Redmine MCP Server

An MCP server that lets a coding agent read and write your Redmine: search tickets, read full issue histories, post notes, log time, browse the wiki, and download attachments. Works with Claude Code, Codex, Claude Desktop, and any other MCP client.

It ships with a built-in safety rule: the agent will never create, update, comment on, or log time against a ticket unless you explicitly tell it to in that conversation.

Setup

Step 1: Install uv

uv runs the server and handles its Python dependencies for you.

curl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | sh

On Windows, use powershell -c "irm https://astral.sh/uv/install.ps1 | iex".

Step 2: Download this server

git clone https://github.com/beborico1/mcp-redmine.git
cd mcp-redmine
uv sync

Note the full path you cloned into. You need it in step 4:

pwd

Step 3: Get your Redmine API key

1. Log in to your Redmine.

2. Go to My account (top right).

3. In the right-hand sidebar, find API access key and click Show.

4. Copy the key.

If you do not see that panel, your administrator has not enabled the REST API. Ask them to tick Enable REST web service under Administration → Settings → API.

Step 4: Connect it to your agent

Pick the one you use. In every case, substitute your Redmine address, your API key, and the path from step 2.

Claude Code

claude mcp add redmine \
  --env REDMINE_URL=https://redmine.example.com \
  --env REDMINE_API_KEY=paste_your_key_here \
  -- uv --directory /full/path/to/mcp-redmine run mcp-redmine

Codex

Open ~/.codex/config.toml (create it if it does not exist) and add:

[mcp_servers.redmine]
command = "uv"
args = ["--directory", "/full/path/to/mcp-redmine", "run", "mcp-redmine"]

[mcp_servers.redmine.env]
REDMINE_URL = "https://redmine.example.com"
REDMINE_API_KEY = "paste_your_key_here"

Claude Desktop, or any other MCP client

Add this to the client's MCP config file:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "redmine": {
      "command": "uv",
      "args": ["--directory", "/full/path/to/mcp-redmine", "run", "mcp-redmine"],
      "env": {
        "REDMINE_URL": "https://redmine.example.com",
        "REDMINE_API_KEY": "paste_your_key_here"
      }
    }
  }
}

Step 5: Check that it works

Restart the agent, then ask it:

What's on my Redmine dashboard?

You should get your open tickets back. That is it, you are done.

Related MCP server: Redmine MCP Server

Configuration

Your API key is read from the environment only. It is never written to disk by this server, and it must never be committed to a repository.

What you can ask for

Reading

• redmine_my_dashboard - your open tickets, at a glance

• redmine_get_issue - one ticket in full, with its comment history

• redmine_search_issues - filter by author, assignee, project, status, dates

• redmine_list_projects - every project you can see

• redmine_list_wiki_pages, redmine_get_wiki_page - project wikis

• redmine_get_time_entries - logged time

• redmine_download_attachment - save a ticket's files locally

• redmine_find_user, redmine_get_users - resolve a name to a user ID

• redmine_get_statuses, redmine_get_trackers, redmine_get_priorities - reference IDs

Writing (each one needs your explicit go-ahead)

• redmine_create_issue - open a new ticket, attachments included

• redmine_update_issue - change status, assignee, or any field

• redmine_add_note - post a comment

• redmine_edit_journal - edit a comment you already posted

• redmine_log_time - record hours against a ticket

Ask in plain language. "Show me ticket 12345", "find everything Yuko opened this month", "draft a status update for 12345" all work; the agent picks the tool.

Troubleshooting

Every call fails with a 401. The API key is wrong, or REDMINE_API_KEY did not reach the server. Re-copy it from My account and re-run the claude mcp add command.

Every call fails with a 404. Check REDMINE_URL. It should be the site root (https://redmine.example.com), not a project or issue page, and it should have no trailing slash.

The server shows as failed with -32000: Connection closed. The server process is exiting before it can talk to the client. Run the command from your config by hand to see the real error:

uv --directory /full/path/to/mcp-redmine run mcp-redmine

Failed to spawn: mcp-redmine means step 2 was skipped or did not finish, so run uv sync in the clone. command not found: uv means uv is not on the PATH your client inherits, so use its absolute path (which uv) in the config.

The tools are not available. Restart the client after adding the server, then confirm it is connected with claude mcp list or codex mcp list.

Searching by a person's name returns a 500. Redmine only accepts me or a numeric user ID in author and assignee filters. Ask the agent to look the person up with redmine_find_user first.

Requirements

Python 3.13 or newer, and a Redmine with the REST API enabled.