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Redmine MCP Server

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A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that integrates with Redmine project management systems. This server provides seamless access to Redmine data through MCP tools, enabling AI assistants to interact with your Redmine instance.

mcp-name: io.github.jztan/redmine-mcp-server

Tool reference | Changelog | Contributing | Troubleshooting

Features

  • Redmine Integration: List projects, view/create/update issues, download attachments
  • HTTP File Serving: Secure file access via UUID-based URLs with automatic expiry
  • MCP Compliant: Full Model Context Protocol support with FastMCP and streamable HTTP transport
  • Flexible Authentication: API key, username/password, or OAuth2 per-user tokens
  • File Management: Automatic cleanup of expired files with storage statistics
  • Docker Ready: Complete containerization support
  • Pagination Support: Efficiently handle large issue lists with configurable limits
  • Read-Only Mode: Restrict to read-only operations via REDMINE_MCP_READ_ONLY environment variable
  • Prompt Injection Protection: User-controlled content wrapped in boundary tags for safe LLM consumption

Quick Start

  1. Install the package 
    pip install redmine-mcp-server
  2. Create a .env file with your Redmine credentials (see Installation for template)
  3. Start the server 
    redmine-mcp-server
  4. Add the server to your MCP client using one of the guides in MCP Client Configuration.

Once running, the server listens on http://localhost:8000 with the MCP endpoint at /mcp, health check at /health, and file serving at /files/{file_id}.

Installation

Prerequisites

  • Python 3.10+ (for local installation)
  • Docker (alternative deployment, uses Python 3.13)
  • Access to a Redmine instance

Install from PyPI (Recommended)

# Install the package
pip install redmine-mcp-server

# Create configuration file .env
cat > .env << 'EOF'
# Redmine connection (required)
REDMINE_URL=https://your-redmine-server.com

# Authentication - Use either API key (recommended) or username/password
REDMINE_API_KEY=your_api_key
# OR use username/password:
# REDMINE_USERNAME=your_username
# REDMINE_PASSWORD=your_password

# Server configuration (optional, defaults shown)
SERVER_HOST=0.0.0.0
SERVER_PORT=8000

# Public URL for file serving (optional)
PUBLIC_HOST=localhost
PUBLIC_PORT=8000

# File management (optional)
ATTACHMENTS_DIR=./attachments
AUTO_CLEANUP_ENABLED=true
CLEANUP_INTERVAL_MINUTES=10
ATTACHMENT_EXPIRES_MINUTES=60
EOF

# Edit .env with your actual Redmine settings
nano .env  # or use your preferred editor

# Run the server
redmine-mcp-server
# Or alternatively:
python -m redmine_mcp_server.main

The server runs on http://localhost:8000 with the MCP endpoint at /mcp, health check at /health, and file serving at /files/{file_id}.

Environment Variables Configuration

Environment Variables
Variable Required Default Description
REDMINE_URL Yes – Base URL of your Redmine instance
REDMINE_AUTH_MODE No legacy Authentication mode: legacy or oauth (see Authentication)
REDMINE_API_KEY Yes† – API key (legacy mode only)
REDMINE_USERNAME Yes† – Username for basic auth (legacy mode only)
REDMINE_PASSWORD Yes† – Password for basic auth (legacy mode only)
REDMINE_MCP_BASE_URL Yes‡ http://localhost:3040 Public base URL of this server, no trailing slash (OAuth mode only)
SERVER_HOST No 0.0.0.0 Host/IP the MCP server binds to
SERVER_PORT No 8000 Port the MCP server listens on
PUBLIC_HOST No localhost Hostname used when generating download URLs
PUBLIC_PORT No 8000 Public port used for download URLs
ATTACHMENTS_DIR No ./attachments Directory for downloaded attachments
AUTO_CLEANUP_ENABLED No true Toggle automatic cleanup of expired attachments
CLEANUP_INTERVAL_MINUTES No 10 Interval for cleanup task
ATTACHMENT_EXPIRES_MINUTES No 60 Expiry window for generated download URLs
REDMINE_SSL_VERIFY No true Enable/disable SSL certificate verification
REDMINE_SSL_CERT No – Path to custom CA certificate file
REDMINE_SSL_CLIENT_CERT No – Path to client certificate for mutual TLS
REDMINE_MCP_READ_ONLY No false Block all write operations (create/update/delete) when set to true
REDMINE_AUTOFILL_REQUIRED_CUSTOM_FIELDS No false Enable one retry for issue creation by filling missing required custom fields
REDMINE_REQUIRED_CUSTOM_FIELD_DEFAULTS No {} JSON object mapping required custom field names to fallback values used when creating issues

† Required when REDMINE_AUTH_MODE=legacy. Either REDMINE_API_KEY or REDMINE_USERNAME+REDMINE_PASSWORD must be set. API key is recommended. ‡ Required when REDMINE_AUTH_MODE=oauth.

