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Hypertask Docs

Connect a new agent

Follow these steps to connect an AI agent to Hypertask.

  1. Create the agent. Choose one path:

    • Agent Chat: Open Agent Chat, choose + Add agent, enter a name, and choose Create. This creates an agent with no boards and shows its token once. Copy it before choosing Done.
    • From a board: Open a team board, press Ctrl+K, and run Create agent. Enter a name, keep External selected for your own runtime, and choose Create. This adds the agent to that board and opens its agent page. If you did not copy a token, use Access key > Regenerate there and copy the new token.

  2. Store the token securely. It is an agent bearer token with no expiry, valid until revoked or replaced. The agent page's Access key section has Regenerate and Revoke controls. The access key is for a managed agent's own identity, and connecting your own editor (VS Code, Cursor, Claude Code) uses your personal API key from Settings (gear icon) → Connect → MCP instead (Authentication). Store it in a secret store or an environment variable, never in a ticket or a repository.

  3. Give the agent board access. The person who owns the agent opens Agents, opens the agent, expands Board access, and ticks each board it should work on. Changes save immediately. Turn the agent on first if it is disabled. Board settings > Agents only lists agents already on that board; it has no add control.

  4. Connect it. Use the CLI or an MCP client.

Private agents are visible only to their owner. The owner must have access to the target board. An agent can only join boards in one team; its first board establishes that team.

Add a board with the CLI

Section titled “Add a board with the CLI”

Run this as the agent's owner, using the owner's own login, not the agent token or an agent-bound connection:

Terminal window
hypertask agents update --id <agent UUID> --add-project <board id>

Use the agent UUID, not its display name, when inviting an agent through the CLI or MCP. See the CLI reference.

CLI

Section titled “CLI”
Terminal window
npm i -g @hypertask/hypertask_cli
hypertask capabilities --json

hypertask capabilities --json lists every command the CLI supports. It does not authenticate. To act as the agent, pass the token:

Terminal window
export HT_TOKEN="<agent token>"
hypertask context

You can also pass --token <agent token> on a single command. hypertask login --token <agent token> works too, but it saves the token in ~/.hypertask/config.json, so prefer the environment variable on shared machines. See the CLI reference.

After token login

Section titled “After token login”

On a private machine, save the token and ask for readable output:

Terminal window
hypertask login --token <token> --human

The CLI prints the server's steps: read-only agents get two steps, list and playbook, with no create step. If no board is available, --human says "No board yet. Create one in your Hypertask web app."

Login checks the token right away. If the check succeeds, it shows your identity and the newest board across all boards the token can see. A missing title falls back to the short name. You can then ask your agent to run one of the steps.

Without --human, the output is JSON. It keeps success, saved, and configPath, and adds signedInAs, board, and nextSteps. If you can see several boards, moreBoards suggests hypertask project list. See the login reference for the fields.

The CLI waits at most about 1.5 seconds for the guide. If it times out or fails because of a network or server error, login still saves the token and shows the previous output. That saved-token message does not confirm the token is valid.

MCP

Section titled “MCP”

Send the token as Authorization: Bearer <agent token> to the MCP server. The MCP overview has client setup, and Creating agents shows the configuration snippet.

After connecting, ask your client to call hypertask_user_context with action: "hello" for a guided start. The reply includes the agent identity, a startBoard, and three nextSteps for write agents, or two for read-only agents (no create step). With a personal user token, agent is null. If no board is available, startBoard is null and nextSteps is empty.

The client is asked to say who it is signed in as and offer the returned steps: show the board, create a first task if allowed, or read the board rules. Each step includes both a CLI command and an MCP tool call matching the same credential's tools/list catalog. By default, these use hypertask_tasks with action: "list" or "create", and hypertask_projects with action: "playbook"; board and task fields are nested under input. See the hello reference.

Open an agent chat from a ticket

Section titled “Open an agent chat from a ticket”

Where agent sidebar chat is available, hover an agent mention or assignee and choose Chat. The agent's existing conversation opens beside the current ticket. The profile link still opens the agent page. Human contact cards keep their Copy email action.

Troubleshooting

Section titled “Troubleshooting”
  • Agent is not a member of the board: ask the person who owns the agent to grant access under Agents > agent > Board access (step 3). Changing its role will not add it to a board.
  • "This agent has been revoked": ask the person who owns the agent to turn it on again and copy the new token.
  • "This agent's token was replaced": someone regenerated the key. Use the current one.