Connecting Claude & AI to Coco Kanban

Coco Kanban can connect directly to Claude (and other AI tools that support the Model Context Protocol) so you can manage your work by just asking. Type "create a bug in the Payments project about the login timeout" and the work item appears — assigned to you, in the right project.

This guide covers the three ways to connect, from easiest to most technical.

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What you can do once connected

Claude gets a set of tools for your workspace. In plain language you can:

• Create work items — "add a task to the Website project called fix the footer links"
• Find things — "what projects do I have?", "show me my open work items in the Mobile App project"
• Update work — "mark work item 42 as done", "assign this to Priya", "add a comment saying the fix is deployed"
• Track progress — "what's in the current cycle?", "list the states in this project"

Everything Claude does is attributed to you — it uses your personal key, so it's exactly as if you did it yourself, and it can only touch workspaces you're already a member of.

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Before you start: get your key

Every connection method needs a key.

1. In Coco Kanban, open your workspace and go to Settings → Connect to Claude.
2. Click Generate key.
3. Copy it immediately — it's shown only once. It looks like <your-api-key>.

You'll also need your connection URL, which the same page shows you. It is your Coco Kanban address, /mcp/, and your workspace name, for example:

https://kanban.yourcompany.com/mcp/your-team

Keep your key private — anyone with it can act as you. If it leaks, generate a new one and delete the old one from Settings → API tokens.

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Method 1 — Claude Code (works today, best for developers)

Claude Code runs on your own computer, so this is the most reliable method.

Run this as a single line in your terminal (replace the URL and key):

claude mcp add --transport http coco-kanban https://kanban.yourcompany.com/mcp/your-team --header "Authorization: Bearer <your-api-key>"

Notes:

• Replace the whole <your-api-key> with your key — it already starts with coco_api_.
• Keep the word Bearer and the space after it. The value is sent exactly as typed.
• On Windows PowerShell, keep it on one line (no \ line breaks).

Check it worked: start claude, type /mcp, and look for coco-kanban as connected. Then ask: "what projects do I have in coco kanban?"

To remove it: claude mcp remove coco-kanban

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Method 2 — The Coco Kanban plugin (easiest, no commands to memorise)

If your company has published the Coco Kanban plugin, you can install it by name and answer a short form instead of typing a command.

In Claude Code:

/plugin marketplace add yourcompany/coco-kanban-plugin
/plugin install coco-kanban@cocolevio

Claude then asks you for three things:

That's it. Your key is stored securely in your operating system's keychain, not in a plain file.

Ask your administrator for the exact marketplace address (yourcompany/coco-kanban-plugin) — it's specific to your company.

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Method 3 — Claude on the web or desktop (custom connector)

Claude's web app and desktop app connect over the internet, so this needs your Coco Kanban instance to be reachable at a public https:// address (a normal deployed instance is; a laptop test instance is not).

1. In Claude, go to Settings → Connectors → Add custom connector.
2. Name: Coco Kanban
3. URL: https://kanban.yourcompany.com/mcp/your-team
4. Open the Request headers section. Choose Authorization and enter: Bearer <your-api-key> (the word Bearer, a space, then your key).
5. Click Add, then enable it in a chat with the + button.

If you don't see a "Request headers" section, your Claude account doesn't have that feature yet — it's being rolled out gradually by Anthropic. Until then, use Method 1 (Claude Code) instead, which needs no special access. Do not try to fill in "OAuth Client ID / Secret" — Coco Kanban doesn't use those, and it will fail with a "couldn't register with the sign-in service" error. See Troubleshooting.

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Frequently asked

Is my data sent to Anthropic to train Claude? Claude reads and writes your work items to carry out your requests. Review Anthropic's data policies for how they handle content. Your Coco Kanban server itself stays on your company's infrastructure.

Can my whole team use this? Yes — each person generates their own key and connects with it, so actions are correctly attributed per person. Don't share one key across people.

What if I use Cursor / VS Code / another AI tool? The connection is a standard MCP server, so any MCP-capable tool works. Use the same URL and key; consult that tool's docs for where to paste them.

How do I revoke access? Delete the key under Settings → API tokens. The connection stops working immediately.

Which method should I use? Developers on a terminal: Method 1. Everyone else, if the plugin is published: Method 2. Web/desktop users whose account has the headers feature: Method 3.