Request Tracker

Name: Request Tracker
Price: 15 USD

Enterprise ticket tracker with a Builder-shipped MCP server for search, create, reply, and update.

AdaptableOperable Business appWeb app Deterministic PerlJavaScript MCP server License: GPL-2.0

Request Tracker (RT) is Best Practical's GPL ticketing system, in production since 1996 and now at 6.x. Self-hosting is free; Best Practical sells cloud hosting and support. The same org publishes mcp-server-rt, a stdio MCP server that proxies RT's REST 2.0 API so an agent can search with TicketSQL, read history, create and update tickets, and reply to requestors.

Use it when

we run a shared support or IT queue by email and want tickets triaged, assigned, and answered from our agent without leaving RT's audit trail
we already have an RT instance and want Claude or Cursor to search TicketSQL and draft replies as a named user

Gotchas

MCP server needs RT 6.0+ with REST 2.0 enabled; older RT 4.x/5.x installs must upgrade first
Everything the agent does is logged as the token's user, including emails sent on replies; a repeated add_reply sends mail again
Perl stack with a long CPAN dependency install; SELinux default blocks /opt/rt6
GPL-2.0 copyleft on both RT and the MCP server

Last activity Sep 1, 2026. Fit: adaptable 2, operable 3.

Editions

Free (self-hosted) · Free open source

Clonegit clone https://github.com/bestpractical/rt
Install./configure && make install

For agents: JSON · Markdown

Adaptable: what is yours to change

Make it yours

Config only4 things to edit

Override defaults in etc/RT_SiteConfig.pm; every setting is documented in etc/RT_Config.pm.in. An SMB sets $rtname, $Organization, $CorrespondAddress, $CommentAddress, $WebDomain, $Timezone, mail delivery ($MailCommand, $SetOutgoingMailFrom), and @Plugins, then builds queues, custom fields, and scrips in the admin UI. For the MCP server, set RT_URL and RT_TOKEN in the client config; the token is created under Settings > Auth Tokens and needs the ManageAuthTokens right.

Env vars: RT_URL RT_TOKEN
Config files: etc/RT_SiteConfig.pm etc/RT_Config.pm.in
Prompt files: none
Accounts you need: none beyond your own RT instance; Best Practical account only for Cloud editions

Source

github.com/bestpractical/rt
GPL-2.0 license
Last commit Sep 1, 2026
1,149 stars

Also: bestpractical/mcp-server-rt

Operable: what an agent can drive

Interface

OfficialMCP serverpublished by the builderlocal

How an agent can drive an Operable Listing, in five levels: native (built for the agent as the primary interface), official (the Builder ships an agent interface), wrapped (a third party wraps the software's API), config (an agent can only drive it by editing files), gui (screen control only). An interface is official only when it is published by the same organization that ships the software. GUI-level Listings are allowed and sorted last.

Docs: github.com/bestpractical/mcp-server-rt
Tools: search_tickets get_ticket get_ticket_history get_transaction get_queue list_queues get_queue_fields lookup_user get_current_user get_ticketsql_grammar create_ticket update_ticket add_comment add_reply get_ticket_attachments get_attachment save_attachment

Reach

Partial coverage. 6 of 10 jobs reachable through the stated interface.

Job	Through the interface	Evidence
Search tickets	Reachable	search_tickets with full TicketSQL; get_ticketsql_grammar for syntax
Read a ticket and its history	Reachable	get_ticket, get_ticket_history, get_transaction, attachment tools
Create tickets with metadata	Reachable	create_ticket sets status, owner, requestors, due dates, custom fields, custom roles, links
Reply to requestors and add internal comments	Reachable	add_reply and add_comment; README example resolves a ticket and notifies the requestor in one step
Update status, owner, priority, watchers, links	Reachable	update_ticket
Discover queues, custom fields, and users	Reachable	list_queues, get_queue, get_queue_fields, lookup_user
Dashboards, charts, and reports	Not reachable	no dashboard or chart tool in the MCP tool table
Track assets (RT Assets)	Not reachable	no asset tools; MCP tool table is ticket, queue, user, attachment only
Configure scrips and automation	Not reachable	administration is not in the MCP surface; RT_SiteConfig.pm and the admin UI
Knowledge base articles	Not reachable	no article tools in the MCP tool table

Code stack

Languages: PerlJavaScript
Frameworks: HTML::Mason
Package manager: cpan
Database: MySQLMariaDBPostgreSQLOracle
Hosting target: self-host (Apache/nginx FastCGI or mod_perl)
Built: Human-written (recorded, never ranked)

Model stack

Providers: any MCP client
Models: none
Keys you need: RT_URL RT_TOKEN
Prompts live in: none

Evidence and confidence

Field	Where it was seen	Confidence
formFactor	README: web app served through FastCGI or mod_perl; rt-server standalone	95%
executionModel	no model at runtime in core; etc/ai directory exists in the 6.x tree, treated as optional	70%
operability	github.com/bestpractical/mcp-server-rt is under the same org that ships RT; README lists 17 tools	95%
effort	README step 6a: configure RT by editing etc/RT_SiteConfig.pm with values from etc/RT_Config.pm; RT_Config.pm.in lists Set($rtname) and 60+ other keys	85%
editions	README: freely available under GPL v2; requesttracker.com/pricing: Starter $15, Business $29, Growth $39 per user/month	80%
active	gh api: pushed 2026-09-01; mcp-server-rt pushed 2026-08-31	–
reach		90%

Open questions

What the etc/ai directory in RT 6 does and whether it makes the core hybrid
Whether Cloud editions expose auth tokens so the MCP server works against hosted RT

Sources

github.com/bestpractical/rt sourcing:support-bookkeeping:curated
github.com/bestpractical/mcp-server-rt sourcing:support-bookkeeping:registries
docs.bestpractical.com/rt/latest/RT/REST2.html sourcing:support-bookkeeping:github
requesttracker.com/pricing analysis