itsalfredakku/youtrack-mcp
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The YouTrack MCP Server provides seamless integration with AI agents for efficient project management and issue tracking through YouTrack's REST API.
Enterprise‑grade MCP server for JetBrains YouTrack 2025.2 giving AI assistants (Claude, VSCode MCP extensions, Continue.dev, Cline, Zed, custom connectors) safe, tool-based access to issues, sprints, dependencies (Gantt + critical path), time tracking and knowledge base content. Fully validated against official OpenAPI specification.
Table of Contents
- Quick Start
- Highlights
- What's New
- Environment & Configuration
- MCP Client Integration
- Usage Examples
- Analytics (Gantt & Critical Path)
- Tool Catalog Summary
- Architecture
- Development
- Troubleshooting
- Security & Permissions
- Roadmap
- Contributing
- License
Quick Start
git clone https://github.com/itsalfredakku/youtrack-mcp.git
cd youtrack-mcp
npm install
cp .env.example .env # set YOUTRACK_URL + YOUTRACK_TOKEN
npm run build
npm start # stdio MCP server
Remote (SSE) for hosted usage / ChatGPT custom connector:
npm run start:remote # http://localhost:3001/mcp/sse
Health check:
curl http://localhost:3001/health
Highlights
| Domain | Capabilities |
|---|---|
| Dynamic Configuration | 🆕 Auto-loads custom field values (State, Priority, Type) from YOUR YouTrack instance on startup - no more hardcoded examples! |
| Issues | CRUD, comments, transitions, dependency links, estimation, count queries |
| Issue History | 🆕 Activity tracking, audit trail, change history with filtering |
| Bulk Operations | 🆕 Apply commands to multiple issues, silent execution, auto-completion |
| Search Enhancement | 🆕 Query auto-completion, context-aware suggestions |
| Saved Queries | 🆕 Create, manage, and share saved searches |
| Agile | Sprint create/manage, issue assignment, progress metrics |
| Knowledge Base | Article create/update/search, tagging, linkage |
| Projects | Discovery, metadata, field summaries |
| Analytics | Gantt generation, dependency routing, critical path |
| Time Tracking | Log work, time summaries, reporting hooks |
| Performance | TTL caching, structured logging, graceful fallbacks |
| Reliability | Consistent response envelope & error normalization |
| API Coverage | 🆕 ~80% of YouTrack REST API (12 of 15 domain areas) |
| Code Quality | 🆕 ESLint compliant, TypeScript strict mode, 100% CI passing |
| API Validation | 🆕 Verified against official YouTrack OpenAPI 3.0.1 spec |
🌟 New: Dynamic Configuration
The MCP server now automatically adapts to your YouTrack customization! On startup, it:
- ✅ Fetches your actual State values (e.g., "In Progress", "Code Review")
- ✅ Loads your Priority values (e.g., "Critical", "High", "Medium")
- ✅ Discovers your Issue Types (e.g., "Bug", "Feature", "Epic")
- ✅ Generates accurate query examples that work with YOUR setup
No more errors from AI assistants suggesting "state: Open" when your instance uses "state: In Progress"!
See for details.
What's New
🎉 Production Ready (November 2025)
The YouTrack MCP Server has reached v1.0.0 production status with:
- ✅ 100% ESLint Compliant - All code quality checks passing (Nov 22, 2025)
- ✅ OpenAPI Validated - Verified against official YouTrack 2025.2 spec (Nov 22, 2025)
- ✅ Dynamic Configuration - Auto-loads YOUR field values on startup (Nov 19, 2025)
- ✅ Multi-Project Support - Secure project scoping (Nov 10, 2025)
- ✅ 80% API Coverage - 12 of 15 YouTrack domain areas implemented
Recent Fixes:
- Fixed all 26 ESLint violations across test suites and API clients
- Validated all endpoints against official OpenAPI 3.0.1 specification
- Corrected URL format handling (server now adds
/apiautomatically) - Resolved dynamic config loader field fetching with three-tier strategy
📄 for detailed changelog and migration guide.
