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Editor integrations and CLI
Truetask ships three thin integrations for people who live in an editor: a VS Code extension, a set of Zed templates, and a command line tool the editors call. All three talk to the same /v1 REST API and the same MCP endpoint your other AI tools use.
For launching an editor from a task with the branch and context loaded, see Coding tools instead. That needs no install.
The truetask CLI
The CLI is a single Python package with no dependencies beyond the standard library. It lives in cli/truetask in the Truetask source repository.
bash
python3 -m pip install -e .Authentication
bash
truetask auth setup --url https://truetask.example.comThe command prompts for an API token and writes it to ~/.config/truetask/cli.json, with user-only permissions where the platform supports them. truetask auth status reports what is configured.
Create the token from the avatar menu, under API tokens. See REST API.
Three environment variables override the config file:
| Variable | Sets |
|---|---|
TRUETASK_URL | The workspace URL |
TRUETASK_API_TOKEN | The API token |
TRUETASK_CONFIG | A different config file path |
Commands
| Command | Does |
|---|---|
truetask git branch-name <task-id> | Prints the branch name for a task, using the workspace template |
truetask git checkout-guidance <task-id> | Prints the checkout steps for a task |
truetask git start <task-id> | Starts a task and prints checkout guidance |
truetask git reviews | Prints your review inbox |
truetask git pr list | Lists mirrored pull requests, filtered by --card-id, --board-id or --state |
truetask git pr open <pr-id> | Prints a mirrored pull request, or opens it with --browser |
truetask git pr checkout-guidance <pr-id> | Prints checkout steps for a pull request |
truetask git issue link <issue-id> <task-id> | Links an issue to a task |
truetask git issue reference <issue-id> <task-id> | References an issue from a task |
truetask timer toggle <task-id> | Starts or stops the task's timer |
truetask git start also takes --create-remote to create the branch on the provider, --from-branch to pick a base, --repository when the board has more than one repository, and --checkout to run the local git commands for you. Every command takes --json for machine-readable output.
VS Code
The extension lives in integrations/vscode. Build it with pnpm install && pnpm run compile, then package it with pnpm run package and install the resulting file in VS Code.
It adds these commands, all under the Truetask category in the command palette:
| Command | Does |
|---|---|
| Truetask: Set API Token | Stores your token in VS Code SecretStorage |
| Truetask: Configure MCP | Writes a .vscode/mcp.json snippet pointing at your workspace's MCP endpoint |
| Truetask: Set Current Task | Sets the task ID the other commands act on, plus an optional key and board ID |
| Truetask: Clear Current Task | Clears it |
| Truetask: Start Current Task | Fetches the branch name and copies checkout guidance |
| Truetask: Open Review Inbox | Opens your cross-board review inbox |
| Truetask: Open Pull Request | Opens a linked pull request and copies checkout guidance |
| Truetask: Toggle Current Task Timer | Starts or stops the timer |
The status bar shows the current task and runs Start Current Task when clicked.
Settings live under truetask.*: truetask.url for the workspace, truetask.mcpUrl for the MCP endpoint, and truetask.currentTaskId, truetask.currentTaskKey and truetask.currentBoardId for the current task. Prefer Set API Token over the truetask.apiToken setting, which exists for development only.
Zed
Zed has no extension point for a custom status bar item or palette command, so the Truetask integration there is a set of templates in integrations/zed.
MCP context server
Copy context_servers/truetask.context_servers.json into your Zed settings file (zed: open settings file) and replace the placeholder with a real API token. Do not commit a settings file containing a token.
You can also add it from the Agent Panel: run agent: add context server, choose a custom remote server, and enter the same URL and Authorization header. See MCP for the endpoint and token.
Tasks and keymap
tasks/truetask.tasks.json goes into .zed/tasks.json for one project, or ~/.config/zed/tasks.json globally. The tasks call the truetask CLI, so install that first.
They cover starting the current task, looking up a branch name, printing checkout guidance, opening the review inbox, opening a pull request, and toggling the timer. Set TRUETASK_TASK_ID for the task-scoped ones, and TRUETASK_PR_ID for the pull request one.
keymap/truetask.keymap.json binds four of them to Alt+T, Alt+B, Alt+R and Alt+P. Copy it into your keymap (zed: open keymap) if you want them.
Other tools
Any MCP client can work in your workspace with a token and a URL, with no editor plugin at all. See MCP for the guided setup, which covers Claude Code, Claude Desktop, Cursor, Codex, Gemini CLI, LM Studio, opencode and more.
For n8n, see n8n.