Planka MCP Server for Claude

MCP (Model Context Protocol) server that connects Planka kanban boards to Claude.ai for AI-powered project management.

This server exposes all Planka v2 API operations as MCP tools via the Streamable HTTP transport, making it compatible with Claude.ai custom connectors.

Table of Contents

• Features
• Prerequisites
• Quick Start
• Docker
• Security
• Cost — Using Claude Haiku
• Development
• Environment Variables
• Available MCP Tools (75+)
• Usage Examples
• Architecture
• License

Features

• 75+ MCP tools covering every Planka API endpoint
• Streamable HTTP transport (POST /mcp + GET /mcp SSE) for Claude.ai compatibility
• Dual authentication: API key (recommended) or email/password with auto-refresh on 401
• Composite tools: board overview, project overview, cross-project card search, "my cards"
• Multi-session support: each Claude conversation gets its own MCP session
• Docker ready: pre-built image on ghcr.io, multi-stage Dockerfile + docker-compose

Prerequisites

• Node.js 20+
• A running Planka v2.x instance
• A dedicated Planka account for Claude (see below)
• A publicly accessible domain for the MCP server (e.g. https://planka-mcp.domain.tld)

Quick Start

1. Create a dedicated Planka account for Claude

We strongly recommend creating a dedicated Planka user account specifically for Claude (e.g. claude@yourdomain.tld), rather than using your personal account. This makes it easy to:

• Track exactly which actions Claude performed in the activity log
• Revoke Claude's access independently without affecting your own account
• Apply specific permissions (admin or member) scoped to Claude's needs

2. Install dependencies

npm install

3. Configure

cp .env.example .env
# Edit .env with your Planka URL and Claude's dedicated account credentials

Authentication options (pick one):

Method	Variables	Notes
API Key (recommended)	PLANKA_API_KEY	Never expires. Generate via planka_create_user_api_key tool
Email + Password	PLANKA_EMAIL + PLANKA_PASSWORD	Auto-refreshes JWT on 401

4. Expose the server on a public domain

Claude.ai requires the MCP server to be accessible over HTTPS. You need a public domain pointing to this server, for example:

https://planka-mcp.domain.tld

Configure your reverse proxy (Nginx, Traefik, Caddy…) to forward HTTPS traffic to localhost:3001.

5. Build and run

npm run build
npm start

6. Verify

curl https://planka-mcp.domain.tld/health
# {"status":"ok","planka_url":"http://...","version":"1.0.0"}

7. Add to Claude.ai

1. Go to Settings > Connectors > Add custom connector

2. Set the URL to: https://planka-mcp.domain.tld/mcp

   ⚠️ The URL must include /mcp at the end — Claude.ai will not find the MCP server without it.

3. Click Add, then Connect and authorize via the OAuth screen

4. Enable the connector in a conversation via the "+" button > Connectors

Docker

A pre-built image is automatically published to the GitHub Container Registry on every push to main and on every version tag (v*).

ghcr.io/nextheberg/planka-mcp-server-for-claude:latest

Run with docker compose (recommended)

The provided docker-compose.yml pulls the pre-built image by default:

# Pull latest image and start
docker compose up -d

# Check logs
docker compose logs -f planka-mcp

Run with docker directly

docker run -d \
  --name planka-mcp \
  --restart unless-stopped \
  -p 3001:3001 \
  --env-file .env \
  ghcr.io/nextheberg/planka-mcp-server-for-claude:latest

Build locally

To build the image from source instead of pulling it:

# Edit docker-compose.yml: comment out `image:` and uncomment `build:`
docker compose up -d --build

Or directly:

docker build -t planka-mcp-server .

Security

Even though the MCP server is exposed on a public domain, it is effectively inaccessible to anyone except Claude. Here's why:

• OAuth required — without completing the OAuth flow (which opens an interactive popup in your browser), no one can obtain a valid token. This flow cannot be automated without human interaction.
• Tokens stored in memory only — issued tokens live exclusively in the container's RAM. A container restart invalidates all existing tokens immediately. No database, no persistent storage exposed.
• No token = 401 — any direct request to /mcp without a valid Bearer token is rejected immediately.
• Tokens are unguessable — format planka-mcp-token-{uuid}, with UUID v4 providing 2¹²² possible values.

