claude-task-master

Taskmaster: A task management system for AI-driven development, designed to work seamlessly with any AI chat.

| Docs

By @eyaltoledano & @RalphEcom

A task management system for AI-driven development with Claude, designed to work seamlessly with Cursor AI.

Documentation

📚 View Full Documentation

Quick Links

• Quick Start Guide

• Installation

• API Keys & Providers

• Supported Editors

• MCP Tools Reference

• CLI Commands Reference

• Task Structure

• Task Dependencies

• Tags & Workstreams

• Research Command

• Loop Command

• AI Providers Overview

• Team Collaboration

• Best Practices

• FAQ

• Changelog

More from Hamster

• Hamster Studio

• Product & Engineering Methods

• Product & Engineering Skills

• Hamster Pricing

Quick Install for Cursor 1.0+ (One-Click)

Note: After clicking the link, you'll still need to add your API keys to the configuration. The link installs the MCP server with placeholder keys that you'll need to replace with your actual API keys.

Claude Code Quick Install

For Claude Code users:

claude mcp add taskmaster-ai -- npx -y task-master-ai

Don't forget to add your API keys to the configuration:

• in the root .env of your Project

• in the "env" section of your mcp config for taskmaster-ai

Requirements

Taskmaster utilizes AI across several commands, and those require a separate API key. You can use a variety of models from different AI providers provided you add your API keys. For example, if you want to use Claude 3.7, you'll need an Anthropic API key.

You can define 3 types of models to be used: the main model, the research model, and the fallback model (in case either the main or research fail). Whatever model you use, its provider API key must be present in either mcp.json or .env.

At least one (1) of the following is required:

• Anthropic API key (Claude API)

• OpenAI API key

• Google Gemini API key

• Perplexity API key (for research model)

• xAI API Key (for research or main model)

• OpenRouter API Key (for research or main model)

• Claude Code (no API key required - requires Claude Code CLI)

• Codex CLI (OAuth via ChatGPT subscription - requires Codex CLI)

Using the research model is optional but highly recommended. You will need at least ONE API key (unless using Claude Code or Codex CLI with OAuth). Adding all API keys enables you to seamlessly switch between model providers at will.

Quick Start

Option 1: MCP (Recommended)

MCP (Model Control Protocol) lets you run Task Master directly from your editor.

1. Add your MCP config at the following path depending on your editor

Manual Configuration

Cursor & Windsurf & Q Developer CLI (mcpServers)

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "task-master-ai": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "task-master-ai"],
      "env": {
        // "TASK_MASTER_TOOLS": "all", // Options: "all", "standard", "core", or comma-separated list of tools
        "ANTHROPIC_API_KEY": "YOUR_ANTHROPIC_API_KEY_HERE",
        "PERPLEXITY_API_KEY": "YOUR_PERPLEXITY_API_KEY_HERE",
        "OPENAI_API_KEY": "YOUR_OPENAI_KEY_HERE",
        "GOOGLE_API_KEY": "YOUR_GOOGLE_KEY_HERE",
        "MISTRAL_API_KEY": "YOUR_MISTRAL_KEY_HERE",
        "GROQ_API_KEY": "YOUR_GROQ_KEY_HERE",
        "OPENROUTER_API_KEY": "YOUR_OPENROUTER_KEY_HERE",
        "XAI_API_KEY": "YOUR_XAI_KEY_HERE",
        "AZURE_OPENAI_API_KEY": "YOUR_AZURE_KEY_HERE",
        "OLLAMA_API_KEY": "YOUR_OLLAMA_API_KEY_HERE"
      }
    }
  }
}

🔑 Replace YOUR_…_KEY_HERE with your real API keys. You can remove keys you don't use.

Note: If you see 0 tools enabled in the MCP settings, restart your editor and check that your API keys are correctly configured.

VS Code (servers + type)

{
  "servers": {
    "task-master-ai": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "task-master-ai"],
      "env": {
        // "TASK_MASTER_TOOLS": "all", // Options: "all", "standard", "core", or comma-separated list of tools
        "ANTHROPIC_API_KEY": "YOUR_ANTHROPIC_API_KEY_HERE",
        "PERPLEXITY_API_KEY": "YOUR_PERPLEXITY_API_KEY_HERE",
        "OPENAI_API_KEY": "YOUR_OPENAI_KEY_HERE",
        "GOOGLE_API_KEY": "YOUR_GOOGLE_KEY_HERE",
        "MISTRAL_API_KEY": "YOUR_MISTRAL_KEY_HERE",
        "GROQ_API_KEY": "YOUR_GROQ_KEY_HERE",
        "OPENROUTER_API_KEY": "YOUR_OPENROUTER_KEY_HERE",
        "XAI_API_KEY": "YOUR_XAI_KEY_HERE",
        "AZURE_OPENAI_API_KEY": "YOUR_AZURE_KEY_HERE",
        "OLLAMA_API_KEY": "YOUR_OLLAMA_API_KEY_HERE"
      },
      "type": "stdio"
    }
  }
}

🔑 Replace YOUR_…_KEY_HERE with your real API keys. You can remove keys you don't use.

2. (Cursor-only) Enable Taskmaster MCP

Open Cursor Settings (Ctrl+Shift+J) ➡ Click on MCP tab on the left ➡ Enable task-master-ai with the toggle