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.

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Table of Contents

1. Quick Start
2. Highlights
3. What's New
4. Environment & Configuration
5. MCP Client Integration
6. Usage Examples
7. Analytics (Gantt & Critical Path)
8. Tool Catalog Summary
9. Architecture
10. Development
11. Troubleshooting
12. Security & Permissions
13. Roadmap
14. Contributing
15. License

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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

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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

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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	—

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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.

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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 Tool Reference for complete documentation.

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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.

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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.

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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 /api suffix on YOUTRACK_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.

📖 Complete Troubleshooting Guide - Comprehensive solutions for all common issues.

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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.

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Contributing

1. Fork & branch (feature/x)
2. Implement + tests
3. npm run lint && npm run type-check
4. Open PR with rationale

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License

MIT © 2025

Acknowledgements

JetBrains YouTrack • MCP community • TypeScript ecosystem

Feedback / ideas? Open an issue or discussion.