Redmine MCP Server

A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server for Redmine integration, enabling Claude Code to directly interact with Redmine project management systems.

🚀 Features

✅ Issue Management

• Query Issues: Get detailed issue information and lists
• Create Issues: Create new issues and set related attributes
• Update Issues: Modify issue content, status, priority, etc.
• Assign Issues: Assign or unassign issues to specific users
• Add Notes: Add public or private notes to issues
• Close Issues: Automatically set issues to completed status

✅ Project Management

• Project Lists: Get accessible project lists
• Project Issues: Filter by status and list all issues in projects

✅ Search Features

• Keyword Search: Search for keywords in issue titles and descriptions
• My Issues: Quick view of issues assigned to current user

✅ System Tools

• Health Check: Verify MCP server and Redmine connection status
• Status Query: Get available issue status lists

📋 System Requirements

• Python: 3.12 or higher
• Redmine: Version with REST API support (recommended 4.0+)
• Package Manager: uv or pip

🔧 Installation & Setup

1. Clone the Project

git clone https://github.com/snowild/redmine-mcp.git
cd redmine-mcp

2. Install Dependencies

Using uv (recommended):

uv sync

Or using pip:

pip install -e .

3. Environment Configuration

Create a .env file:

cp .env.example .env

Edit the .env file and set the following environment variables:

REDMINE_DOMAIN=https://your-redmine-domain.com
REDMINE_API_KEY=your_api_key_here

# Project-specific variables (avoid conflicts with other projects)
REDMINE_MCP_LOG_LEVEL=INFO
REDMINE_MCP_TIMEOUT=30

# Backward compatibility variables (fallback)
REDMINE_TIMEOUT=30
LOG_LEVEL=info

Environment Variables Reference

Variable	Description	Default	Example
REDMINE_DOMAIN	Redmine server URL	Required	https://redmine.example.com
REDMINE_API_KEY	Your Redmine API key	Required	abc123...
REDMINE_MCP_LOG_LEVEL	Log level for this MCP server	INFO	DEBUG, INFO, WARNING, ERROR
REDMINE_MCP_TIMEOUT	Request timeout (seconds)	30	60
REDMINE_MCP_TRANSPORT	Transport mode	stdio	stdio, sse
REDMINE_MCP_HOST	SSE bind address	0.0.0.0	127.0.0.1
REDMINE_MCP_PORT	SSE listen port	8000	3000
LOG_LEVEL	Legacy log level (backward compatibility)	-	debug, info
REDMINE_TIMEOUT	Legacy timeout (backward compatibility)	-	30

Log Level Priority:

1. REDMINE_MCP_LOG_LEVEL (highest priority - project-specific)
2. LOG_LEVEL (backward compatibility)
3. INFO (default if neither is set)

Note: The system automatically handles case conversion and ensures FastMCP compatibility.

4. Redmine API Setup

4.1 Enable REST API

1. Log in to Redmine as administrator
2. Go to Administration → Settings → API
3. Check "Enable REST web service"
4. Click Save

4.2 Configure Redmine Basic Data (Administrator)

Before using MCP tools, you need to configure Redmine's basic data:

Configure Roles and Permissions

1. Go to Administration → Roles and permissions
2. Create or edit roles (e.g.: Developer, Tester, Project Manager)
3. Assign appropriate permissions to roles (recommend at least: View issues, Add issues, Edit issues)

Configure Trackers

1. Go to Administration → Trackers
2. Create tracker types (e.g.: Bug, Feature, Support)
3. Set default status and workflow for each tracker

Configure Issue Statuses

1. Go to Administration → Issue statuses
2. Create statuses (e.g.: New, In Progress, Resolved, Closed, Rejected)
3. Set status attributes (whether it's a closed status, etc.)

Configure Workflow

1. Go to Administration → Workflow
2. Set allowed status transitions for each role and tracker combination
3. Ensure basic status transition paths (New → In Progress → Resolved → Closed)

Create Projects

1. Go to Projects → New project
2. Set project name, identifier, description
3. Select enabled modules (at least enable "Issue tracking")
4. Assign members and set roles

4.3 Get API Key

1. Log in to your Redmine system (can be administrator or regular user)
2. Go to My account → API access key
3. Click Show or Reset to get the API key
4. Copy the key to REDMINE_API_KEY in the .env file

⚠️ Important Notes:

• If you can't find the API key option, please ensure step 4.1 (Enable REST API) is completed
• Complete basic setup before you can properly create and manage issues

📚 Detailed Setup Guide: For complete Redmine setup steps, please refer to Redmine Complete Setup Guide

🔗 Claude Code Integration

Install to Claude Code

# Install from local
uv tool install .

# Or using pip
pip install .

# Add to Claude Code MCP configuration
claude mcp add redmine "redmine-mcp" \
  -e REDMINE_DOMAIN="https://your-redmine-domain.com" \
  -e REDMINE_API_KEY="your_api_key_here"

Verify Installation

# Test MCP server
uv run python -m redmine_mcp.server

# Test Claude Code integration
uv run python tests/scripts/claude_integration.py

🌐 SSE Mode & Docker Deployment

Transport Modes

Redmine MCP supports two transport modes:

Mode	Use Case	Multi-Client	Deployment
stdio (default)	Local CLI usage with Claude Code	❌ Single	Auto-started by Claude Code
sse	Team sharing, remote access, containerized	✅ Multiple	Manual start required

Running in SSE Mode

Quick Start (Development)

# Navigate to project directory (where .env file is located)
cd /path/to/redmine-mcp

# Run with uv (reads .env automatically)
uv run redmine-mcp --transport sse

# Custom host and port
uv run redmine-mcp --transport sse --host 127.0.0.1 --port 3000

Global Installation

# Install globally
uv tool install . --force --reinstall

# Set environment variables
export REDMINE_DOMAIN=https://your-redmine.com
export REDMINE_API_KEY=your_api_key_here

# Run from anywhere
redmine-mcp --transport sse

Using .env File

Create a .env file in your working directory:

REDMINE_DOMAIN=https://your-redmine.com
REDMINE_API_KEY=your_api_key_here
REDMINE_MCP_TRANSPORT=sse
REDMINE_MCP_PORT=8000

Note: uv run automatically loads .env from the project directory. Global installation requires explicit environment variables or running from the directory containing .env.

Docker Deployment

Quick Start with Docker

# Build the image
docker build -t redmine-mcp .

# Run with environment variables
docker run -d \
  -e REDMINE_DOMAIN=https://your-redmine.com \
  -e REDMINE_API_KEY=your_api_key \
  -p 8000:8000 \
  --name redmine-mcp \
  redmine-mcp

Using Docker Compose

# Edit docker-compose.yml with your Redmine settings
# Then start the service
docker compose up -d

# View logs
docker compose logs -f

# Stop the service
docker compose down

Docker Compose with .env file (Recommended)

1. Create .env file:

REDMINE_DOMAIN=https://your-redmine.com
REDMINE_API_KEY=your_api_key_here

1. Update docker-compose.yml to use environment variables:

environment:
  - REDMINE_DOMAIN=${REDMINE_DOMAIN}
  - REDMINE_API_KEY=${REDMINE_API_KEY}

1. Start the service:

docker compose up -d

Enabling File Uploads in Docker

The file-upload tools (attach_files_to_issue and create_new_issue with file_paths) read local files from the MCP server's own filesystem. When the server runs inside a container, host files are invisible unless the host directory is mounted as a volume — otherwise uploads fail with File does not exist or is not a file: ....

Mount the directory holding your upload sources at the same path inside the container (read-only is sufficient), so the absolute paths you pass resolve on both sides:

services:
  redmine-mcp:
    # ...
    volumes:
      - /Users/you/workspace:/Users/you/workspace:ro

Then recreate the container so the volume takes effect:

docker compose up -d --force-recreate

Notes:

• Only files under the mounted directory can be uploaded; paths outside it (e.g. ~/Desktop, ~/Downloads) still fail unless also mounted.
• Pass absolute paths under the mounted directory to the upload tools.
• This is unnecessary in stdio mode, where the server runs on the host and reads local paths natively.

Connecting Claude Code to SSE Server

Once the SSE server is running, configure Claude Code to connect:

# Add MCP with SSE transport
claude mcp add --transport sse redmine http://localhost:8000/sse

Or manually edit ~/.claude.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "redmine": {
      "transport": "sse",
      "url": "http://localhost:8000/sse"
    }
  }
}

Note: Environment variables (REDMINE_DOMAIN, REDMINE_API_KEY) are configured on the SSE server side, not in Claude Code.

Connecting VS Code (GitHub Copilot) to SSE Server

VS Code with GitHub Copilot can also connect to the SSE server. Edit the MCP configuration file:

macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Code/User/mcp.json

Windows: %APPDATA%\Code\User\mcp.json

Linux: ~/.config/Code/User/mcp.json

Add the following configuration:

{
  "servers": {
    "redmine": {
      "type": "sse",
      "url": "http://localhost:8000/sse"
    }
  }
}

Reference: For more details on VS Code MCP configuration, see VS Code MCP Servers Documentation.

🔄 Updating/Reinstalling MCP

If you need to update to the latest version of the MCP server or reinstall it:

Quick Update (Recommended)

# Navigate to project directory
cd /path/to/redmine-mcp

# Pull latest changes (if from git)
git pull origin main

# Force reinstall with uv tool
uv tool install . --force --reinstall

# Restart Claude Code to reload MCP server

Full Reinstallation

If quick update doesn't work, follow these steps:

1. Remove Previous Installation

# Remove from Claude Code
claude mcp remove redmine

# Uninstall the package (if installed with uv tool)
uv tool uninstall redmine-mcp

# Or if installed with pip
pip uninstall redmine-mcp

2. Install Latest Version

# Navigate to project directory
cd /path/to/redmine-mcp

# Pull latest changes (if from git)
git pull origin main

# Install latest version
uv tool install .

# Or using pip
pip install .

3. Re-register with Claude Code

# Use full path to avoid PATH conflicts
claude mcp add redmine "$(which redmine-mcp)" \
  -e REDMINE_DOMAIN="https://your-redmine-domain.com" \
  -e REDMINE_API_KEY="your_api_key_here" \
  -e REDMINE_MCP_LOG_LEVEL="INFO" \
  -e REDMINE_MCP_TIMEOUT="30"