The only realistic attack surface is token interception in transit — mitigated entirely by HTTPS/TLS. The OAuth discovery endpoints (/.well-known/*, /oauth/authorize, /oauth/token) are public but grant no access without completing the interactive flow.

In practice: only Claude — after you have clicked "Authorize" — can use this server.

Cost — Using Claude Haiku

Managing Planka tasks (creating cards, updating lists, searching boards…) does not require a powerful model. These are structured, low-complexity operations that work perfectly with Claude Haiku, Anthropic's fastest and most affordable model.

Using Claude Haiku for Planka operations costs a fraction of Claude Sonnet or Opus — making this connector extremely cost-effective for day-to-day project management automation.

Development

npm run dev   # Uses tsx --watch for hot reload

Environment Variables

Variable	Required	Default	Description
PLANKA_BASE_URL	Yes	-	Full URL to Planka (e.g. http://192.168.1.50:3000)
PLANKA_API_KEY	One of	-	API key for authentication
PLANKA_EMAIL	One of	-	Email for password auth
PLANKA_PASSWORD	One of	-	Password for password auth
PORT	No	3001	Server listen port
NODE_TLS_REJECT_UNAUTHORIZED	No	true	Set to false for self-signed certs
PLANKA_REQUEST_TIMEOUT	No	30000	Request timeout in ms
LOG_LEVEL	No	info	Log level: error, warn, info, debug

Available MCP Tools (75+)

Auth & System

Tool	Description
planka_get_bootstrap	Get Planka instance info (version, OIDC, limits)
planka_get_config	Get SMTP configuration (admin)
planka_update_config	Update SMTP configuration (admin)
planka_test_smtp	Test SMTP configuration (admin)

Users

Tool	Description
planka_list_users	List all users
planka_create_user	Create a new user
planka_get_user	Get user details
planka_update_user	Update user settings
planka_delete_user	Delete a user
planka_update_user_email	Change user email
planka_update_user_password	Change user password
planka_update_user_username	Change username
planka_create_user_api_key	Generate API key

Projects

Tool	Description
planka_list_projects	List all projects
planka_create_project	Create a project
planka_get_project	Get project with boards and members
planka_update_project	Update project settings
planka_delete_project	Delete a project
planka_add_project_manager	Add a project manager
planka_remove_project_manager	Remove a project manager
planka_create_base_custom_field_group	Create base custom field group

Boards

Tool	Description
planka_create_board	Create a board
planka_get_board	Get board with all content
planka_update_board	Update board settings
planka_delete_board	Delete a board
planka_get_board_actions	Get board activity log
planka_add_board_member	Add board member
planka_update_board_member	Update member role
planka_remove_board_member	Remove board member

Lists

Tool	Description
planka_create_list	Create a list
planka_get_list	Get list with cards
planka_update_list	Update list (name, color, position, move)
planka_delete_list	Delete a list
planka_sort_list	Sort cards in a list
planka_move_list_cards	Move all cards to another list
planka_clear_list	Clear all cards from a list

Cards

Tool	Description
planka_list_cards	List cards with filters
planka_create_card	Create a card
planka_get_card	Get card with all details
planka_update_card	Update card (move, rename, due date, etc.)
planka_delete_card	Delete a card
planka_duplicate_card	Duplicate a card
planka_read_card_notifications	Mark card notifications read
planka_get_card_actions	Get card activity log

Task Lists & Tasks

Tool	Description
planka_create_task_list	Create a checklist on a card
planka_get_task_list	Get task list with tasks
planka_update_task_list	Update task list
planka_delete_task_list	Delete task list
planka_create_task	Create a task
planka_update_task	Update task (complete, assign, rename)
planka_delete_task	Delete a task

