Redmine MCP server for Cursor

A small Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that talks to your Redmine instance over its REST API. After you wire it into Cursor, the Agent can list/create/update issues, query projects, log time, and call any documented Redmine endpoint via a generic tool.

This repo runs over stdio (standard MCP transport): Cursor starts node index.js and exchanges JSON-RPC over stdin/stdout. You do not need to expose an HTTP port.

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Prerequisites

• Node.js 18+ (includes fetch)
• A Redmine account with an API access key
  • In Redmine: My account → API access key (or your admin’s equivalent)
• Permission to use Redmine’s REST API for the actions you care about (varies by role/project)

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Quick setup (for anyone cloning this repo)

1. Install dependencies

cd /path/to/this-repo
npm install

2. Configure environment variables

Create a .env file in the same directory as index.js (the repo root). Do not commit .env to git.

RedmineURL=https://your-redmine.example.com
RedmineAPIKEY=your_api_key_here

Rules:

• RedmineURL — Base URL only, no trailing slash, e.g. https://redmine.company.com
• RedmineAPIKEY — Your personal API key (treat it like a password)

Optional check from the shell (does not print your key):

node -e "require('dotenv').config(); console.log(process.env.RedmineURL ? 'RedmineURL OK' : 'missing RedmineURL')"

3. Smoke test (optional)

The MCP entrypoint is meant to be launched by Cursor. If you run it manually it will wait on stdio:

npm start

You should see no errors on startup if .env is valid. Stop with Ctrl+C.

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Connecting Cursor

Option A — Project-only MCP (recommended for teams)

Check in .cursor/mcp.json at the repo root so everyone who opens this project gets the same server definition.

This repo’s .cursor/mcp.json uses ${workspaceFolder} so paths work for any clone location:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "redmine-all-in-one": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["${workspaceFolder}/index.js"],
      "cwd": "${workspaceFolder}"
    }
  }
}

Why cwd: dotenv loads .env from the current working directory. cwd must be the folder that contains .env and index.js.

If your Cursor build does not expand ${workspaceFolder}, switch to absolute paths under args and cwd for your machine.

Option B — User-global MCP

Add the same server block under your user MCP settings (Cursor’s global MCP config). Use absolute paths to wherever you cloned this repo.

After editing MCP config:

1. Open Cursor Settings → MCP (or Features → MCP)
2. Confirm redmine-all-in-one appears and is enabled
3. Use Reload / restart Cursor if the server stays disconnected

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Using it from chat

1. Use Agent mode (or any chat mode where tools are allowed).
2. Ask clearly that answers should come from Redmine, e.g.
   • “Using Redmine MCP, list my open issues assigned to me.”
   • “Create a Feature in project identifier with subject … for version ….”
3. If the model forgets to use tools, say: “Only use Redmine MCP tools for Redmine data.”

The server authenticates with X-Redmine-API-Key; Redmine treats requests as the user who owns that key.

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Tools reference

Tool	Purpose
redmine_api_request	Generic REST call: method, path (e.g. /issues.json), optional query string, optional JSON body string. Use this whenever no helper fits.
redmine_list_projects	Paginated project list.
redmine_list_issues	Issues with common filters (project_id, status_id, assigned_to_id, pagination). Special values often include me, open, *.
redmine_get_issue	One issue by id; optional include (e.g. journals).
redmine_create_issue	Create issue (project, subject, tracker, dates, assignee, fixed_version_id, estimated_hours, etc.).
redmine_update_issue	Partial update; supports estimated_hours. Clear assignee via API: put empty assigned_to_id (see Redmine REST docs / use redmine_api_request).
redmine_log_time	POST a time entry (issue_id, hours, optional activity_id, spent_on, comments). Defaults activity_id to 164 if omitted (your server may differ—override when needed).
redmine_list_users	List users (permissions required).
redmine_get_current_user	Who the API key belongs to.

For endpoint paths and payloads, your installation follows Redmine’s REST API (see Redmine REST API).

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Practical notes (save debugging time)

Validation errors (HTTP 422)

Your Redmine may enforce:

• Priority required on create → set priority_id (discover via GET /enumerations/issue_priorities.json).
• Estimated time on certain trackers → set estimated_hours on create/update or in extra_fields_json if using an older MCP schema cache.

Clearing assignee

Some setups accept PUT /issues/:id.json with "assigned_to_id": "". If your Redmine behaves differently, use the UI or check your Redmine version’s REST notes.

Security

• Rotate the API key if it was ever committed or pasted in an insecure channel.
• Prefer per-user keys—not shared accounts.
• Restrict file permissions on .env on shared machines (chmod 600 .env).

MCP schema cache

After upgrading index.js, reload MCP servers in Cursor so new/changed tool arguments appear in the UI.

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Development

• Entry: index.js
• Start: npm start → runs node index.js
• Dependencies: @modelcontextprotocol/sdk, dotenv, zod

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License

MIT (see LICENSE). Dependencies retain their own licenses; Redmine is a separate project under its own license.