Basecamp MCP Server

An MCP server for Basecamp 3. It lets MCP-capable clients such as Codex, Cursor, and Claude Desktop read and manage Basecamp projects through OAuth-authenticated Basecamp API calls.

The main server is basecamp_fastmcp.py. It uses the official mcp.server.fastmcp Python SDK and exposes 79 tools covering projects, todos, message boards, campfires, card tables, inbox forwards, documents, uploads, comments, events, webhooks, and search.

What It Can Do

• Browse Basecamp projects and project details.
• Search across projects, todos, messages, campfire lines, comments, uploads, and schedules.
• Read and manage todolists, todos, todo groups, and completion state.
• Read and create message board messages, including drafts and categories.
• Read campfire lines.
• Read and create comments.
• Work with card tables, columns, cards, and card steps.
• Read inbox forwards and replies.
• Read daily check-ins and answers.
• Upload attachments and inspect uploads.
• Read and manage documents, including drafts.
• List events and manage webhooks.
• Generate local MCP configuration for Codex, Cursor, and Claude Desktop.

Requirements

• Python 3.10 or newer.
• A Basecamp 3 account.
• A Basecamp OAuth application from https://launchpad.37signals.com/integrations.
• A client that can run local MCP servers, such as Codex, Cursor, or Claude Desktop.

If your system Python is older, use uv; it can create a virtual environment with a newer Python version.

Quick Start

Clone the repository and install dependencies:

git clone https://github.com/georgeantonopoulos/Basecamp-MCP-Server.git
cd Basecamp-MCP-Server

uv venv --python 3.12 venv
source venv/bin/activate
uv pip install -r requirements.txt

Or, if python already points to Python 3.10 or newer:

python setup.py

Create a .env file from the example and fill in your Basecamp OAuth details:

cp .env.example .env

Required values:

BASECAMP_CLIENT_ID=your-client-id
BASECAMP_CLIENT_SECRET=your-client-secret
BASECAMP_ACCOUNT_ID=your-account-id
USER_AGENT="Your App Name (your@email.com)"

Authenticate with Basecamp:

python oauth_app.py

Open http://localhost:8000 and complete the OAuth flow. The token is stored locally in oauth_tokens.json by default.

Configure Your MCP Client

Codex

python generate_codex_config.py
codex mcp get basecamp

Useful options:

python generate_codex_config.py --dry-run
python generate_codex_config.py --legacy

The script writes a basecamp server entry to ~/.codex/config.toml and points it at this checkout's virtual environment and basecamp_fastmcp.py.

Cursor

python generate_cursor_config.py

Then restart Cursor and check Settings -> MCP. The server should appear as basecamp.

Claude Desktop

python generate_claude_desktop_config.py

Then fully quit and reopen Claude Desktop. The generated config is written to:

• macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
• Windows: ~/AppData/Roaming/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
• Linux: ~/.config/claude-desktop/claude_desktop_config.json

Verify The Server

Run the FastMCP server through stdio and ask for its tool list: