How to integrate Kanbanize MCP with Claude Agent SDK

This guide walks you through connecting Kanbanize to the Claude Agent SDK using the Composio tool router. By the end, you'll have a working Kanbanize agent that can move all 'in progress' cards to 'done', create a kanban card for new feature request, list all overdue tasks in your boards through natural language commands. This guide will help you understand how to give your Claude Agent SDK agent real control over a Kanbanize account through Composio's Kanbanize MCP server. Before we dive in, let's take a quick look at the key ideas and tools involved.

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Kanbanize is a project management tool for Lean and Kanban workflows. Streamline product and engineering team collaboration with visual boards and analytics.

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Introduction

This guide walks you through connecting Kanbanize to the Claude Agent SDK using the Composio tool router. By the end, you'll have a working Kanbanize agent that can move all 'in progress' cards to 'done', create a kanban card for new feature request, list all overdue tasks in your boards through natural language commands.

This guide will help you understand how to give your Claude Agent SDK agent real control over a Kanbanize account through Composio's Kanbanize MCP server.

Before we dive in, let's take a quick look at the key ideas and tools involved.

Also integrate Kanbanize with

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TL;DR

Here's what you'll learn:
  • Get and set up your Claude/Anthropic and Composio API keys
  • Install the necessary dependencies
  • Initialize Composio and create a Tool Router session for Kanbanize
  • Configure an AI agent that can use Kanbanize as a tool
  • Run a live chat session where you can ask the agent to perform Kanbanize operations

What is Claude Agent SDK?

The Claude Agent SDK is Anthropic's official framework for building AI agents powered by Claude. It provides a streamlined interface for creating agents with MCP tool support and conversation management.

Key features include:

  • Native MCP Support: Built-in support for Model Context Protocol servers
  • Permission Modes: Control tool execution permissions
  • Streaming Responses: Real-time response streaming for interactive applications
  • Context Manager: Clean async context management for sessions

What is the Kanbanize MCP server, and what's possible with it?

The Kanbanize MCP server is an implementation of the Model Context Protocol that connects your AI agent and assistants like Claude, Cursor, etc directly to your Kanbanize account. It provides structured and secure access so your agent can perform Kanbanize operations on your behalf.

What is the Composio tool router, and how does it fit here?

What is Composio SDK?

Composio's Composio SDK helps agents find the right tools for a task at runtime. You can plug in multiple toolkits (like Gmail, HubSpot, and GitHub), and the agent will identify the relevant app and action to complete multi-step workflows. This can reduce token usage and improve the reliability of tool calls. Read more here: Getting started with Composio SDK

The tool router generates a secure MCP URL that your agents can access to perform actions.

How the Composio SDK works

The Composio SDK follows a three-phase workflow:

  1. Discovery: Searches for tools matching your task and returns relevant toolkits with their details.
  2. Authentication: Checks for active connections. If missing, creates an auth config and returns a connection URL via Auth Link.
  3. Execution: Executes the action using the authenticated connection.

Step-by-step Guide

Step by step09 STEPS
1

Prerequisites

Before starting, make sure you have:
  • Composio API Key and Claude/Anthropic API Key
  • Primary know-how of Claude Agents SDK
  • A Kanbanize account
  • Some knowledge of Python
2

Getting API Keys for Claude/Anthropic and Composio

Claude/Anthropic API Key
  • Go to the Anthropic Console and create an API key. You'll need credits to use the models.
  • Keep the API key safe.
Composio API Key
  • Log in to the Composio dashboard.
  • Navigate to your API settings and generate a new API key.
  • Store this key securely as you'll need it for authentication.
3

Install dependencies

npm install @anthropic-ai/claude-agent-sdk @composio/core dotenv

Install the Composio SDK and the Claude Agents SDK.

What's happening:

  • @composio/core provides Composio integration for Anthropic
  • @anthropic-ai/claude-agent-sdk is the core agent framework
  • dotenv/config loads environment variables
4

Set up environment variables

bash
COMPOSIO_API_KEY=your_composio_api_key_here
USER_ID=your_user_id_here
ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=your_anthropic_api_key_here

Create a .env file in your project root.

