# Plane

Open-source project management with the Builder's own MCP server: 30 tools over work items, cycles, modules and more.

Work items, cycles, modules, views, pages and analytics for small teams, self-hosted under AGPL or on Plane Cloud. makeplane/plane-mcp-server is the Builder's MCP, runnable locally over stdio with an API key or remotely at mcp.plane.so with OAuth, built on the official plane-sdk. Project management rather than CRM, so a partial fit for this vertical.

Alternative to: Jira, Linear, Asana

- Capabilities: adaptable, operable
- Vertical: smb-ops-crm
- Shape: business-app
- Form factor: web-app
- Execution model: hybrid
- Provenance: human-written (recorded, never ranked)
- Repo: https://github.com/makeplane/plane (AGPL-3.0), 58797 stars, last commit 2026-09-02
- Last activity: 2026-09-02
- Page: apps/makeplane--plane.html
- JSON: apps/makeplane--plane.json

## Use it when

- I want our agent to file and triage work items from support conversations without paying per seat
- I need Jira-style cycles and modules for a five-person team on our own box

## Gotchas

- Self-host runs six services (API, web, worker, Postgres, Redis, RabbitMQ, MinIO)
- AGPL for Community; Commercial self-hosted edition is separate
- Legacy per-operation tool names still resolve, but seven were replaced by tool-and-action pairs
- Project management, not CRM: no contacts or pipeline

## Editions

- Community (self-hosted): Free, open source
  - source: https://github.com/makeplane/plane
  - container: https://developers.plane.so/self-hosting/methods/docker-compose
- Cloud Free: Free, closed source
  - hosted: https://app.plane.so
- Cloud paid and self-hosted Commercial: Free, closed source
  - hosted: https://plane.so/pricing

## Adaptable: make it yours

Effort: config-only (21 things to edit)

The .env.example is short: SITE_ADDRESS, database and Redis credentials, RabbitMQ, and storage (USE_MINIO or AWS_S3_*). OPENAI_API_KEY and GPT_ENGINE switch on AI in pages. Everything else (projects, states, labels, workflows) is configured in-product by instance admins. For the MCP server, PLANE_API_KEY, PLANE_WORKSPACE_SLUG and PLANE_BASE_URL point it at your instance.

- Env vars: SITE_ADDRESS, POSTGRES_DB, POSTGRES_USER, POSTGRES_PASSWORD, REDIS_HOST, RABBITMQ_HOST, RABBITMQ_USER, RABBITMQ_PASSWORD, USE_MINIO, AWS_S3_BUCKET_NAME, AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID, AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY, OPENAI_API_KEY, GPT_ENGINE, FILE_SIZE_LIMIT, API_KEY_RATE_LIMIT, PLANE_API_KEY, PLANE_WORKSPACE_SLUG, PLANE_BASE_URL
- Config files: .env.example, docker-compose.yml
- Prompt files: none
- Accounts you'll need: Plane Cloud account (cloud edition); S3-compatible storage (self-host); OpenAI (optional)

## Operable: what an agent can drive

Operability: official. Interface: mcp at https://github.com/makeplane/plane-mcp-server (published by the builder, both).

### Reach (partial coverage)

- Create, list, search and update work items: reachable. workitem tool with create/list/count actions and PQL queries (plane-mcp-server README)
- Run cycles: reachable. cycle tool with actions including archive
- Split work into modules: reachable. README: tools cover modules
- Manage projects: reachable. README: read and manage projects; manage_project_archive legacy name
- Track releases and customers: reachable. README: releases, customers listed among the 30 resources
- Write and organize pages: undetermined. Not named in the README summary; check plane_mcp/tools/README.md
- Save and share views: undetermined. Not named in the README summary
- Read analytics and burn-down: undetermined. Not named in the README summary
- Configure instance settings (God mode): not reachable. Instance admin is a web UI for self-hosters; not an API resource

## Code stack

- Languages: TypeScript, Python
- Frameworks: React Router, Django
- Package manager: pnpm + pip
- Database: PostgreSQL, Redis, RabbitMQ, MinIO/S3
- Hosting target: Docker Compose, Kubernetes

## Model stack

- Providers: OpenAI (optional)
- Models: none
- Keys you need (names only): OPENAI_API_KEY, OPENAI_API_BASE, GPT_ENGINE
- Prompts live in: none
- Tools: workitem, cycle, module, project, page, customer, release, get_pql_reference

## Skills

contributor: Repo tooling for Plane contributors: branch naming, pull requests, release notes, translation.
- Paths: .claude/skills/*/SKILL.md

## Evidence and confidence

- formFactor: README: web app, Docker and Kubernetes self-host (confidence 0.95)
- executionModel: OPENAI_API_KEY and GPT_ENGINE in .env.example; AI in Pages per README (confidence 0.75)
- operability: makeplane/plane-mcp-server README: 30 tools, 204 operations, stdio and mcp.plane.so, same GitHub org (confidence 0.95)
- effort: .env.example with 30 named vars (confidence 0.85)
- editions: README: free Plane Cloud account, self-host docs; AGPL license on GitHub (confidence 0.7)
- active: GitHub pushedAt 2026-09-02 on both repos
- reach:  (confidence 0.75)

## Open questions

- Cloud plan prices and Commercial self-host price
- Do the MCP tools cover pages, views and analytics? Read plane_mcp/tools/README.md
- License of plane-mcp-server itself

## Sources

- https://github.com/makeplane/plane (sourcing:smb-ops-crm:vendor)
- https://github.com/makeplane/plane-mcp-server (sourcing:smb-ops-crm:vendor)