true

Four tools call Claude for ticket content — add ANTHROPIC_API_KEY from console.anthropic.com if you want those. The others work without it.

Connect an MCP client

Point the client at http://localhost:3000/mcp.

Claude Code:

claude mcp add --transport http taskmaster http://localhost:3000/mcp

Cursor — in .cursor/mcp.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "taskmaster": {
      "url": "http://localhost:3000/mcp"
    }
  }
}

With ALLOW_UNAUTHENTICATED_LOCAL=true, localhost requests use your .env credentials. Try the tools out properly before you write any code — most of what's interesting here only shows up once you've used the thing.

curl -s http://localhost:3000/health

4. Build something

Pick a feature or improvement you think the project should have, and implement it.

Good choices tend to be things you noticed while using it — a rough edge, a gap in the tool coverage, something that broke when you fed it real data. We're more interested in a small, well-judged, complete change than a large half-finished one.

Work in a branch and open a pull request against main in your own repo. Don't merge it — leave it open for us to review.

Your PR description should cover

• What you built, briefly.

• Why you chose it over the other things you noticed.

• Trade-offs you made, and anything you'd do differently with more time.

This matters as much as the code. A short, clear write-up beats a long one.

What we're looking for

We won't be scoring you on the size of the diff.