Kanban Zone MCP Server

Model Context Protocol server that lets AI assistants (Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Cursor, VS Code, Windsurf, and any stdio-capable MCP client) drive your Kanban Zone workspace via the public API.

23 tools across boards, cards, comments, checklists, and tasks. No delete operations.

What you can do

• Read your boards, columns, labels, members, and custom fields.

• Create, list, get, update, and move cards.

• Inspect a card's history and time-in-column metrics.

• Add comments.

• Create, update, and list checklists — including bulk task creation in a single call.

• Create, update, and move tasks.

Quick start (Claude Desktop)

1. Get an API key. In Kanban Zone: Org Settings → Integrations → API Key. Copy the whole thing — it looks like accessId:apiKey.

2. Edit your config.

   • macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

   • Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

   {
     "mcpServers": {
       "kanbanzone": {
         "command": "npx",
         "args": ["-y", "kanban-zone-mcp-server"],
         "env": {
           "KANBANZONE_API_KEY": "accessId:apiKey"
         }
       }
     }
   }

3. Restart Claude Desktop. The Kanban Zone tools appear in the tool picker.

4. Try it. Ask Claude: "Is my Kanban Zone connection working?" — Claude calls kanbanzone_get_me and replies with your org name.

Quick start (Claude Code)

claude mcp add kanbanzone \
  -e KANBANZONE_API_KEY=accessId:apiKey \
  -- npx -y kanban-zone-mcp-server

Configuration

The server validates the key on startup. A missing or malformed value (no : separator) exits immediately with a message pointing at the org settings page.

Tools

23 tools, all prefixed with kanbanzone_:

User-facing docs with example prompts: https://docs.kanbanzone.io/mcp. Full input/output schemas: https://docs.kanbanzone.io/api.

Running from source

If you'd rather run from a local clone (development, contributions, custom modifications):

git clone https://github.com/kanbanzone/kanban-zone-mcp-server.git
cd kanban-zone-mcp-server
npm install
KANBANZONE_API_KEY=accessId:apiKey node src/index.js

Plain JavaScript — no compile step.

Troubleshooting

401 on every tool call. API key is wrong or expired. Regenerate it.

Tools don't appear in the client. Confirm the path is correct and the client was restarted after editing config. For npx installs, run npx -y kanban-zone-mcp-server once manually to make sure it downloads cleanly.

Card does not exist on a card you can see. It's a mirror — pass board=<publicId> to disambiguate which mirror.

Truncation warnings on list_cards. Paginate with page / count, or narrow with columns, owner, label, or daysSinceLastUpdate.

Security

This server runs locally on your machine. It does not transmit data to any third-party AI service — every API call goes directly to https://integrations.kanbanzone.io. Your API key never leaves your machine except as an Authorization: Basic header on those direct calls.

What's next

The server is local-stdio only today. A hosted version (paste a URL into your client, no install) is on the roadmap.

License

MIT.