Zoho Projects MCP Server

A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that provides integration with Zoho Projects API. This server enables AI assistants to interact with Zoho Projects for managing projects, tasks, issues, milestones, and more.

Features

Supported Operations

Portal Management
- List all portals
- Get portal details
Project Management
- List projects
- Get project details
- Create new projects
- Update existing projects
- Delete projects (move to trash)
Task Management
- List tasks (portal or project level)
- Get task details
- Create tasks
- Update tasks
- Delete tasks
Issue Management
- List issues (portal or project level)
- Get issue details
- Create issues
- Update issues
Phase/Milestone Management
- List phases
- Create phases
Search
- Search across portal or project
- Filter by module (projects, tasks, issues, milestones, forums, events)
User Management
- List users in portal or project

Prerequisites

Node.js (v18 or higher)
Zoho Projects Account with API access
Zoho OAuth Credentials

Setup

1. Get Zoho OAuth Credentials (Detailed Guide)

Step 1: Create a Zoho Developer Application

Go to Zoho API Console
Click "Add Client" button
Choose "Self Client" (recommended for personal use) or "Server-based Applications"
Fill in the application details:
- Client Name: e.g., "Zoho Projects MCP"
- Homepage URL: Your website or http://localhost for testing
- Authorized Redirect URIs: http://localhost:8080/callback (or your preferred redirect URL)
Click "Create" and note down:
- Client ID (e.g., 1000.XXXXXXXXXX)
- Client Secret (keep this secure!)

Step 2: Generate Authorization Code

Build the authorization URL with required scopes:

https://accounts.zoho.{REGION}/oauth/v2/auth?
  scope=ZohoProjects.portals.ALL,ZohoProjects.projects.ALL,ZohoProjects.tasks.ALL,ZohoProjects.bugs.ALL,ZohoProjects.milestones.ALL,ZohoProjects.users.READ,ZohoSearch.securesearch.READ
  &client_id=YOUR_CLIENT_ID
  &response_type=code
  &access_type=offline
  &redirect_uri=YOUR_REDIRECT_URI

Replace {REGION} with your region:

US: com
EU: eu
IN: in
AU: com.au
CN: com.cn

Open this URL in your browser
Log in to your Zoho account and authorize the application

You'll be redirected to your redirect URI with a code parameter in the URL:

http://localhost:8080/callback?code=1000.XXXXX.XXXXX&location=in&accounts-server=https://accounts.zoho.in

Copy the code value (valid for ~2 minutes, use it immediately!)

Step 3: Exchange Code for Tokens

Use this curl command to get your access and refresh tokens:

curl -X POST https://accounts.zoho.{REGION}/oauth/v2/token \
  -d "code=YOUR_AUTHORIZATION_CODE" \
  -d "client_id=YOUR_CLIENT_ID" \
  -d "client_secret=YOUR_CLIENT_SECRET" \
  -d "redirect_uri=YOUR_REDIRECT_URI" \
  -d "grant_type=authorization_code"

Response will contain:

{
  "access_token": "1000.xxxx.yyyy",
  "refresh_token": "1000.zzzz.aaaa",
  "expires_in": 3600,
  "api_domain": "https://www.zohoapis.in",
  "token_type": "Bearer"
}

Important: Save both tokens:

access_token: Valid for 1 hour (auto-refreshed by the server)
refresh_token: Long-lived, used to get new access tokens

Step 4: Find Your Portal ID

Method 1: From URL

Go to your Zoho Projects in browser
Look at the URL: https://projects.zoho.{REGION}/portal/{PORTAL_ID}/...
The number after /portal/ is your Portal ID (e.g., 60028147039)

Method 2: Using API

curl -X GET https://projectsapi.zoho.{REGION}/api/v3/portals \
  -H "Authorization: Zoho-oauthtoken YOUR_ACCESS_TOKEN"

Response will list all your portals with their IDs.

Step 5: Verify Credentials

Test your setup with this API call:

curl -X GET https://projectsapi.zoho.{REGION}/api/v3/portal/YOUR_PORTAL_ID/projects \
  -H "Authorization: Zoho-oauthtoken YOUR_ACCESS_TOKEN"

Expected: JSON response with your projects list If error: Check token, portal ID, and API domain match your region

Required Scopes Summary

Make sure your OAuth token has these scopes:

✅ ZohoProjects.portals.ALL - Portal operations
✅ ZohoProjects.projects.ALL - Project management
✅ ZohoProjects.tasks.ALL - Task management
✅ ZohoProjects.bugs.ALL - Issue/bug management
✅ ZohoProjects.milestones.ALL - Milestone/phase management
✅ ZohoProjects.users.READ - User information
✅ ZohoSearch.securesearch.READ - Search functionality

2. Setup and Installation

Node.js Setup

Prerequisites:

Node.js (v18 or higher)

Steps:

Clone and install:

git clone <repository-url>
cd zoho-mcp
npm install
npm run build

Create .env file with your credentials (see Configuration section below)
Run the server:

# Stdio server (for local MCP clients)
npm start

# HTTP server (for remote access)
npm run start:http

3. Configuration

Create a .env file in the project root with the following variables:

# OAuth credentials (required)
ZOHO_ACCESS_TOKEN=your_access_token_here
ZOHO_REFRESH_TOKEN=your_refresh_token_here
ZOHO_CLIENT_ID=your_client_id_here
ZOHO_CLIENT_SECRET=your_client_secret_here

