shortcut mcp

StreamShortcut (Cloudflare Workers)

A lightweight Shortcut MCP deployed on Cloudflare Workers. One tool, eight actions.

Live URL: https://streamshortcut.staycek.workers.dev/mcp

Why?

The official @shortcut/mcp uses ~11,652 tokens for tool definitions (52 tools). StreamShortcut uses ~500 tokens — a ~96% reduction.

Actions

Action	Purpose
search	Find stories (default: your active stories); text query or structured filters
get	Story details by ID or URL
update	Change state, estimate, owner, type, name, or description
comment	Add comment to story
create	Create story with type, estimate, state, epic, owner, description
epic	Epic details with its stories
api	Raw REST API access for everything else
help	Documentation

Usage with Claude

You must provide your own Shortcut API token. Get one at: https://app.shortcut.com/settings/account/api-tokens

Option 1: claude mcp add (recommended)

One command, no file editing. Replace YOUR_TOKEN with your real token:

claude mcp add --transport http shortcut https://streamshortcut.staycek.workers.dev/mcp --header "X-Shortcut-Token: YOUR_TOKEN"

Use -s user to make it available in every project instead of just the current one.

Option 2: Edit the config directly

Add this to your Claude Desktop / Claude Code config:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "shortcut": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://streamshortcut.staycek.workers.dev/mcp",
      "headers": {
        "X-Shortcut-Token": "your-token-here"
      }
    }
  }
}

Put the literal token in the config. A "${SHORTCUT_API_TOKEN}" reference only resolves if the variable is present in the environment the app was launched from. On macOS, apps started from the Dock or Finder do not read ~/.zshrc, so the variable will be undefined and the server will fail to authenticate. Environment references work reliably only when you launch from a terminal.

Either way, restart Claude afterwards so the new server is picked up.

Authentication

The server is stateless and stores nothing — every request carries your own token, and it is never persisted. Send it either way:

X-Shortcut-Token: your-token-here
Authorization: Bearer your-token-here

X-Shortcut-Token takes precedence if both are present. There is no OAuth flow; an unauthenticated request returns 401 with a WWW-Authenticate header.

Verify It Works

Check the service is up (no token needed):

curl -s https://streamshortcut.staycek.workers.dev/health

Confirm your token is valid, straight against Shortcut:

curl -s -o /dev/null -w "%{http_code}\n" https://api.app.shortcut.com/api/v3/member -H "Shortcut-Token: YOUR_TOKEN"

200 means the token is good; 401 means it's wrong or expired.

Then test the full path — this returns your active stories:

curl -s https://streamshortcut.staycek.workers.dev/mcp -H "Content-Type: application/json" -H "Accept: application/json, text/event-stream" -H "X-Shortcut-Token: YOUR_TOKEN" -d '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":1,"method":"tools/call","params":{"name":"shortcut","arguments":{"action":"search"}}}'

Once configured in Claude, just ask: "show me my Shortcut stories."

Troubleshooting

Symptom	Cause
401 Missing Shortcut API token	No token sent — use either X-Shortcut-Token or Authorization: Bearer
Error: API error (401): Unauthorized	Token reached the server but Shortcut rejected it — expired or wrong token, or an unexpanded ${SHORTCUT_API_TOKEN} placeholder sent literally
403 Forbidden from the worker	Cloudflare bot protection. Some default HTTP clients (e.g. Python's urllib) are blocked by user agent — set a normal User-Agent header
Server missing after config edit	Claude needs a restart; it only reads MCP config at startup

Deploy Your Own (Optional)

If you prefer to self-host:

1. Clone and install:

   git clone https://github.com/stayce/streamshortcut-cloudflare
   cd streamshortcut-cloudflare
   npm install
   

2. Deploy:

   npm run deploy
   

No server-side secrets needed — users always provide their own token.

Development

npm run dev        # local server on http://localhost:8787
npm run typecheck  # tsc --noEmit
npm run build      # verify the Worker bundles (dry-run deploy)

Examples

{"action": "search"}
{"action": "search", "query": {"owner": "me", "state": "In Progress"}}
{"action": "get", "id": "704"}
{"action": "update", "id": "704", "state": "Done"}
{"action": "comment", "id": "704", "body": "Fixed!"}
{"action": "create", "name": "New bug", "type": "bug", "estimate": 3, "state": "Ready", "owner": "me"}
{"action": "epic", "id": "308"}
{"action": "api", "method": "GET", "path": "/workflows"}
{"action": "help"}

Related

• streamshortcut - Original stdio version for local use

License

MIT