2026-10-16

Using Claude as a task manager: connect it to your task list over MCP

People searching for a "Claude task manager" usually want one of two things: a place to keep tasks that Claude can work with, or a way to make Claude itself the interface for the tasks they already have. Both come down to the same step. Claude needs to be connected to a task list, because the conversation alone is not a list that persists. This page explains how that connection works, using the Claude and MCP documentation, and then what it looks like with GetItDone.

How Claude gets access to a task list

The Model Context Protocol (MCP) is described on its own site as an open-source standard for connecting AI applications to external systems. It names Claude and ChatGPT as AI applications that can use it to connect to data sources, tools and workflows. A task manager that runs an MCP server is therefore something Claude can be pointed at.

In Claude, a remote MCP server is added as a custom connector. According to the Claude help article on custom connectors, they are available on Claude, Cowork and Claude Desktop for users on the Free, Pro, Max, Team and Enterprise plans, and Free users are limited to one custom connector. On Pro and Max you open Customize, then Connectors, choose Add, then Add custom connector, and enter a name and the remote MCP server URL. On Team and Enterprise plans an Owner or Primary Owner adds the connector in Organization settings, and members then connect it from their own Connectors page.

What stays under your control

The same help article says Claude can only access resources that you have given the server permission to access, and advises reviewing the permissions a server asks for during sign-in and denying any that look unnecessary. You can enable connectors for individual conversations from the plus button, and you can disable individual tools that are not relevant. For tool approval it advises clicking "Allow always" only for a server and tool you trust to run unsupervised. It also notes that during Research, Claude can invoke connector tools automatically without further approval, so tools that perform write actions should be disabled there.

That last point matters for a task list in particular, because creating and updating tasks are write actions. Decide whether you want an assistant that can only look at your tasks or one that can change them.

What Claude can do with GetItDone connected

GetItDone runs a remote MCP server at https://app.nowgetitdone.com/api/mcp. Once Claude is connected and you have approved access, these are the things it can do, each backed by a registered tool:

Find the work. list_workspaces shows the workspaces the connection can use, list_projects shows the projects in one, and list_members shows who is in it. list_tasks returns tasks filtered by status, priority, project or assignee, including whether each is blocked and how many tasks it blocks, so a question like "what can I start today?" can be answered from the real list. search_docs searches the GetItDone developer documentation.

Read a task properly. get_task_details returns the full content of one task: its rich-text notes, its attachments with short-lived URLs the assistant can fetch to read the content, and the tasks that block it or that it blocks. get_task_video_context extracts a few evenly spaced frames from an uploaded screen recording and surfaces any YouTube or Vimeo links in the notes.

Change the list. create_task adds a task, optionally under a project, with a start date, an assignee or a repeat schedule. update_task changes the name, status, priority, dates, notes, story points, project, assignee or repeat schedule of an existing task. archive_task archives or unarchives it, and link_task_dependency records that one task is blocked by another, or removes that link.

Tick off a repeating task day by day. complete_task_occurrence marks one day of a repeating task done without touching the other days, and the day can be in the past.

Organise projects. create_project, update_project and archive_project create a project, rename it or change its description, and archive or unarchive it.

Read-only or read and write

Each tool needs a scope on the connection, and read and write scopes are separate: for example tasks:read is required to list and read tasks, while tasks:write is required to create or change them, and project changes need their own write scope. The sign-in consent screen lists exactly what the assistant is asking for, and you choose which workspaces it may use. You can disconnect it at any time from Connected Apps in your GetItDone profile, and access is checked on every request, so revoking takes effect at once.

What this is not

Claude is the interface; the task list lives in GetItDone. Nothing in this setup makes Claude remember your tasks between conversations by itself, and it only sees what the connection and your approvals allow. This page also does not compare Claude with other assistants. The connection is a standard MCP one, and the GetItDone guide lists setup for other MCP clients too.

Sources

Pages read on 2026-10-16.