Taskmaster (task-master-ai)

Name: Taskmaster (task-master-ai)
Author: Eyal Toledano

Lets an assistant turn a PRD into tasks, pick the next task, expand it into subtasks and track status

By Eyal Toledano (individual) TypeScript Local · stdio Productivity Developer tools

GitHub npm Website

97 popularity score ★ 28k ↓ 14k/wk

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Local (npm)

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Add to Cursor Add to VS Code Add to LM Studio Add to Goose

Opens the app, which asks before it adds the server.

Or add it by command or config

Claude CodeTerminal

claude mcp add taskmaster-task-master-ai -- npx -y task-master-ai

Claude Desktopclaude_desktop_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "taskmaster-task-master-ai": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "task-master-ai"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Cursor~/.cursor/mcp.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "taskmaster-task-master-ai": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "task-master-ai"
      ]
    }
  }
}

VS Code.vscode/mcp.json

{
  "servers": {
    "taskmaster-task-master-ai": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "task-master-ai"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Codex~/.codex/config.toml

[mcp_servers.taskmaster-task-master-ai]
command = "npx"
args = ["-y", "task-master-ai"]

Gemini CLITerminal

gemini mcp add --scope user taskmaster-task-master-ai npx -- -y task-master-ai

Settings 11

`ANTHROPIC_API_KEY`	Optional: Anthropic API key; at least one provider key is needed unless Claude Code or Codex CLI is used.
`PERPLEXITY_API_KEY`	Optional: Perplexity API key, suggested for the research model.
`OPENAI_API_KEY`	Optional: OpenAI API key.
`GOOGLE_API_KEY`	Optional: Google Gemini API key.
`MISTRAL_API_KEY`	Optional: Mistral API key.
`GROQ_API_KEY`	Optional: Groq API key.
`OPENROUTER_API_KEY`	Optional: OpenRouter API key.
`XAI_API_KEY`	Optional: xAI API key.
`AZURE_OPENAI_API_KEY`	Optional: Azure OpenAI API key.
`OLLAMA_API_KEY`	Optional: Ollama API key.
`TASK_MASTER_TOOLS`	Optional: Which tools to load: all, standard, core (or lean), or a comma-separated list of tool names.

What it does

Taskmaster is a task management system for AI-driven development that runs as an MCP server in editors such as Cursor, Windsurf, VS Code, Amazon Q Developer CLI and Claude Code. It keeps a project's tasks in a .taskmaster folder inside the project and gives the assistant tools to parse a product requirements document (PRD) into tasks, list and show tasks, find the next task to work on, set status, add notes to subtasks, expand tasks into subtasks, manage dependencies and organise work under tags.

Several tools call a language model themselves: parsing a PRD, expanding tasks, analysing complexity and research. For these it needs at least one provider key (Anthropic, OpenAI, Google Gemini, Perplexity, xAI, OpenRouter, Mistral, Groq, Azure OpenAI or Ollama), set in the MCP config or the project's .env file, or it can use the Claude Code CLI or Codex CLI without a key. You can set a main, a research and a fallback model.

It runs locally with npx -y task-master-ai. The TASK_MASTER_TOOLS setting chooses how many of its 36 tools are loaded: core (7), standard (15), all, or a comma-separated list, to save context. The same package also ships a task-master command line tool. It is licensed MIT with Commons Clause.

What it needs

Runtime	Node.js

Tools 32

get_tasks: Lists all tasks.
get_task: Shows the details of a specific task.
next_task: Shows the next task to work on.
set_task_status: Sets the status of a task or subtask.
add_task: Creates a new task.
add_subtask: Adds a subtask to a parent task.
remove_task: Removes one or more tasks or subtasks.
remove_subtask: Removes a subtask from its parent.
update_task: Updates a single task.
update_subtask: Appends information to a subtask.
update: Updates multiple tasks.
move_task: Moves a task or subtask.
clear_subtasks: Clears all subtasks from one or more tasks.
parse_prd: Parses a PRD to generate tasks.
expand_task: Expands a task into subtasks.
expand_all: Expands all eligible tasks.
analyze_project_complexity: Analyzes task complexity.
complexity_report: Displays the complexity analysis report.
add_dependency: Adds a dependency to a task.
remove_dependency: Removes a dependency from a task.
validate_dependencies: Validates the dependencies of all tasks.
fix_dependencies: Fixes any invalid dependencies.
initialize_project: Initializes a new project.
generate: Generates individual task files.
models: Manages AI model configurations.
research: Performs AI-powered research.
add_tag: Creates a new tag.
delete_tag: Deletes a tag.
list_tags: Lists all tags.
use_tag: Switches to a different tag.
rename_tag: Renames a tag.
copy_tag: Copies a tag.

Popularity

97 popularity score, on our list (the bar is 36)

★ 28k ↓ 14k/wk

GitHub stars	28,322	53.4 points
Stars in 30 days	+135	10 points
npm downloads, last week	13,788	33.1 points

Measured 2026-11-07. How the score works.

Where it is published

Code	eyaltoledano/claude-task-master ★ 28k
npm	task-master-ai 0.43.1, 2026-03-31

What it can reach

Runs	On your machine
Reaches	Files on your machine, The internet
Changes things	Yes: it can write, send, create or delete
Sign-in	An API key or token
Licence	MIT WITH Commons-Clause (npm)
Last code change	2026-04-23

Runs locally via npx and reads and writes task files in the project, mainly under .taskmaster/ (tasks, PRD, templates, complexity reports); tools can create, update, move and delete tasks, and generate writes task markdown files. Tools such as parse_prd, expand_task, analyze_project_complexity and research send task and PRD text to the AI provider you configure (Anthropic, OpenAI, Google, Perplexity, xAI, OpenRouter, etc.) using your API keys from the MCP config env or the project's .env. It can instead use the Claude Code or Codex CLI. The docs list no shell tool. It is licensed MIT with Commons Clause.

Over time

GitHub stars 28k +135

28k28k

8 Oct 20267 Nov 2026

npm downloads a week 14k −20k (−59 %)

144k7.7k

20 Oct 20257 Nov 2026

Before the site measured it, read from npm's daily download counts.

Popularity score 97 +8 (+9 %)

9785

8 Oct 20267 Nov 2026

What is rising across the directory

Sources

Page checked 2026-10-13.

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Connect your client

Add in one click

Or add it by command or config

Settings 11

What it does

What it needs

Tools 32

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