# Portal configuration (required)
ZOHO_PORTAL_ID=your_portal_id_here

# API domain (optional, choose based on your region)
ZOHO_API_DOMAIN=https://projectsapi.zoho.com
ZOHO_ACCOUNTS_DOMAIN=https://accounts.zoho.com

# HTTP Server configuration (optional, for remote access)
HTTP_PORT=3001
ALLOWED_ORIGINS=http://localhost:3000
ALLOWED_HOSTS=127.0.0.1,localhost

Region-specific domains:

US: projectsapi.zoho.com / accounts.zoho.com
EU: projectsapi.zoho.eu / accounts.zoho.eu
IN: projectsapi.zoho.in / accounts.zoho.in
AU: projectsapi.zoho.com.au / accounts.zoho.com.au
CN: projectsapi.zoho.com.cn / accounts.zoho.com.cn

4. Configure Claude Desktop

Add to your Claude Desktop configuration file:

macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

For Node.js Setup:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "zoho-projects": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/absolute/path/to/zoho-mcp/dist/index.js"],
      "env": {
        "ZOHO_ACCESS_TOKEN": "your_access_token_here",
        "ZOHO_REFRESH_TOKEN": "your_refresh_token_here",
        "ZOHO_CLIENT_ID": "your_client_id_here",
        "ZOHO_CLIENT_SECRET": "your_client_secret_here",
        "ZOHO_PORTAL_ID": "your_portal_id_here",
        "ZOHO_API_DOMAIN": "https://projectsapi.zoho.in",
        "ZOHO_ACCOUNTS_DOMAIN": "https://accounts.zoho.in"
      }
    }
  }
}

Usage Examples

Once configured, you can use Claude to interact with Zoho Projects:

List Projects

Can you list all my Zoho Projects?

Create a New Project

Create a new project called "Website Redesign" with description "Redesign company website" starting on 2025-01-15 and ending on 2025-03-31

List Tasks

Show me all tasks in project ID 1234567890

Create a Task

Create a high priority task called "Design homepage mockup" in project 1234567890, due on 2025-02-15

Search

Search for "bug fix" in all modules

List Issues

Show me all issues in project 1234567890

Project Structure

zoho-projects-mcp-server/
├── src/
│   └── index.ts          # Main server implementation
├── dist/                  # Compiled JavaScript (generated)
├── package.json
├── tsconfig.json
└── README.md

Available Tools

The server provides the following MCP tools:

list_portals - Get all portals
get_portal - Get portal details
list_projects - List all projects
get_project - Get project details
create_project - Create a new project
update_project - Update a project
delete_project - Delete a project
list_tasks - List tasks
get_task - Get task details
create_task - Create a task
update_task - Update a task
delete_task - Delete a task
list_issues - List issues
get_issue - Get issue details
create_issue - Create an issue
update_issue - Update an issue
list_phases - List phases/milestones
create_phase - Create a phase
search - Search portal or project
list_users - List users

Troubleshooting

Authentication Issues

Ensure your access token is valid and not expired
Verify the token has the required scopes
Check that the portal ID is correct

API Errors

Check the Zoho API documentation for rate limits
Ensure you're using the correct API domain for your region
Verify that the user has appropriate permissions

Connection Issues

Restart Claude Desktop after configuration changes
Check the Claude Desktop logs for error messages
Verify the server path in the configuration

OAuth Token Management

Token Expiration

Access tokens expire after 1 hour (3600 seconds). This MCP server automatically refreshes tokens using the refresh token.

Manual Token Refresh

If you need to manually refresh your access token:

# For India region (accounts.zoho.in)
curl -X POST https://accounts.zoho.in/oauth/v2/token \
  -d "refresh_token=YOUR_REFRESH_TOKEN" \
  -d "client_id=YOUR_CLIENT_ID" \
  -d "client_secret=YOUR_CLIENT_SECRET" \
  -d "grant_type=refresh_token"

# For other regions, use the appropriate accounts domain:
# US: https://accounts.zoho.com/oauth/v2/token
# EU: https://accounts.zoho.eu/oauth/v2/token
# AU: https://accounts.zoho.com.au/oauth/v2/token
# CN: https://accounts.zoho.com.cn/oauth/v2/token

Response example:

{
  "access_token": "1000.xxx.yyy",
  "scope": "ZohoProjects.portals.ALL ZohoProjects.projects.ALL...",
  "api_domain": "https://www.zohoapis.in",
  "token_type": "Bearer",
  "expires_in": 3600
}

Automatic Token Refresh

The MCP server automatically handles token refresh. Configure the following environment variables:

ZOHO_REFRESH_TOKEN=your_refresh_token_here
ZOHO_CLIENT_ID=your_client_id_here
ZOHO_CLIENT_SECRET=your_client_secret_here
ZOHO_ACCOUNTS_DOMAIN=https://accounts.zoho.in  # Match your region

The server will automatically refresh the access token before it expires.

API Reference

For detailed API documentation, visit: https://projects.zoho.com/api-docs

License

MIT

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit issues or pull requests.

Support

For issues related to:

MCP Server: Open an issue in this repository
Zoho Projects API: Contact Zoho support or check their documentation
Claude Desktop: Check Anthropic's documentation