What's happening:

  • COMPOSIO_API_KEY authenticates with Composio
  • USER_ID identifies the user for session management
  • ANTHROPIC_API_KEY authenticates with Anthropic/Claude
5

Import dependencies

import 'dotenv/config';
import readline from 'node:readline';
import { Composio } from '@composio/core';
import { query, type Options } from "@anthropic-ai/claude-agent-sdk";

dotenv.config();
What's happening:
  • We're importing all necessary libraries including the Claude Agent SDK and Composio
  • The dotenv.config() function loads environment variables from your .env file
  • This setup prepares the foundation for connecting Claude with Kanbanize functionality
6

Create a Composio instance and Tool Router session

async function chat() {
  const { COMPOSIO_API_KEY, USER_ID } = process.env;
  if (!COMPOSIO_API_KEY || !USER_ID) {
    throw new Error('COMPOSIO_API_KEY and USER_ID required in .env');
  }

  const composio = new Composio({ apiKey: COMPOSIO_API_KEY });

  // Create Tool Router session for Kanbanize
  const session = await composio.create(USER_ID, {
    toolkits: ['kanbanize'],
  });
  const mcpUrl = session?.mcp.url;
What's happening:
  • The function checks for the required COMPOSIO_API_KEY environment variable
  • We're creating a Composio instance using our API key
  • The create method creates a Tool Router session for Kanbanize
  • The returned url is the MCP server URL that your agent will use
7

Configure Claude Agent with MCP

const options: Options = {
  permissionMode: 'bypassPermissions',
  mcpServers: {
    composio: {
      type: 'http',
      url: mcpUrl,
      headers: { 'x-api-key': COMPOSIO_API_KEY }
    }
  },
  systemPrompt: 'You are a helpful assistant with access to Kanbanize tools via Composio.',
  maxTurns: 10,
};
What's happening:
  • We're configuring the Claude Agent options with the MCP server URL
  • permissionMode: 'bypassPermissions' allows the agent to execute operations without asking for permission each time
  • The system prompt instructs the agent that it has access to Kanbanize
  • maxTurns: 10 limits the conversation length to prevent excessive API usage
8

Create client and start chat loop

const rl = readline.createInterface({
    input: process.stdin,
    output: process.stdout,
    prompt: 'You: '
  });

  console.log('\nChat started. Type "exit" to quit.\n');

  let isProcessing = false;

  async function ask(prompt: string) {
    isProcessing = true;
    rl.pause();

    process.stdout.write('Claude is thinking...');
    const stream = query({ prompt, options });

    let firstChunk = true;
    for await (const msg of stream) {
      const content = (msg as any).message?.content || (msg as any).content;
      if (Array.isArray(content)) {
        for (const block of content) {
          if (block.type === 'text' && block.text) {
            if (firstChunk) {
              process.stdout.write('\r\x1b[K');
              process.stdout.write('Claude: ');
              firstChunk = false;
            }
            process.stdout.write(block.text);
          }
        }
      }
    }
    process.stdout.write('\n\n');

    isProcessing = false;
    rl.resume();
    rl.prompt();
  }

  rl.on('line', async (line) => {
    if (isProcessing) return;

    const input = line.trim();
    if (input === 'exit') {
      rl.close();
      process.exit(0);
    }
    if (input) await ask(input);
    else rl.prompt();
  });

  await ask('What can you help me with?');
}
What's happening:
  • The readline interface is created to handle user input and output
  • The query function is used to send the user's input to the agent
  • The chat loop continues until the user types 'exit' or 'quit'
9

Run the application

try {
  await chat();
} catch (error) {
  console.error(error);
  process.exit(1);
}
What's happening:
  • The chat function is the entry point for the application
  • The try-catch block is used to handle any errors that occur

Complete Code

Here's the complete code to get you started with Kanbanize and Claude Agent SDK:

import 'dotenv/config';
import readline from 'node:readline';
import { Composio } from '@composio/core';
import { query, type Options } from "@anthropic-ai/claude-agent-sdk";

async function chat() {
  const { COMPOSIO_API_KEY, USER_ID } = process.env;
  if (!COMPOSIO_API_KEY || !USER_ID) {
    throw new Error('COMPOSIO_API_KEY and USER_ID required in .env');
  }

  const composio = new Composio({ apiKey: COMPOSIO_API_KEY });
  const session = await composio.create(USER_ID, {
    toolkits: ['kanbanize']
  });
  const mcp_url = session?.mcp.url;

  const options: Options = {
    permissionMode: 'bypassPermissions',
    mcpServers: {
      composio: {
        type: 'http',
        url: mcp_url,
        headers: { 'x-api-key': COMPOSIO_API_KEY }
      }
    },
    systemPrompt: 'You are a helpful assistant with access to Kanbanize tools via Composio.',
    maxTurns: 10,
  };

  const rl = readline.createInterface({
    input: process.stdin,
    output: process.stdout,
    prompt: 'You: '
  });

  console.log('\nChat started. Type "exit" to quit.\n');

  let isProcessing = false;

  async function ask(prompt: string) {
    isProcessing = true;
    rl.pause();

    process.stdout.write('Claude is thinking...');
    const stream = query({ prompt, options });

    let firstChunk = true;
    for await (const msg of stream) {
      const content = (msg as any).message?.content || (msg as any).content;
      if (Array.isArray(content)) {
        for (const block of content) {
          if (block.type === 'text' && block.text) {
            if (firstChunk) {
              process.stdout.write('\r\x1b[K');
              process.stdout.write('Claude: ');
              firstChunk = false;
            }
            process.stdout.write(block.text);
          }
        }
      }
    }
    process.stdout.write('\n\n');

    isProcessing = false;
    rl.resume();
    rl.prompt();
  }

  rl.on('line', async (line) => {
    if (isProcessing) return;

    const input = line.trim();
    if (input === 'exit') {
      rl.close();
      process.exit(0);
    }
    if (input) await ask(input);
    else rl.prompt();
  });

  await ask('What can you help me with?');
}

try {
  await chat();
} catch (error) {
  console.error(error);
  process.exit(1);
}

Conclusion

You've successfully built a Claude Agent SDK agent that can interact with Kanbanize through Composio's Tool Router.

