How do I use ActiveCollab MCP Server?

1. Click on "Install Server". 2. Wait a few minutes for the server to deploy. Once ready, it will show a "Started" state. 3. In the chat, type @ followed by the MCP server name and your instructions, e.g., "@ActiveCollab MCP Server show my open tasks and recent notifications" That's it! The server will respond to your query, and you can continue using it as needed. Here is a step-by-step guide with screenshots.

ActiveCollab MCP Server

Local MCP (Model Context Protocol) server for ActiveCollab API integration. Allows Claude Code to access ActiveCollab data without exposing API tokens to external services.

Architecture

Claude Code (CLI)
       │
       ▼
┌──────────────────┐
│   MCP Server     │  ← Python, runs locally
│   (stdio)        │
└──────────────────┘
       │
       ▼
┌──────────────────┐
│ ActiveCollab API │  ← HTTPS
└──────────────────┘

Requirements

Python 3.8+
pip

Setup

1. Ensure Python is available

On some Linux distributions, python command may not exist (only python3). Fix with:

# Ubuntu/Debian (recommended)
sudo apt install python-is-python3

# Or manually create symlink
sudo ln -s /usr/bin/python3 /usr/bin/python

2. Install dependencies

pip install -r requirements.txt

3. Generate API token

Run the token generator script:

python generate_token.py

The script will prompt you for:

ActiveCollab URL - Your self-hosted instance URL (e.g., https://collab.yourcompany.com)
Email - Your ActiveCollab login email
Password - Your ActiveCollab password (hidden input)

=== ActiveCollab API Token Generator (Self-Hosted) ===

ActiveCollab URL (e.g., https://collab.inchoo.net): https://collab.yourcompany.com
Email: your.email@company.com
Password: ********

Generating token...

==================================================
SUCCESS! Here are your credentials:

API URL: https://collab.yourcompany.com/api/v1
API Token: 1-aBcDeFgHiJkLmNoPqRsTuVwXyZ123456789
==================================================

Save to config.json now? (y/n): y
Saved to config.json!

How it works:

Makes a POST request to /api/v1/issue-token with your credentials
ActiveCollab returns a permanent API token for the "Claude MCP Server" client
Token is saved to config.json

Alternative: Manually create config.json:

cp config.json.example config.json
# Edit config.json with your API URL and token

4. Configure MCP server

cp .mcp.json.example .mcp.json
# Edit .mcp.json - update "cwd" to your absolute path

5. Restart Claude Code

Available Tools

Tool	Parameters	Description
`list_projects`	-	List all projects
`get_project`	`project_id`	Get project details
`list_tasks`	`project_id`, `status` (all/open/completed)	List tasks for a project
`get_task`	`project_id`, `task_id`	Get task details
`my_tasks`	-	Get tasks assigned to current user
`get_task_comments`	`task_id`	Get comments on a task
`get_task_time_records`	`project_id`, `task_id`	Get time records for a task
`get_project_time_records`	`project_id`	Get all time records for a project
`get_notifications`	-	Get recent notifications for current user
`get_subtasks`	`project_id`, `task_id`	Get subtasks for a task
`get_overdue_tasks`	`project_id`	Get tasks with overdue deadlines
`get_tasks_with_deadlines`	`project_id`	Get open tasks sorted by due date
`get_labels`	-	Get all global task labels
`get_tasks_by_label`	`project_id`, `label_id`	Get tasks with specific label
`get_task_lists`	`project_id`	Get all task lists in a project
`get_tasks_by_list`	`project_id`, `task_list_id`	Get tasks in a specific list
`get_users`	-	Get all team members (not clients)
`get_tasks_by_assignee`	`project_id`, `user_id`	Get tasks assigned to a user

Usage Examples

> List all projects
> Show open tasks for project 5
> Get details of task 123
> Show my tasks
> Get comments for task 456
> Show time records for task 61735 in project 489
> Get all time records for project 489
> Show my notifications
> Get subtasks for task 61735 in project 489
> Show overdue tasks for project 489
> Show tasks with deadlines for project 489
> List all labels
> Show tasks with STORY label (272) in project 489
> Show task lists for project 489
> Show tasks in IN PROGRESS list (31231) for project 489
> List all team members
> Show tasks assigned to Željko (1090) in project 489

Project Structure

activeMCP/
├── src/
│   ├── __init__.py
│   ├── server.py           # MCP server with tool definitions
│   ├── api/
│   │   ├── __init__.py
│   │   └── client.py       # ActiveCollab API client
│   └── utils/
│       ├── __init__.py
│       └── config.py       # Configuration loader
├── generate_token.py       # API token generator script
├── config.json             # API credentials (gitignored)
├── config.json.example     # Template for config.json
├── .mcp.json               # MCP server config (gitignored)
├── .mcp.json.example       # Template for .mcp.json
├── run_server.sh           # Server launcher script
├── requirements.txt
└── README.md

Dependencies

Python 3.8+ (ensure python command is available, see Setup step 1)
mcp>=1.0.0 - Model Context Protocol SDK
httpx>=0.25.0 - HTTP client (optional, using urllib)

Implementation Status

Phase 1: Basic infrastructure (config, client, auth)
Phase 2: MCP server skeleton
Phase 3: Projects module (list, get)
Phase 4: Tasks module (list, get, filter by status)
Phase 5: Time tracking module (read only)
Phase 6: Comments module (read only)
Phase 7: Notifications module (read only)
Phase 8: Subtasks module (read only)
Phase 9: Deadlines module (overdue tasks, tasks with deadlines)
Phase 10: Labels module (list labels, filter tasks by label)
Phase 11: Task lists module (list task lists, filter tasks by list)
Phase 12: Users module (list users, filter tasks by assignee)
Phase 13: Write operations (create/update tasks, add comments, log time)

ActiveCollab MCP Server

ActiveCollab MCP Server

Architecture

Requirements

Setup

1. Ensure Python is available

2. Install dependencies

3. Generate API token

4. Configure MCP server

5. Restart Claude Code

Available Tools

Usage Examples

Project Structure

Dependencies

Implementation Status

Resources

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