Basecamp CLI

CLI and MCP server for Basecamp 4. Use when you need to interact with Basecamp projects, todos, messages, schedules, kanban cards, documents, or campfires. Provides 76 MCP tools for AI-driven project management workflows.

Security Scan

The skill does what it says — a Basecamp CLI + MCP server that legitimately needs a Basecamp client ID/secret and installs from an npm package; nothing in the codebase or SKILL.md requests unrelated credentials or performs unexplained actions.

Purpose & Capability

Name/description, declared binaries (basecamp-mcp), required env vars (BASECAMP_CLIENT_ID, BASECAMP_CLIENT_SECRET), package.json, and SKILL.md all align with a Basecamp CLI/MCP tool. The npm package produces the required binaries, and OAuth credentials are expected for Basecamp API access.

Instruction Scope

Runtime instructions are scoped to installing the CLI, configuring OAuth, running basecamp/basecamp-mcp, and adding the MCP server to an MCP config. One operational note: the SKILL.md shows examples that embed BASECAMP_CLIENT_SECRET in an MCP server env block (e.g., in a klaude/claude_desktop_config.json snippet). Storing a client secret in an MCP config or passing it to a long-running MCP process is functional but increases where the secret is stored/available — this is expected for an MCP server but worth being aware of.

Install Mechanism

Install uses a public npm package (@drkraft/basecamp-cli) that declares the two expected binaries. This is a standard, traceable mechanism; no suspicious remote download URLs or extract-from-untrusted-host steps were found.

Credentials

The only required environment variables are BASECAMP_CLIENT_ID and BASECAMP_CLIENT_SECRET (primary credential is the client secret) which are appropriate for OAuth-based Basecamp access. No unrelated secrets or wide-ranging credentials are requested. The repo includes logic to encrypt stored access/refresh tokens with a machine-specific key (crypto/os), which is reasonable — note that the client secret itself is expected to be provided by the user and may be present in MCP config when running the server.

Persistence & Privilege

Skill is not always: true and is user-invocable. disable-model-invocation is false (autonomous invocation allowed) which is normal for MCP tools; combined with valid Basecamp credentials this allows an agent to perform actions on the user's Basecamp account. This is expected behavior for an MCP integration but users should understand the blast radius of granting an agent those credentials.

Assessment

This package appears to be a legitimate Basecamp CLI + MCP server and only asks for the Basecamp OAuth client ID/secret it needs. Before installing or configuring it: 1) verify the npm package and GitHub repository (SKILL.md points to https://github.com/drkraft/basecamp-cli) match the package you expect, 2) be cautious about placing your BASECAMP_CLIENT_SECRET into configuration files (MCP config) that other processes or users could read, and 3) remember that enabling the MCP server and giving credentials allows the agent to take actions in your Basecamp account — only enable autonomous use for agents you trust. If you want more assurance, confirm the upstream repository and package owner identity on npm/GitHub before installing.

Full-featured CLI and MCP server for Basecamp 4 API.

Features

• 21 CLI command groups covering all Basecamp 4 domains
• 76 MCP tools for AI assistant integration
• Automatic pagination and retry with exponential backoff
• OAuth 2.0 authentication with PKCE

Installation

npm install -g @drkraft/basecamp-cli

Requirements

• Node.js >= 20

Authentication Setup

1. Create an OAuth app at https://launchpad.37signals.com/integrations
   • Set redirect URI to http://localhost:9292/callback
2. Configure credentials:

basecamp auth configure --client-id <your-client-id>
export BASECAMP_CLIENT_SECRET="<your-client-secret>"
export BASECAMP_CLIENT_ID="<your-client-id>"

3. Login:

basecamp auth login

MCP Server Configuration

Add to your MCP config (e.g., ~/.config/claude/claude_desktop_config.json):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "basecamp": {
      "command": "basecamp-mcp",
      "env": {
        "BASECAMP_CLIENT_ID": "<your-client-id>",
        "BASECAMP_CLIENT_SECRET": "<your-client-secret>"
      }
    }
  }
}

Available MCP Tools (76)

Category	Tools
Projects	basecamp_list_projects, basecamp_get_project, basecamp_create_project, basecamp_archive_project
Todo Lists	basecamp_list_todolists, basecamp_get_todolist, basecamp_create_todolist, basecamp_delete_todolist
Todo Groups	basecamp_list_todolist_groups, basecamp_create_todolist_group
Todos	basecamp_list_todos, basecamp_get_todo, basecamp_create_todo, basecamp_update_todo, basecamp_complete_todo, basecamp_uncomplete_todo, basecamp_delete_todo, basecamp_move_todo
Messages	basecamp_list_messages, basecamp_get_message, basecamp_create_message
People	basecamp_list_people, basecamp_get_person, basecamp_get_me
Comments	basecamp_list_comments, basecamp_get_comment, basecamp_create_comment, basecamp_update_comment, basecamp_delete_comment
Vaults	basecamp_list_vaults, basecamp_get_vault, basecamp_create_vault, basecamp_update_vault
Documents	basecamp_list_documents, basecamp_get_document, basecamp_create_document, basecamp_update_document
Uploads	basecamp_list_uploads, basecamp_get_upload, basecamp_create_upload, basecamp_update_upload
Schedules	basecamp_get_schedule, basecamp_list_schedule_entries, basecamp_get_schedule_entry, basecamp_create_schedule_entry, basecamp_update_schedule_entry, basecamp_delete_schedule_entry
Card Tables	basecamp_get_card_table, basecamp_get_column, basecamp_create_column, basecamp_update_column, basecamp_delete_column, basecamp_list_cards, basecamp_get_card, basecamp_create_card, basecamp_update_card, basecamp_move_card, basecamp_delete_card
Search	basecamp_search
Recordings	basecamp_list_recordings, basecamp_archive_recording, basecamp_restore_recording, basecamp_trash_recording
Subscriptions	basecamp_list_subscriptions, basecamp_subscribe, basecamp_unsubscribe
Webhooks	basecamp_list_webhooks, basecamp_get_webhook, basecamp_create_webhook, basecamp_update_webhook, basecamp_delete_webhook, basecamp_test_webhook
Events	basecamp_list_events
Campfires	basecamp_list_campfires, basecamp_get_campfire_lines, basecamp_send_campfire_line

CLI Quick Reference

# Projects
basecamp projects list
basecamp projects get <id>

# Todos
basecamp todolists list --project <id>
basecamp todos list --project <id> --list <list-id>
basecamp todos create --project <id> --list <list-id> --content "Task"
basecamp todos complete <id> --project <id>
basecamp todos delete <id> --project <id>
basecamp todos move <id> --project <id> --list <target-list-id>

# Messages
basecamp messages list --project <id>
basecamp messages create --project <id> --subject "Title" --content "<p>Body</p>"

# Kanban
basecamp cardtables get --project <id>
basecamp cardtables cards --project <id> --column <col-id>
basecamp cardtables create-card --project <id> --column <col-id> --title "Card"

# Search
basecamp search "keyword"
basecamp search "keyword" --type Todo --project <id>

All commands support --format json for JSON output.

Links

• Full Documentation
• npm Package
• Basecamp API Reference