When REDMINE_AUTOFILL_REQUIRED_CUSTOM_FIELDS=true, create_redmine_issue retries once on relevant custom-field validation errors (for example <Field Name> cannot be blank or <Field Name> is not included in the list) and fills values only from:

  • the Redmine custom field default_value, or
  • REDMINE_REQUIRED_CUSTOM_FIELD_DEFAULTS

Example:

REDMINE_AUTOFILL_REQUIRED_CUSTOM_FIELDS=true
REDMINE_REQUIRED_CUSTOM_FIELD_DEFAULTS='{"Required Field A":"Value A","Required Field B":"Value B"}'

SSL Certificate Configuration

Configure SSL certificate handling for Redmine servers with self-signed certificates or internal CA infrastructure.

Self-Signed Certificates

If your Redmine server uses a self-signed certificate or internal CA:

# In .env file
REDMINE_URL=https://redmine.company.com
REDMINE_API_KEY=your_api_key
REDMINE_SSL_CERT=/path/to/ca-certificate.crt

Supported certificate formats: .pem, .crt, .cer

Mutual TLS (Client Certificates)

For environments requiring client certificate authentication:

# In .env file
REDMINE_URL=https://secure.redmine.com
REDMINE_API_KEY=your_api_key
REDMINE_SSL_CERT=/path/to/ca-bundle.pem
REDMINE_SSL_CLIENT_CERT=/path/to/cert.pem,/path/to/key.pem

Note: Private keys must be unencrypted (Python requests library requirement).

Disable SSL Verification (Development Only)

⚠️ WARNING: Only use in development/testing environments!

# In .env file
REDMINE_SSL_VERIFY=false

Disabling SSL verification makes your connection vulnerable to man-in-the-middle attacks.

For SSL troubleshooting, see the Troubleshooting Guide.

Authentication

The server supports two authentication modes, selected via REDMINE_AUTH_MODE.

Backward compatibility: REDMINE_AUTH_MODE defaults to legacy, so all existing deployments continue to work without any configuration changes. OAuth2 support is purely additive — nothing breaks if you never set the variable.

Legacy mode (default)

Uses a single shared credential — either an API key or a username/password pair — configured once in .env. Every request to Redmine uses the same identity.

REDMINE_AUTH_MODE=legacy        # or omit entirely — this is the default
REDMINE_URL=https://redmine.example.com
REDMINE_API_KEY=your_api_key
# OR:
# REDMINE_USERNAME=your_username
# REDMINE_PASSWORD=your_password

OAuth2 mode

Requires Redmine 6.1 or newer. OAuth2 support (via the Doorkeeper gem) was introduced in Redmine 6.1.

Each MCP request carries its own Authorization: Bearer <token> header. The server validates the token against GET /users/current.json on Redmine before forwarding it. This enables multi-user deployments where each user authenticates with their own Redmine account.

REDMINE_AUTH_MODE=oauth
REDMINE_URL=https://redmine.example.com
REDMINE_MCP_BASE_URL=https://redmine-mcp.example.com   # public URL of this server

In OAuth mode the server also exposes OAuth2 discovery and token management endpoints:

Endpoint Standard Purpose
/.well-known/oauth-protected-resource RFC 8707 Tells clients where to find the authorization server
/.well-known/oauth-authorization-server RFC 8414 Advertises Redmine's Doorkeeper OAuth endpoints
POST /revoke RFC 7009 Revokes an OAuth2 token (proxies to Redmine's /oauth/revoke)

Redmine uses the Doorkeeper gem for OAuth2 but does not serve the RFC 8414 discovery document itself. This server serves it on Redmine's behalf, pointing to Redmine's real /oauth/authorize, /oauth/token, and /oauth/revoke endpoints.

Prerequisites for OAuth mode:

  • An OAuth application registered in Redmine admin → Applications with the callback URL of your client
  • A client that handles the authorization code flow, stores the resulting token per user, and sends it as Authorization: Bearer <token> on every MCP request
  • No Dynamic Client Registration (DCR) is required — register the application manually in Redmine admin

For step-by-step setup instructions, see the OAuth2 Setup Guide.

