⚡ Claude MCP-native

Your project tracker lives where your developers do.

IDEA Base connects to Claude Code, Cursor, and Windsurf over MCP. Your developers' AI reads and writes projects, tasks, time, and the audit trail as a side effect of the work — so the data stays true, and nobody has to update a PM tool.

Start Free See the setup

One loop. No tool-switching.

The same workflow your developers already have — IDEA Base just rides along.

They code in Claude

Describe the work, fix the bug, open the PR. Claude Code, Cursor, or Windsurf — no change to how they work.

Claude writes to IDEA Base

Through MCP it flips task status, logs time, files follow-ups, and records the audit trail — automatically.

Leaders see the truth

Live status, real time data, and a full history — with no one nagged for an update or a timesheet.

Two steps: connect it, then tell it what to do

One command adds the MCP server. A few lines in your project's memory put task & time tracking on autopilot — the directive is what makes it automatic. Skip step 2 and you've only wired up the tools, not the habit.

$ claude mcp add idea-base -- npx -y @idea-base/mcp-server \ --env IDEA_BASE_API_KEY=ib_your_api_key_here ✓ Added stdio MCP server "idea-base" to your config.

1 Add the MCP server

One command connects IDEA Base to your editor, authenticated with a scoped ib_ API key. No plugins, no dashboard config.

Claude CodeCursorWindsurfAny MCP client

CLAUDE.md — read every session; routes work to the right project

## IDEA Base — keep this updated as you work
Product: Acme Platform (id 12)   ·   this repo → Billing API (id 88)

# As you work, via the idea-base MCP:
- Create & maintain tasks; flip status as you go.
- Log time from real work; leave a work note when you stop.
- Capture decisions as task comments — keep the audit trail on the task.

2 Tell Claude what to do

This is the part that makes it automatic. A short directive in your CLAUDE.md / project memory and Claude tracks the work every session — no one has to ask.

Routes to the right project — the product & project IDs live in memory.
Tracks as it works — creates & updates tasks, logs time, leaves notes.
It's the habit, not just the wiring — skip it and the tools sit idle.

> Finished the OAuth refresh fix — opened PR #214.
⏺ idea-base - start_working (MCP)(task_id: 318)
  ⎿ Started working on task #318. Other team members can now see it's active.
⏺ idea-base - update_task_status (MCP)(task_id: 318, status: "done")
  ⎿ Task 318 status updated to "done". Broadcast to all connected users.
⏺ idea-base - log_time (MCP)(task_id: 318, minutes: 45)
  ⎿ Logged 45 minutes to task 318.
⏺ idea-base - create_task (MCP)(project_id: 27, title: "Add token-rotation tests")
  ⎿ Created task #322 — status: todo.

Tasks & time, hands-free

Status without standups — tasks move to done the moment the work lands.
Time without timesheets — minutes logged straight from the work; AI even suggests entries when a PR merges.
Nothing slips — follow-ups become tracked tasks the instant they come up.
Find anything — search_tasks across every project from the terminal.

Leave an audit trail from the conversation NEW

Every decision you talk through with Claude can be captured right on the task — a customer-visible comment or an internal work note — building a durable record the team and the client can read later.

Comments — discussion thread, customer-visible by default, attributed to you or the AI.
Work notes — append-only progress journal, internal by default. Never overwritten.
Resume context — pin where you left off so the next session re-orients instantly.

> Log the trade-off we just decided and where I left off.
⏺ idea-base - add_comment (MCP)(task_id: 318, author_kind: "human")
  ⎿ Comment added to task #318 (as human). Comment id: 1306.
⏺ idea-base - add_work_note (MCP)(task_id: 318)
  ⎿ Work note added to task #318 (as AI Agent). Note id: 1307.
⏺ idea-base - set_resume_context (MCP)(task_id: 318)
  ⎿ Resume context updated. The next session reads this first.
# the whole decision trail lives on the task — not in a lost chat log.

The full toolbelt

Every MCP tool maps to a real action in IDEA Base — read and write, no export step.

Products & Projects

Mirror your real portfolio: products own projects, projects own tasks.

create_productcreate_projectlink_project_to_productupdate_project

Tasks

Create, move, search, and one-shot-log work without leaving the editor.

create_taskupdate_task_statussearch_tasksquick_log

Time

Track effort without a timesheet. AI suggests entries when PRs merge.

log_timestart_workingstop_working

Audit Trail NEW

Conversations leave a durable, customer-visible or internal record on the task.

add_commentadd_work_note

Resume Context

Pin the current state so the next cold session picks up exactly where you stopped.

set_resume_contextget_task

GitHub & Verify

PRs and commits link to tasks, regressions get flagged, and AI verifies "done" against acceptance criteria.

PR ↔ taskregression alertsAI verify

For the people who never touch the terminal

The whole point of the frictionless loop: the data is clean because no one had to remember to enter it.

Status you can trust

Always current — without calling a standup.

Time you can bill from

Logged from real work, not reconstructed Friday afternoon.

A trail per task

Comments and notes the team and client can read later.

"Done" that's provable

AI-verified against the acceptance criteria.

Put your PM tool in the terminal.

Free to start. Three lines to connect. Your developers keep coding — IDEA Base keeps itself current.

Start Free Read the Docs