Basecamp MCP Server

Most payments and commerce work still happens through a UI a human drives. Basecamp MCP server moves it into the conversation instead. 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.

Getting it running

Setup follows the usual MCP pattern — install or clone the server, register it in your client's configuration file, restart the client.

The tools it exposes

The server publishes 5 tools. What each one is for:

• Codex — The script writes a basecamp server entry to ~/.codex/config.toml and points it at this checkout's virtual environment and
• Cursor — Then restart Cursor and check Settings -> MCP. The server should appear as basecamp
• Reports — The Reports tool exposed by this server
• Todos — The Todos tool exposed by this server
• Comments — The Comments tool exposed by this server

What it needs from you

Configuration is passed through the environment: BASECAMP_MCP_TOKEN_FILE, BASECAMP_CLIENT_ID, BASECAMP_CLIENT_SECRET, BASECAMP_ACCOUNT_ID. Treat anything key-shaped as a real credential — scope it to the minimum the server needs, and rotate it if it ever lands in a shared config.

• 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.

Things to watch

• It runs with your machine's permissions. That is convenient and also the reason to think about what you point it at before you approve a tool call.
• Missing credentials fail quietly in some clients — if no tools show up, check the environment block first.
• Keep per-call confirmation enabled while you learn its behaviour; it is the cheapest safeguard you have.

How it compares

Among the payments and commerce options, the useful question is rarely "what can it do" but "what does it cost you to run" — permissions, credentials, and how much of your context its toolset consumes. Basecamp's toolset — Codex, Cursor, Reports and 2 more — is a fair guide to whether it matches your workflow. It is maintained by georgeantonopoulos; worth a glance at recent repository activity before you build anything load-bearing on it.

This entry was verified against Basecamp's own documentation before publication; SyncDev keeps the directory reviewed rather than auto-generated.