Can an AI agent use a kanban board without an account?

With KanbanThing, yes. The MCP server at https://www.kanbanthing.com/mcp needs no account, no OAuth and no API key: an agent creates a board and gets back its id, share URL and password in a single call. Most task boards cannot be used this way, because they require a human to register, authorise an app and issue a token before anything can be written.

What is the KanbanThing MCP server?

A hosted Model Context Protocol server that exposes eight tools for driving a board: create_board, get_board, list_columns, list_cards, create_card, move_card, update_card and delete_card. It speaks Streamable HTTP at https://www.kanbanthing.com/mcp and works with any MCP client, including Claude Code, Claude web and desktop, ChatGPT, Cursor and VS Code.

How do I install the KanbanThing agent skill?

Download https://www.kanbanthing.com/skill.md into your harness's skill directory. For Claude Code that is ~/.claude/skills/kanbanthing/SKILL.md for every project, or .claude/skills/kanbanthing/SKILL.md for one. It is a plain markdown file with YAML frontmatter, so it also works as a Cursor rule or as a section of an AGENTS.md.

Do I need the skill if I have already added the MCP server?

No, the tools work on their own. The skill adds judgement the tool descriptions cannot: when to reach for a board at all, that board ids must come from you rather than be guessed, to surface a generated password immediately because it cannot be read back, and to move cards to Done rather than deleting them.

Is the board my agent creates the same board I see in a browser?

Yes. There is one board behind both. The agent gets a share URL back when it creates the board; open that URL, enter the password, and you are looking at the same cards the agent is moving. Reload to pick up changes, as the board does not push other people's edits onto your screen.

Can an agent see boards I did not tell it about?

No. There is deliberately no tool to list or search boards, and every tool requires a board id the user supplied along with that board's password. An agent that has not been given a board link cannot reach any board.

A kanban board for AI agents

KanbanThing has a hosted MCP server, so Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor or any other MCP client can create a board and move cards on it. No account, no OAuth, no API key. Open the share link in a browser and you are looking at the same board.

kanbanthing · mcp

Why agents cannot use most task boards

An agent cannot sign up for anything. Trello, Jira, Linear and Notion all want an account, an OAuth grant and an access token first — three things only a person can do.

A KanbanThing board has no account behind it. Access is two strings, the board's id and its password, and create_board hands the agent both. Nothing to register, no key to rotate.

Connect the MCP server

The server speaks Streamable HTTP at https://www.kanbanthing.com/mcp. Pick your client:

claude mcp add --transport http kanbanthing https://www.kanbanthing.com/mcp

Add --scope user to make it available in every project instead of only this one.

Install the skill

The tools work without it. The skill adds the judgement a tool schema cannot: never guess a board id, surface a generated password immediately because it cannot be read back, move finished cards to Done rather than deleting them. One markdown file, served at kanbanthing.com/skill.md.

Claude Code

mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills/kanbanthing
curl -o ~/.claude/skills/kanbanthing/SKILL.md https://www.kanbanthing.com/skill.md

Drop the ~ to install it into the current project instead, and commit it.

Cursor

mkdir -p .cursor/rules
curl -o .cursor/rules/kanbanthing.mdc https://www.kanbanthing.com/skill.md

Anything else

Append it to whatever your harness already reads — AGENTS.md, a system prompt, a custom GPT's instructions. The frontmatter is inert if nothing parses it.

curl -s https://www.kanbanthing.com/skill.md >> AGENTS.md

Tools

Every tool takes a board_id — a board UUID or a full board URL — and the board's password. Columns can be named or given by id, so "In Progress" works as well as a UUID.

Tool	Meaning
create_board	Create a board and return its id, share URL and password. Takes a name, and optionally a password, columns and lifespan_days.
get_board	The board's name, expiry, columns and the card count in each.
list_columns	The columns on a board, left to right, with their ids.
list_cards	The cards on a board, or only those in one column. Returns the ids the write tools need.
create_card	Add a card. Takes a title, and optionally a column, description, due_date and colour. Lands in Backlog with no column.
move_card	Move a card to another column, at the end of it.
update_card	Change a card's title, description, due date or colour. Pass null to clear a field.
delete_card	Permanently delete a card. This cannot be undone.

There is deliberately no tool to list or search boards. An agent you have not given a board link to cannot reach any board.

Ask your agent for a board

Once the server is connected, this is the whole interface. Paste the board link and password in when the board already exists.

Make me a board: “Create a KanbanThing board called Q3 Migration with columns Spec, Building, Review and Done, then give me the link and password.”
Plan onto a board: “Read the issues in this repo, then put one card on my KanbanThing board for each thing that has to happen before we can ship.”
Keep it current: “Here is my board link and password. Before you start work, move the card you are picking up into In Progress, and move it to Done when the tests pass.”
Catch up: “List everything on my board that is still in In Progress and tell me which cards have not moved since last week.”

Boards, passwords and expiry

A board an agent creates is identical to one made in the browser, expiry included — 60 days by default and also the maximum, and it cannot be moved afterwards.
A generated password is returned exactly once and cannot be read back. Save it when it appears; lose it and the board is gone.
Treat a board as public to everyone holding its link. Keys and customer data do not belong on one, and that goes double when an agent is writing the cards.

Or use the CLI

If your agent is happier shelling out than speaking MCP, the kanbanthing CLI does the same job. Every command takes --json.

npm i -g kanbanthing
kanban ls --json

Questions

Can an AI agent use a kanban board without an account?: With KanbanThing, yes. The MCP server at https://www.kanbanthing.com/mcp needs no account, no OAuth and no API key: an agent creates a board and gets back its id, share URL and password in a single call. Most task boards cannot be used this way, because they require a human to register, authorise an app and issue a token before anything can be written.
What is the KanbanThing MCP server?: A hosted Model Context Protocol server that exposes eight tools for driving a board: create_board, get_board, list_columns, list_cards, create_card, move_card, update_card and delete_card. It speaks Streamable HTTP at https://www.kanbanthing.com/mcp and works with any MCP client, including Claude Code, Claude web and desktop, ChatGPT, Cursor and VS Code.
How do I install the KanbanThing agent skill?: Download https://www.kanbanthing.com/skill.md into your harness's skill directory. For Claude Code that is ~/.claude/skills/kanbanthing/SKILL.md for every project, or .claude/skills/kanbanthing/SKILL.md for one. It is a plain markdown file with YAML frontmatter, so it also works as a Cursor rule or as a section of an AGENTS.md.
Do I need the skill if I have already added the MCP server?: No, the tools work on their own. The skill adds judgement the tool descriptions cannot: when to reach for a board at all, that board ids must come from you rather than be guessed, to surface a generated password immediately because it cannot be read back, and to move cards to Done rather than deleting them.
Is the board my agent creates the same board I see in a browser?: Yes. There is one board behind both. The agent gets a share URL back when it creates the board; open that URL, enter the password, and you are looking at the same cards the agent is moving. Reload to pick up changes, as the board does not push other people's edits onto your screen.
Can an agent see boards I did not tell it about?: No. There is deliberately no tool to list or search boards, and every tool requires a board id the user supplied along with that board's password. An agent that has not been given a board link cannot reach any board.

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