# User Problem

## User

* Begin of the insertionProject managers who want to query, summarize, or report on projects naturally using AI tools.End of the insertion Begin of the deletion AdministratorsEnd of the deletion

* Product Begin of the insertionowners who want to automate repetitive project reporting.

* Project members who need quick summaries, comparisons,End of the insertion Begin of the deletion managers exploring AIEnd of the deletion or Begin of the insertioncontextual insights from project data.

* Admins who want to safely connect OpenProject data with AI assistants.End of the insertion Begin of the deletion automation integrationsEnd of the deletion

<br>


## Problem

* Users Begin of the insertionwant to interact with OpenProject using natural language withEnd of the insertion Begin of the deletion need a standardized and secure way forEnd of the deletion external AI Begin of the insertionassistantsEnd of the insertion Begin of the deletion agents or automation toolsEnd of the deletion to Begin of the insertiongenerate project status reports, find work packages, or analyze progress.

* Currently, they must extract data manually, build API scripts, or relyEnd of the insertion Begin of the deletion access and actEnd of the deletion on Begin of the insertionnonstandard integrations.End of the insertion Begin of the deletion OpenProject data.End of the deletion

* Begin of the insertionThere’s no consistent, secure, standard protocolEnd of the insertion Begin of the deletion Administrators wantEnd of the deletion to Begin of the insertionlet LLMs work withEnd of the insertion Begin of the deletion centrally manage and control these connections without exposing the fullEnd of the deletion OpenProject Begin of the insertiondata.End of the insertion Begin of the deletion API or custom credentials.End of the deletion

<br> Begin of the insertion

<br>End of the insertion


## Pain

* Begin of the insertionManually copy project data for analysisEnd of the insertion Begin of the deletion Developers manually build integrations using the REST APIEnd of the deletion

* Begin of the insertionUse API tokens inEnd of the insertion Begin of the deletion EachEnd of the deletion custom Begin of the insertionscripts which is a technical barrierEnd of the insertion Begin of the deletion implementation increases maintenance cost, security risk,End of the deletion and Begin of the insertionnot maintainable.End of the insertion Begin of the deletion complexity.End of the deletion

* Begin of the deletion The lack of a unified protocol prevents reuse of connectors and compatibility with emergingEnd of the deletion AI Begin of the insertionmodels can’t access project data directly

<br>End of the insertion Begin of the deletion agent standards like the Model Context Protocol (MCP).End of the deletion


# Business Case

## Solution

* Implement Begin of the insertionaEnd of the insertion Begin of the deletion an MCP server for OpenProject that exposes key project data and actions through theEnd of the deletion Model Context Protocol Begin of the insertion(MCP) server within OpenProject, using the official Ruby MCP SDK.End of the insertion Begin of the deletion (JSON-RPC 2.0).End of the deletion

* Begin of the insertionUse HTTPEnd of the insertion Begin of the deletion Support stdin/stdout (local) or SSE/HTTP (remote)End of the deletion transport Begin of the insertiononly (no WebSocket or streaming)End of the insertion Begin of the deletion mechanismsEnd of the deletion for Begin of the insertionsimpler infrastructureEnd of the insertion Begin of the deletion compatibility with localEnd of the deletion and Begin of the insertioneasier scaling.End of the insertion Begin of the deletion hosted agents.End of the deletion

* Begin of the insertionReuse OpenProject’s existing OAuth2 authentication (with PKCE)End of the insertion Begin of the deletion Integrate with OAuthEnd of the deletion for secure Begin of the insertionaccess — compatible with both browser-basedEnd of the insertion Begin of the deletion authenticationEnd of the deletion and Begin of the insertiondesktop MCP clients.End of the insertion Begin of the deletion authorization.End of the deletion

* Provide Begin of the insertiontwo search tools out of the box:

* searchProject: filters projects by standard attributes (name, identifier, status).

* searchWorkPackage → filtersEnd of the insertion Begin of the deletion an initial toolset: list and read projects,End of the deletion work Begin of the deletion packages, and comments, and create workEnd of the deletion packages Begin of the insertionby standard attributes (subject, type, status, project, version, user).

* Expose resources derived from OpenProject APIv3:

* projects

* work\_packages

* versions

* users

* Add anEnd of the insertion Begin of the deletion via standardizedEnd of the deletion MCP Begin of the insertionadmin page under Administration -&gt; AI Integration:End of the insertion Begin of the deletion methods.End of the deletion

Begin of the insertion* Allows renaming or localizing tool/resource names and descriptions.

* Enables or disables specific tools/resources for compliance or privacy.


End of the insertion <br> Begin of the insertion

<br>End of the insertion


## Out of Scope for the MVC

* Custom field support

* Full write access for all entities Begin of the insertionin OpenProjectEnd of the insertion

* Begin of the insertionPermissionsEnd of the insertion Begin of the deletion PermissionEnd of the deletion to control MCP usage

* Dynamic tool discovery based on role permission Begin of the insertion

* WebSocket or Server-Sent Events (streaming).

