Why?

ClickUp's API responses are massive — a single task list query returns deeply nested JSON that can consume 12,000+ tokens for just 5 tasks. For AI agents operating in context windows, this is a serious problem.

clickup-cli solves this with token-efficient output by default:

Full API JSON (5 tasks):  ~12,000 tokens
clickup-cli output:          ~150 tokens
Reduction:                       ~98%

Install

npm install -g @nick.bester/clickup-cli

Quick Start

# Configure (get token from ClickUp Settings > Apps > API Token)
clickup setup --token pk_your_token_here

# Verify
clickup auth whoami

# Navigate workspace
clickup workspace list
clickup space list
clickup folder list --space 12345
clickup list list --folder 67890

# Task management
clickup task list --list 12345
clickup task create --list 12345 --name "My Task" --priority 3
clickup task get abc123
clickup task update abc123 --status "in progress"
clickup task search --status "in progress"

Output Modes

clickup task list --list 12345                      # Table (default, compact)
clickup task list --list 12345 --output json         # Full API JSON
clickup task list --list 12345 --output json-compact # Flattened JSON
clickup task list --list 12345 --output csv          # CSV
clickup task list --list 12345 -q                    # IDs only

Command Groups (28 resource groups + 4 utilities)

| Category | Commands | |----------|----------| | Core | setup, auth, workspace, space, folder, list, task | | Collaboration | checklist, comment, tag, field, task-type, attachment | | Tracking | time, goal, view, member, user | | Communication | chat (v3), doc (v3), webhook, template | | Admin | guest, group, role, shared, audit-log, acl | | Utilities | status, completions, agent-config, mcp |

AI Agent Integration

CLI Mode (recommended — most token-efficient)

Inject a compressed command reference (~1,000 tokens) into your project's agent instructions:

clickup agent-config inject   # Auto-detects: CLAUDE.md, agent.md, .cursorrules, etc.

MCP Mode (143 tools with compact responses)

For Claude Desktop, Cursor, and other MCP-capable tools:

clickup agent-config init --mcp   # Creates .mcp.json at project root

Or configure manually — add .mcp.json to your project root:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "clickup-cli": {
      "command": "clickup",
      "args": ["mcp", "serve"]
    }
  }
}

Project-Level Config

clickup agent-config init --token pk_xxx --workspace 12345 --mcp

Creates .clickup.toml (auth) + .mcp.json (MCP server) in one command. Project config takes priority over global config.

Shell Completions

clickup completions bash > ~/.bash_completion.d/clickup
clickup completions zsh > ~/.zfunc/_clickup
clickup completions fish > ~/.config/fish/completions/clickup.fish

Other Install Methods

| Method | Command | |--------|---------| | Homebrew | brew tap nicholasbester/clickup-cli && brew install clickup-cli | | Cargo | cargo install clickup-cli | | Binary | Download from GitHub Releases |

Links

• Documentation: nicholasbester.github.io/clickup-cli
• Command Reference: nicholasbester.github.io/clickup-cli/commands
• MCP Server: nicholasbester.github.io/clickup-cli/mcp
• GitHub: github.com/nicholasbester/clickup-cli

License

Apache-2.0