MCP Client Configuration

The server exposes an HTTP endpoint at http://127.0.0.1:8000/mcp. Register it with your preferred MCP-compatible agent using the instructions below.

Visual Studio Code (Native MCP Support)

VS Code has built-in MCP support via GitHub Copilot (requires VS Code 1.102+).

Using CLI (Quickest):

code --add-mcp '{"name":"redmine","type":"http","url":"http://127.0.0.1:8000/mcp"}'

Using Command Palette:

  1. Open Command Palette (Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+P)
  2. Run MCP: Open User Configuration (for global) or MCP: Open Workspace Folder Configuration (for project-specific)
  3. Add the configuration: 
    {
  "servers": {
    "redmine": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "http://127.0.0.1:8000/mcp"
    }
  }
}
  4. Save the file. VS Code will automatically load the MCP server.

Manual Configuration: Create .vscode/mcp.json in your workspace (or mcp.json in your user profile directory):

{
  "servers": {
    "redmine": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "http://127.0.0.1:8000/mcp"
    }
  }
}
Claude Code

Add to Claude Code using the CLI command:

claude mcp add --transport http redmine http://127.0.0.1:8000/mcp

Or configure manually in your Claude Code settings file (~/.claude.json):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "redmine": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "http://127.0.0.1:8000/mcp"
    }
  }
}
Claude Desktop (macOS & Windows)

Claude Desktop's config file supports stdio transport only. Use FastMCP's proxy via uv to bridge to this HTTP server.

Setup:

  1. Open Claude Desktop
  2. Click the Claude menu (macOS menu bar / Windows title bar) > Settings...
  3. Click the Developer tab > Edit Config
  4. Add the following configuration:
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "redmine": {
      "command": "uv",
      "args": [
        "run",
        "--with", "fastmcp",
        "fastmcp",
        "run",
        "http://127.0.0.1:8000/mcp"
      ]
    }
  }
}
  1. Save the file, then fully quit and restart Claude Desktop
  2. Look for the tools icon in the input area to verify the connection

Config file locations:

  • macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
  • Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

Note: The Redmine MCP server must be running before starting Claude Desktop.

Codex CLI

Add to Codex CLI using the command:

codex mcp add redmine -- npx -y mcp-client-http http://127.0.0.1:8000/mcp

Or configure manually in ~/.codex/config.toml:

[mcp_servers.redmine]
command = "npx"
args = ["-y", "mcp-client-http", "http://127.0.0.1:8000/mcp"]

Note: Codex CLI primarily supports stdio-based MCP servers. The above uses mcp-client-http as a bridge for HTTP transport.

Kiro

Kiro primarily supports stdio-based MCP servers. For HTTP servers, use an HTTP-to-stdio bridge:

  1. Create or edit .kiro/settings/mcp.json in your workspace: 
    {
  "mcpServers": {
    "redmine": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "mcp-client-http",
        "http://127.0.0.1:8000/mcp"
      ],
      "disabled": false
    }
  }
}
  2. Save the file and restart Kiro. The Redmine tools will appear in the MCP panel.

Note: Direct HTTP transport support in Kiro is limited. The above configuration uses mcp-client-http as a bridge to connect to HTTP MCP servers.

Generic MCP Clients

Most MCP clients use a standard configuration format. For HTTP servers:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "redmine": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "http://127.0.0.1:8000/mcp"
    }
  }
}

For clients that require a command-based approach with HTTP bridge:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "redmine": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "mcp-client-http", "http://127.0.0.1:8000/mcp"]
    }
  }
}

Testing Your Setup

# Test connection by checking health endpoint
curl http://localhost:8000/health

Available Tools

This MCP server provides 21 tools for interacting with Redmine. For detailed documentation, see Tool Reference.

Docker Deployment

Quick Start with Docker

# Configure environment
cp .env.example .env.docker
# Edit .env.docker with your Redmine settings

# Run with docker-compose
docker-compose up --build

# Or run directly
docker build -t redmine-mcp-server .
docker run -p 8000:8000 --env-file .env.docker redmine-mcp-server

Production Deployment

Use the automated deployment script:

chmod +x deploy.sh
./deploy.sh

Troubleshooting

If you run into any issues, checkout our troubleshooting guide.

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please see our contributing guide for details.

License

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

Additional Resources

About

Production-ready MCP server for Redmine with security, pagination, and enterprise features

pypi.org/project/redmine-mcp-server/

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MIT license

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