* AI model invocation or prompt execution inside OpenProject.

* Complex dynamic prompt management or workflow automation

* Full import of APIv3 resources

* Granular field-level permissions for MCP exposureEnd of the insertion


## Differentiation

* Begin of the insertionOne of the first project management platform with native MCP support, enabling direct AI assistant access to real project data.

* Fully integrated withEnd of the insertion Begin of the deletion MaintainsEnd of the deletion OpenProject’s Begin of the insertionexisting authenticationEnd of the insertion Begin of the deletion securityEnd of the deletion and Begin of the insertionpermissions.End of the insertion Begin of the deletion permission model while exposing a universal interface.End of the deletion

* Begin of the insertionAdmin customization layer to alignEnd of the insertion Begin of the deletion Enables direct connection between OpenProject andEnd of the deletion AI Begin of the insertionvocabulary with organizational terminology (e.g., “features,” “tickets,” or “projectOne”).

* Simpler architecture (HTTP-only, no streaming) and easier deployment for on-premise customers.

<br>End of the insertion Begin of the deletion assistants without custom plugins.End of the deletion


## Next iteration

Begin of the insertion* Add prompt support for standardized templates (e.g., “Project Status Report,” “Sprint Summary,” “Risk Overview”).

* ExtendEnd of the insertion Begin of the deletion _What isEnd of the deletion the Begin of the insertionMCP admin UIEnd of the insertion Begin of the deletion next solution that would allow usEnd of the deletion to Begin of the insertionmanage prompt templates and output schemas.

End of the insertion Begin of the deletion release meaningful customer value quickly?_

End of the deletion * Begin of the insertionAdd semantic search for projects and work packages.End of the insertion Begin of the deletion ...End of the deletion

* Begin of the insertionOptional support for streaming / real-time notifications.

* Expand resource catalog (meetings, comments, attachments).

End of the insertion <br>


# Launch and Growth

## Measures

* Begin of the insertionNumber of successful MCP client connections.End of the insertion Begin of the deletion Successful connection and operation from an MCP-compatible client.End of the deletion

* Begin of the insertionTime saved on automated workflows vs. manual workflows.

* End of the insertion Positive feedback from Begin of the deletion AI and integration partners duringEnd of the deletion pilot Begin of the insertioncustomers integrating with AI agents.End of the insertion Begin of the deletion testing.End of the deletion

<br>


## Messaging

Begin of the deletion _If you were to write a press release, how would you describe the value to customers?_

End of the deletion <figure class="table op-uc-figure_align-center op-uc-figure"><table class="op-uc-table"><tbody><tr class="op-uc-table--row"><th class="op-uc-table--cell op-uc-table--cell_head"><p class="op-uc-p">Headline</p></th><td class="op-uc-table--cell"><p Begin of the insertionclass="op-uc-p">OpenProject connects directly with AI assistants through the Model Context Protocol</p></td></tr><trEnd of the insertion Begin of the deletion class=&quot;op-uc-p&quot;&gt;&lt;br data-cke-filler=&quot;true&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;trEnd of the deletion class="op-uc-table--row"><th class="op-uc-table--cell op-uc-table--cell_head"><p class="op-uc-p">First Paragraph</p></th><td class="op-uc-table--cell"><p class="op-uc-p">OpenProject now Begin of the insertionintegratesEnd of the insertion Begin of the deletion seamlessly connectsEnd of the deletion with AI Begin of the deletion assistants and automationEnd of the deletion tools Begin of the insertionviaEnd of the insertion Begin of the deletion throughEnd of the deletion the open Model Context Protocol (MCP). This Begin of the insertionallows usersEnd of the insertion Begin of the deletion new server enables secure, standardized accessEnd of the deletion to Begin of the insertionsecurely query, summarize,End of the insertion Begin of the deletion projectsEnd of the deletion and Begin of the insertionreport on real project data by using natural language,End of the insertion Begin of the deletion work packages, empowering teams to integrate intelligent workflows and assistantsEnd of the deletion without Begin of the deletion complexEnd of the deletion custom Begin of the insertionscripts or manual exports.</p></td></tr><trEnd of the insertion Begin of the deletion integrations.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;trEnd of the deletion class="op-uc-table--row"><th class="op-uc-table--cell op-uc-table--cell_head"><p class="op-uc-p">Customer Quote</p></th><td class="op-uc-table--cell"><p Begin of the insertionclass="op-uc-p">-</p></td></tr></tbody></table></figure>End of the insertion Begin of the deletion class=&quot;op-uc-p&quot;&gt;&lt;br data-cke-filler=&quot;true&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/tbody&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;/figure&gt;

##

# Further Resources

* [https://modelcontextprotocol.io/introduction](https://modelcontextprotocol.io/introduction)

* Example showing how to expose functionality of Ghidra (Reverse Engineering Tool) to an LLM and how it is used, along with some nice applications: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u2vQapLAW88End of the deletion