# Taskmaster

> An AI-powered task management system for AI-driven development that gives coding agents structured plans, working with Cursor, Windsurf, Claude Code, and other AI coding tools.

Taskmaster is an open-source, AI-powered task management system built by Eyal Toledano and Ralph Khreish under the Hamster (Wheel Go Fast, Inc.) umbrella. It gives coding agents a structured plan before they execute, designed to work seamlessly with AI coding tools like Cursor, Windsurf, Claude Code, Codex, and others. The project is available as an npm package (`task-master-ai`) and can be used via MCP (Model Context Protocol) or the command line.

## What It Is

Taskmaster is a task management layer for AI-driven development workflows. Rather than letting coding agents operate without direction, Taskmaster parses a Product Requirements Document (PRD) and generates a structured set of tasks with acceptance criteria, dependencies, and context that any coding agent can execute. The core insight, as stated in the project's own documentation, is that "agents with a plan produce better work than agents without one." It sits between the human developer's intent and the AI agent's execution, providing the structured context that keeps agents on track across long sessions.

## How It Works

Taskmaster can be installed as an MCP server (recommended) or used directly from the command line. The MCP integration lets it run inside editors like Cursor, Windsurf, and VS Code without leaving the AI chat pane. Key workflow steps include:

- **Initialize**: Run `task-master init` to set up the project structure
- **Parse a PRD**: Feed a requirements document to generate a full task list
- **Navigate tasks**: Use `next`, `show`, and `list` commands to manage work
- **Research**: A built-in `research` command fetches fresh information with project context
- **Sync with Hamster Studio**: Briefs, tasks, and plans can be synced into the repo via the Hamster CLI for team use

The MCP server supports selective tool loading via the `TASK_MASTER_TOOLS` environment variable, with modes ranging from `core` (7 tools, ~5,000 tokens) to `all` (36 tools, ~21,000 tokens), letting teams optimize context window usage.

## AI Provider Support

Taskmaster is model-agnostic and supports a wide range of AI providers. Users configure a main model, a research model, and a fallback model. Supported providers include:

- Anthropic (Claude)
- OpenAI
- Google Gemini
- Perplexity (research model)
- xAI (Grok)
- OpenRouter
- Mistral
- Groq
- Azure OpenAI
- Ollama (local)
- Claude Code CLI (no API key required)
- Codex CLI (OAuth via ChatGPT subscription)

## Adoption Signal

The GitHub repository (`eyaltoledano/claude-task-master`) reports 27,656 stars and 2,601 forks as of its last recorded update. The Hamster homepage states the project reached 1.5 million downloads and 25,000 GitHub stars, attributing this growth to the core insight that structured plans improve agent output. The npm package is `task-master-ai`.

## Update: task-master-ai@0.43.1

The latest published release is `task-master-ai@0.43.1`, published on March 31, 2026. The repository was last updated in June 2026, indicating active maintenance. The project has evolved from a solo-developer tool into the CLI backbone of the broader Hamster Studio platform, which adds team collaboration, briefs, and two-way sync with issue trackers like Linear and Jira on top of Taskmaster's task execution layer.

## Licensing Note

Taskmaster is licensed under the MIT License with a Commons Clause condition. This allows free use, modification, and distribution for any purpose — including building commercial products with it — but prohibits selling Taskmaster itself or offering it as a hosted service.

## Features
- Parse PRD into structured task lists
- MCP server integration for Cursor, Windsurf, VS Code
- CLI task management commands
- AI-powered task expansion and dependency tracking
- Research command with project context
- Selective tool loading to optimize context window usage
- Support for multiple AI providers (Anthropic, OpenAI, Gemini, Perplexity, xAI, OpenRouter, Mistral, Groq, Azure, Ollama)
- Claude Code CLI support (no API key required)
- Tags and workstreams for task organization
- Loop command for automation
- Task complexity analysis
- Two-way sync with Hamster Studio
- Configurable main, research, and fallback models

## Integrations
Cursor, Windsurf, VS Code, Claude Code, Codex CLI, Anthropic Claude, OpenAI, Google Gemini, Perplexity, xAI Grok, OpenRouter, Mistral, Groq, Azure OpenAI, Ollama, Roo Code, Aider, Hamster Studio, Linear, Jira, GitHub, Notion, Slack

## Platforms
WINDOWS, MACOS, LINUX, WEB, API, VSC_EXTENSION, CLI

## Pricing
Open Source

## Version
task-master-ai@0.43.1

## Links
- Website: https://tryhamster.com/docs/taskmaster
- Documentation: https://tryhamster.com/docs/taskmaster
- Repository: https://github.com/eyaltoledano/claude-task-master
- EveryDev.ai: https://www.everydev.ai/tools/taskmaster