Environment & Configuration
Minimal .env:
YOUTRACK_URL=https://your-instance.youtrack.cloud
YOUTRACK_TOKEN=your-permanent-token
PROJECT_ID=PROJECT-1
LOG_LEVEL=info
CACHE_ENABLED=true
CACHE_TTL=300000
ENABLE_WEBHOOKS=false
WEBHOOK_PORT=3000
WEBHOOK_SECRET=
| Variable | Required | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|---|
YOUTRACK_URL | ✅ | Base URL without /api suffix (e.g., https://instance.youtrack.cloud) | — |
YOUTRACK_TOKEN | ✅ | Permanent token (Profile → Tokens) | — |
PROJECT_ID | — | Default project shortName | — |
LOG_LEVEL | — | error/warn/info/debug | info |
CACHE_ENABLED | — | Enable in‑memory cache | true |
CACHE_TTL | — | Cache TTL ms | 300000 |
ENABLE_WEBHOOKS | — | Start webhook listener | false |
WEBHOOK_PORT | — | Webhook port | 3000 |
WEBHOOK_SECRET | — | HMAC secret | — |
MCP Client Integration
Claude Desktop (~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json):
{
"mcpServers": {
"youtrack": {
"command": "node",
"args": ["/abs/path/youtrack-mcp/dist/index.js"],
"env": {
"YOUTRACK_URL": "https://your-instance.youtrack.cloud",
"YOUTRACK_TOKEN": "token",
"PROJECT_ID": "PRJ" // Optional
}
}
}
}
VSCode (.vscode/settings.json):
{
"servers": {
"youtrack": {
"command": "node",
"args": ["./dist/index.js"],
"env": {
"YOUTRACK_URL": "https://your-instance.youtrack.cloud",
"YOUTRACK_TOKEN": "token",
}
}
}
}
Github Coding Agent:
"mcpServers": {
"youtrack": {
"type": "sse",
"url": "https://your-instance.youtrack.cloud/mcp/sse",
"headers": {
"Authorization": "Bearer <your-token>"
},
"tools": [
"issues",
"projects",
"users"
]
}
}
Continue.dev (continue.json):
{
"mcp": {
"servers": [
{
"name": "youtrack",
"command": "node",
"args": ["/abs/youtrack-mcp/dist/index.js"],
"env": {
"YOUTRACK_URL": "https://your-instance.youtrack.cloud",
"YOUTRACK_TOKEN": "token"
}
}
]
}
}
Cline / Generic:
{
"mcpServers": {
"youtrack": {
"command": "node",
"args": ["/abs/youtrack-mcp/dist/index.js"],
"env": {
"YOUTRACK_URL": "https://your-instance.youtrack.cloud",
"YOUTRACK_TOKEN": "token"
}
}
}
}
Zed:
{
"context_servers": {
"youtrack": {
"command": "node",
"args": ["/abs/youtrack-mcp/dist/index.js"],
"env": {
"YOUTRACK_URL": "https://your-instance.youtrack.cloud",
"YOUTRACK_TOKEN": "token"
}
}
}
}
Local test:
YOUTRACK_URL=https://your-instance.youtrack.cloud \
YOUTRACK_TOKEN=token \
node dist/index.js
Pitfalls: absolute path, no trailing slash, full token copy, JSON env values are strings.
Tool Catalog Summary
17 MCP Tools covering 12 domain areas:
| Category | Tools & Key Actions |
|---|---|
| Issues | issues - create, update, comment, search, query, count, state transitions |
| Issue History 🆕 | activities - global/issue activity tracking, audit trail, paginated history |
| Bulk Operations 🆕 | commands - apply commands to multiple issues, get suggestions, silent execution |
| Search 🆕 | search_assist - query auto-completion, context-aware suggestions |
| Saved Searches 🆕 | saved_queries - create, list, update, delete saved queries |
| Agile Boards | agile_boards - list boards/sprints, assign issues, track progress |
| Knowledge Base | knowledge_base - create/update articles, search, manage hierarchy |
| Projects | projects - list, get details, validate access, custom fields |
| Users & Groups | users - list/search users, groups, team management |
| Time Tracking | time_tracking - log work, get entries, reports |
| Analytics | analytics - Gantt charts, critical path, resource allocation |
| Custom Fields | custom_fields - manage fields, bundles, project fields |
| Comments | comments - add, update, delete issue comments |
| Subscriptions | subscriptions - manage notification preferences |
| Auth | auth - OAuth2 status, login, token validation |
See for complete documentation.
Architecture
Clients (Claude / VSCode / Continue / Zed)
│ MCP (stdio or SSE)
┌────────▼────────┐
│ Orchestrator │ registry, routing, validation
└────────┬────────┘
│ domain calls
┌────────▼────────┐
│ Domain Clients │ issues / projects / agile / kb / analytics / time
└────────┬────────┘
│ REST
┌────────▼────────┐
│ YouTrack API │
└─────────────────┘
Traits: strong typing, graceful degradation, normalized errors, pluggable caching/logging.
Development
npm install
npm run dev # watch
npm run lint # eslint
npm run type-check # types
npm test # tests
npm run build # dist output
Structure: src/index.ts (entry), src/api/domains (domain clients), src/tools.ts (tool registry), src/utils, src/logger.ts.
Troubleshooting
Quick Fixes
| Symptom | Cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| 401 Unauthorized | Missing scope / expired token | Regenerate token with required permissions |
404 Not Found (double /api/api) | URL has /api suffix | Remove /api from YOUTRACK_URL |
| Project not found | Hidden / archived / wrong ID | Use internal ID or verify access |
| Empty analytics | No issues in project | Seed baseline issues |
| SSE disconnects | Proxy idle timeout | Enable keep-alive / tune LB |
| AI wrong field values | Dynamic config failed | Check token permissions, restart server |
| Empty search results | PROJECT_ID too restrictive | Remove or update PROJECT_ID |
Configuration Checklist:
- ✅ Absolute path in MCP client config
- ✅ No trailing slash on
YOUTRACK_URL - ✅ No
/apisuffix onYOUTRACK_URL(server adds automatically) - ✅ Full token with
perm:prefix - ✅ JSON env values are strings
- ✅ Token has required permissions
Debug Mode: Use LOG_LEVEL=debug for detailed inspection.
📖 - Comprehensive solutions for all common issues.
Security & Permissions
Recommended token capabilities: Issues (R/W), Projects (Read), Knowledge Base (R/W), Agile/Sprints (R/W), Time Tracking (if applicable). Store tokens as environment secrets; never commit.
Contributing
- Fork & branch (
feature/x) - Implement + tests
npm run lint && npm run type-check- Open PR with rationale
License
MIT © 2025
Acknowledgements
JetBrains YouTrack • MCP community • TypeScript ecosystem
Feedback / ideas? Open an issue or discussion.