Labels

Tool	Description
planka_create_label	Create a label
planka_update_label	Update a label
planka_delete_label	Delete a label
planka_add_label_to_card	Add label to card
planka_remove_label_from_card	Remove label from card

Card Members

Tool	Description
planka_assign_user_to_card	Assign user to card
planka_unassign_user_from_card	Unassign user from card

Comments

Tool	Description
planka_list_comments	List card comments
planka_create_comment	Add a comment
planka_update_comment	Edit a comment
planka_delete_comment	Delete a comment

Attachments

Tool	Description
planka_add_link_attachment	Add a link attachment
planka_update_attachment	Rename attachment
planka_delete_attachment	Delete attachment

Custom Fields

Tool	Description
planka_update_base_custom_field_group	Update base field group
planka_delete_base_custom_field_group	Delete base field group
planka_create_custom_field_in_base_group	Create field in base group
planka_create_board_custom_field_group	Create board field group
planka_create_card_custom_field_group	Create card field group
planka_get_custom_field_group	Get field group
planka_update_custom_field_group	Update field group
planka_delete_custom_field_group	Delete field group
planka_create_custom_field_in_group	Create field in group
planka_update_custom_field	Update a custom field
planka_delete_custom_field	Delete a custom field
planka_update_custom_field_value	Set field value on card
planka_delete_custom_field_value	Remove field value from card

Notifications

Tool	Description
planka_list_notifications	List all notifications
planka_get_notification	Get notification details
planka_update_notification	Mark read/unread
planka_read_all_notifications	Mark all as read

Notification Services

Tool	Description
planka_create_board_notification_service	Create board webhook
planka_create_user_notification_service	Create user webhook
planka_update_notification_service	Update notification service
planka_delete_notification_service	Delete notification service
planka_test_notification_service	Test notification service

Webhooks

Tool	Description
planka_list_webhooks	List all webhooks
planka_create_webhook	Create a webhook
planka_update_webhook	Update a webhook
planka_delete_webhook	Delete a webhook

Composite Tools

Tool	Description
planka_get_board_overview	Full board view: lists + cards + members + labels
planka_get_project_overview	Project with boards and card counts per list
planka_search_cards_in_project	Search cards across all boards in a project
planka_get_my_cards	Get all cards assigned to a user across all projects

Usage Examples (natural language in Claude)

• "Show me all my projects"
• "Create a new project called 'Website Redesign'"
• "What cards are assigned to me?"
• "Add a card 'Fix login bug' to the 'To Do' list on the Dev board"
• "Move all cards from 'In Progress' to 'Done'"
• "Search for cards mentioning 'database' in the Backend project"
• "Create a checklist on card X with items: design, implement, test"
• "Set the due date for card Y to next Friday"
• "Add a comment on card Z: 'This is ready for review'"
• "Show me the activity log for the main board"

Architecture

src/
  index.ts                  # Express HTTP server (Streamable HTTP transport)
  server.ts                 # MCP server definition + all 75+ tools
  planka/
    client.ts               # HTTP client (auth, auto-refresh, timeout)
    types.ts                # Full TypeScript type definitions
    api/
      auth.ts               # Access tokens + bootstrap
      projects.ts           # Projects + managers
      boards.ts             # Boards + memberships
      lists.ts              # Lists (CRUD + sort + move + clear)
      cards.ts              # Cards (CRUD + duplicate + notifications)
      task-lists.ts         # Task lists
      tasks.ts              # Tasks
      labels.ts             # Labels + card labels
      card-memberships.ts   # Card member assignments
      comments.ts           # Comments
      attachments.ts        # Attachments (link type)
      custom-fields.ts      # Custom field groups + fields + values
      users.ts              # Users (CRUD + email/password/username/apikey)
      notifications.ts      # Notifications
      notification-services.ts  # Notification services
      webhooks.ts           # Webhooks
      config.ts             # SMTP config

License

GPL-3.0 license