Key features:

  • Native MCP support through Claude's agent framework
  • Streaming responses for real-time interaction
  • Permission bypass for smooth automated workflows
You can extend this by adding more toolkits, implementing custom business logic, or building a web interface around the agent.
TOOLS

Supported Tools

Every Kanbanize action and event your agent gets out of the box.

Add a comment to a card

Tool to add a comment to a Kanbanize card.

Check Board Milestone

Tool to check if a milestone is available on the specified board.

Check User Is Card Watcher

Tool to check if a user is a watcher of a specific card.

Delete Board

Tool to delete a board by its ID.

Delete Card

Tool to delete a card from the Kanbanize board.

Delete Tag

Tool to delete a tag from Kanbanize.

Delete Workflow

Tool to delete a workflow for the specified board.

Get Board Block Reasons

Tool to get a list of block reasons available on a board.

Get Board Card Templates

Tool to retrieve a list of card templates available on a Kanbanize board.

Get Child Cards

Tool to retrieve a list of child cards for a specified parent card.

Get Column

Tool to get the details of a specific column from a Kanbanize board.

Get Columns

Tool to get a list of columns for a specific board in Kanbanize.

Get Custom Fields

Tool to retrieve a list of custom fields from Kanbanize with optional filtering.

Get Stickers

Tool to retrieve a list of stickers with optional filtering by sticker IDs, label, availability, and enabled status.

Get User

Tool to get the details of a specified user in Kanbanize.

Get workflow cycle time columns

Tool to retrieve workflow's cycle time columns from a Kanbanize board.

Get Workspace Data Fields

Tool to retrieve a list of data fields available on a workspace.

Remove Board Block Reason

Tool to make a block reason unavailable on a board.

Remove Child Card

Tool to remove the link between a parent card and a child card.

Set card block reason

Tool to block a Kanbanize card by setting a block reason.

Update Board Sticker

Tool to update the properties of a sticker for the specified board.

Update Data Field Workspaces

Tool to add, update, or remove a data field on one or more workspaces via batch operations.

Update Lane Default Setting

Tool to update the default value of a specific lane setting in Kanbanize.

Update Tag

Tool to update the specified tag in Kanbanize.

FRAMEWORKS

How to build Kanbanize MCP Agent with another framework

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OpenAI Agents SDK

Use Kanbanize MCP with OpenAI Agents SDK

Claude Code logo

Claude Code

Use Kanbanize MCP with Claude Code

Claude Cowork logo

Claude Cowork

Use Kanbanize MCP with Claude Cowork

Codex logo

Codex

Use Kanbanize MCP with Codex

OpenClaw logo

OpenClaw

Use Kanbanize MCP with OpenClaw

Hermes logo

Hermes

Use Kanbanize MCP with Hermes

CLI logo

CLI

Use Kanbanize MCP with CLI

Google ADK logo

Google ADK

Use Kanbanize MCP with Google ADK

LangChain logo

LangChain

Use Kanbanize MCP with LangChain

Vercel AI SDK logo

Vercel AI SDK

Use Kanbanize MCP with Vercel AI SDK

Mastra AI logo

Mastra AI

Use Kanbanize MCP with Mastra AI

LlamaIndex logo

LlamaIndex

Use Kanbanize MCP with LlamaIndex

CrewAI logo

CrewAI

Use Kanbanize MCP with CrewAI

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

With a standalone Kanbanize MCP server, the agents and LLMs can only access a fixed set of Kanbanize tools tied to that server. However, with the Composio Tool Router, agents can dynamically load tools from Kanbanize and many other apps based on the task at hand, all through a single MCP endpoint.

Yes, you can. Claude Agent SDK fully supports MCP integration. You get structured tool calling, message history handling, and model orchestration while Tool Router takes care of discovering and serving the right Kanbanize tools.

Yes, absolutely. You can configure which Kanbanize scopes and actions are allowed when connecting your account to Composio. You can also bring your own OAuth credentials or API configuration so you keep full control over what the agent can do.

All sensitive data such as tokens, keys, and configuration is fully encrypted at rest and in transit. Composio is SOC 2 Type 2 compliant and follows strict security practices so your Kanbanize data and credentials are handled as safely as possible.

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