4. Verify Updated Installation

# Check installed version
uv tool list | grep redmine

# Verify MCP registration
claude mcp list

# Or check in Claude Code using slash command
# /mcp

Troubleshooting Update Issues

Problem: Old version still running after update

• This usually happens when PATH has multiple redmine-mcp executables
• Solution: Use full path in Claude Code MCP config

# Find the correct path
ls -la ~/.local/bin/redmine-mcp

# Update MCP config with full path
claude mcp remove redmine
claude mcp add redmine "/Users/YOUR_USERNAME/.local/bin/redmine-mcp" \
  -e REDMINE_DOMAIN="https://your-redmine-domain.com" \
  -e REDMINE_API_KEY="your_api_key_here"

Problem: "Failed to reconnect to redmine" after update

• Restart Claude Code completely (close and reopen)
• Or use /mcp command and select restart for redmine server

Important Notes:

• Always restart Claude Code after updating MCP server
• Use --force --reinstall flags to ensure clean installation
• Check tool count in /mcp to verify update (current: 36 tools)

🛠️ Available MCP Tools (36 tools)

Basic Tools

Tool Name	Description
server_info	Display server information and configuration status
health_check	Check server and Redmine connection health status
refresh_cache	Manually refresh enum values and user cache

Issue Operations

Tool Name	Description
get_issue	Get detailed information of specified issue
create_new_issue	Create a new issue (supports name parameters and file_paths attachments)
update_issue_status	Update issue status
update_issue_content	Update issue content (title, description, etc.)
add_issue_note	Add notes to issues (supports time tracking)
assign_issue	Assign or unassign issues
close_issue	Close issue and set completion rate

Journal Tools

Tool Name	Description
list_issue_journals	List all journals/notes for an issue
get_journal	Get detailed information of a specific journal

Attachment Tools ✨ New

Tool Name	Description
get_attachment_info	Get attachment metadata (without downloading)
get_attachment_image	Download image for AI visual analysis (supports thumbnail)
attach_files_to_issue	Upload local files and attach them to an issue, with optional note

Query Tools

Tool Name	Description
list_project_issues	List issues in projects
get_my_issues	Get list of issues assigned to me
search_issues	Search for issues containing keywords
get_projects	Get list of accessible projects
get_issue_statuses	Get all available issue statuses
get_trackers	Get all available tracker lists
get_priorities	Get all available issue priorities
get_time_entry_activities	Get all available time tracking activities
get_document_categories	Get all available document categories

User Tools

Tool Name	Description
search_users	Search users by name or login
list_users	List all users
get_user	Get detailed information of a specific user

💡 Usage Examples

Using in Claude Code

# Check server status
Please run health check

# Get project list
Show all accessible projects

# View system settings
Get all available issue statuses
Get all available tracker lists
Get all available issue priorities
Get all available time tracking activities
Get all available document categories

# View specific issue
Get detailed information for issue #123

# Create new issue
Create an issue in project ID 1:
- Title: Fix login error
- Description: Users cannot log in to the system properly
- Priority: High

# Search issues
Search for issues containing "login" keyword

# Update issue status
Update issue #123 status to "In Progress" with note "Starting to handle this issue"

🧪 Testing

Run Test Suite

# Run all tests
uv run python -m pytest

# Run MCP integration tests
uv run python tests/scripts/mcp_integration.py

# Run Claude Code integration tests  
uv run python tests/scripts/claude_integration.py

Docker Environment Testing

If you want to test in a local Docker environment:

# Start Redmine test environment
docker-compose up -d

# Quick start complete test environment
./quick_start.sh

📁 Project Structure

redmine-mcp/
├── src/redmine_mcp/          # Main source code
│   ├── __init__.py           # Package initialization
│   ├── server.py             # MCP server main program
│   ├── redmine_client.py     # Redmine API client
│   ├── config.py             # Configuration management
│   └── validators.py         # Data validation
├── tests/                    # Test files
├── docs/                     # Documentation directory
├── Dockerfile                # Docker build configuration
├── docker-compose.yml        # Docker Compose configuration
├── .dockerignore             # Docker build exclusions
├── CHANGELOG.md              # Version history
├── pyproject.toml            # Project configuration
└── README.md                 # Project documentation

🤝 Contributing

1. Fork this project
2. Create a feature branch (git checkout -b feature/amazing-feature)
3. Commit your changes (git commit -m 'Add some amazing feature')
4. Push to the branch (git push origin feature/amazing-feature)
5. Open a Pull Request

📄 License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

📦 Changelog

See CHANGELOG.md for version history and release notes.

🔗 Related Links

• Model Context Protocol
• Claude Code
• Redmine
• FastMCP

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If you have any questions or suggestions, feel free to open an Issue or contact the project maintainers.