taskmaster-mcp

A TypeScript MCP server that gives Claude, Cursor and other MCP hosts a set of Jira tools. Built on FastMCP + Express. This is a trimmed-down version of something we actually run internally.

Treat this as your first week on the team: get it running, poke around, find something worth improving, and ship it as a pull request.

We haven't told you what to build. Deciding that is part of the exercise.

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1. Make your own copy

Use the template — don't fork.

1. On the repo page, click Use this template → Create a new repository.
2. Name it whatever you like.
3. Set the visibility to Private.
4. Create the repository.

Then add @laurence-barry and @dave-r-cintra as collaborators: your repo → Settings → Collaborators → Add people.

2. Get a Jira instance

You'll need your own Jira Cloud site — the free tier takes about five minutes and doesn't need a card.

1. Sign up at atlassian.com/software/jira/free.
2. Create a project. A Scrum template gives you a backlog and sprint board, which next_jira_task expects. Note the project key (e.g. PROJ).
3. Generate an API token at id.atlassian.com/manage-profile/security/api-tokens.

Spend a couple of minutes creating issues with a mix of types, statuses and priorities, plus a subtask and an epic link. Several tools walk those relationships and an empty board won't show you much.

3. Run it

Requires Node 22+.

npm install
cp example.env .env        # fill in your Jira values
npm run dev                # http://localhost:3000

JIRA_API_URL=https://your-domain.atlassian.net
JIRA_EMAIL=the-email-you-signed-up-with@example.com
JIRA_API_TOKEN=<token from step 3 above>
JIRA_PROJECT=<your project key, e.g. PROJ>
ALLOW_UNAUTHENTICATED_LOCAL=true

Four tools call Claude for ticket content — add ANTHROPIC_API_KEY from console.anthropic.com if you want those. The others work without it.

Connect an MCP client

Point the client at http://localhost:3000/mcp.

Claude Code:

claude mcp add --transport http taskmaster http://localhost:3000/mcp

Cursor — in .cursor/mcp.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "taskmaster": {
      "url": "http://localhost:3000/mcp"
    }
  }
}

With ALLOW_UNAUTHENTICATED_LOCAL=true, localhost requests use your .env credentials. Try the tools out properly before you write any code — most of what's interesting here only shows up once you've used the thing.

curl -s http://localhost:3000/health

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4. Build something

Pick a feature or improvement you think the project should have, and implement it.

Good choices tend to be things you noticed while using it — a rough edge, a gap in the tool coverage, something that broke when you fed it real data. We're more interested in a small, well-judged, complete change than a large half-finished one.

Work in a branch and open a pull request against main in your own repo. Don't merge it — leave it open for us to review.

Your PR description should cover

• What you built, briefly.
• Why you chose it over the other things you noticed.
• Trade-offs you made, and anything you'd do differently with more time.

This matters as much as the code. A short, clear write-up beats a long one.

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What we're looking for

Judgement	Did you pick something that genuinely improves the project, and can you say why?
Craft	Does the change fit the codebase's existing patterns and conventions?
Communication	Does the PR explain itself to someone who wasn't there?
Tool use	How well do you work with AI — steering it, checking it, rejecting it?

We won't be scoring you on the size of the diff.

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