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ClickUp has spent the last year bundling tasks, docs, chat and AI into one workspace. Its MCP (Model Context Protocol) server is the newest piece: a way to point Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor or any other MCP-compatible client straight at your ClickUp workspace and have it read and act on tasks, docs and time entries without opening the ClickUp UI.
Two servers cover this today: ClickUp’s own official server, and a mature third-party option that predates it. Here’s how they compare, and how to connect either one.
Official vs third-party: ClickUp’s MCP landscape
| Official (mcp.clickup.com/mcp) | Third-party (taazkareem/clickup-mcp-server) | |
|---|---|---|
| Status | Public beta | Actively maintained, sponsorware |
| Auth | OAuth only | API key, with OAuth 2.1 in newer builds |
| Plans | All plans, including Free Forever | Any plan with an API key |
| Setup time | None, already running | ~5 minutes via npx |
| Tool count | ~40 tools | Broader natural-language coverage, including checklists and sprints |
| Deletion tools | Deliberately excluded as a safety measure | Included |
| Cost | Free | Free tier, paid licence for premium features |
ClickUp’s own FAQ is explicit that the official server is OAuth-only: there is no personal API token option, every connection goes through a browser-based consent flow. If you need a static API key instead (useful for scripted or headless setups), the third-party taazkareem/clickup-mcp-server is the established alternative, with 460+ stars carried over from its previous public repo and thousands of weekly npm downloads.
Connecting an AI client to ClickUp’s MCP server
Setting up the official server with Claude
- In Claude’s MCP settings, add a new remote server.
- Paste in the server URL:
https://mcp.clickup.com/mcp. - Choose OAuth as the authentication method and enable the server.
- Authorise the connection when Claude prompts you, and pick the workspace to grant access to.
The same URL and OAuth flow work for Cursor, VS Code, ChatGPT’s Apps directory, and Microsoft Copilot Studio, ClickUp documents each client’s setup individually.
Self-hosting the third-party server via npx
- Grab a personal API key from your ClickUp API settings.
- Add the server to your client config, for example:
npx -y @taazkareem/clickup-mcp-server@latestwithCLICKUP_API_KEYandCLICKUP_TEAM_IDset as environment variables. - Restart your client. No hosting or deployment step is needed since it runs locally via npx.
What can you do with it once connected?
Once either server is connected, you can ask your AI client to search across tasks, lists and docs, create and update tasks in bulk, manage tags and task relationships, start and stop time tracking, and post to Chat, all in natural language instead of clicking through ClickUp’s UI.
If you’re evaluating ClickUp itself for a marketing team, rather than just its MCP server, see our breakdown of ClickUp alternatives for marketing teams or the head-to-head against Growth Method and Asana. For the rest of the marketing MCP landscape, browse our MCP servers for marketers roundup.
About Growth Method
ClickUp’s MCP server is a doorway into your tasks, not a marketing workflow. It’s genuinely useful if you want to ask an AI client about task status or draft a report from your workspace, but it still has no concept of a campaign, a hypothesis, or a growth goal, because ClickUp itself doesn’t. Growth Method is the agentic marketing platform for B2B teams: plan, launch, and analyse campaigns with pre-built AI agents that work from your live marketing data, not from a generic task graph. Connect your stack, including GitHub, PostHog, GA4 and more, once, and both your team and its agents can move campaigns through a structured plan, launch, analyse lifecycle and report on what actually moved the needle.
Get started: first month free, no credit card required.
Frequently asked questions
Does ClickUp have an official MCP server?
Yes. ClickUp’s official MCP server is hosted at mcp.clickup.com/mcp, currently in public beta and available on every plan including Free Forever.
Does ClickUp’s MCP server support API key authentication?
No. The official server is OAuth only, ClickUp’s own FAQ is explicit that you cannot authenticate with a personal API token or static access token through it. Third-party servers such as taazkareem/clickup-mcp-server support API key auth if you need that instead.
What can the ClickUp MCP server do?
The official server’s roughly 40 tools cover workspace search, task management, bulk task operations, comments, tags, task relationships, time tracking, workspace hierarchy, chat and docs. Deletion tools are deliberately excluded as a safety measure.
Is ClickUp’s MCP server still in beta?
Yes, ClickUp describes it as a public beta at the time of writing. It’s available on every plan, but expect the tool list and behaviour to keep evolving.