A side-by-side look at the Claude Task Master and Pearl MCP servers: transport, auth, tools, quality signals, and the config to install either one in Claude, Cursor, Windsurf or VS Code.
Verdict: choose Claude Task Master for developer tools work as a local process; choose Pearl for developer tools over a hosted endpoint. You can also run both side by side in one mcpServers block.
ANTHROPIC_API_KEY, OPENAI_API_KEY, GOOGLE_API_KEY, PERPLEXITY_API_KEY, XAI_API_KEY, OPENROUTER_API_KEY, MISTRAL_API_KEY, TASK_MASTER_TOOLS.Rows where the two servers differ are marked.
| Spec | ||
|---|---|---|
| Category | Developer Tools | Developer Tools |
| Quality signal | 61/100 · Good | 40/100 · Fair |
| Install command | Confirmed | Confirmed |
| Transport | Local subprocess (stdio) | Remote HTTP/SSE |
| Auth | API key required | Not declared |
| Pricing | BYOK (pay the provider) | Not declared |
| Required env vars | ANTHROPIC_API_KEYOPENAI_API_KEYGOOGLE_API_KEYPERPLEXITY_API_KEYXAI_API_KEYOPENROUTER_API_KEYMISTRAL_API_KEYTASK_MASTER_TOOLS | None listed |
| Verified owner | Community listing | Community listing |
| GitHub stars | 28,227 | 1 |
| Directory activity | 9 views 0 installs 0 upvotes | 0 views 0 installs 0 upvotes |
| Tools | Not listed | Not listed |
| Full listing | View Claude Task Master | View Pearl |
No tool names declared yet. Check the project README from the listing page.
No tool names declared yet. Check the project README from the listing page.
Paste either block (or both) into your client config, e.g. claude_desktop_config.json or ~/.cursor/mcp.json. We only show a config when the install command is confirmed.
{
"mcpServers": {
"eyaltoledano-claude-task-master": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"task-master-ai"
],
"env": {
"ANTHROPIC_API_KEY": "YOUR_ANTHROPIC_API_KEY_HERE",
"OPENAI_API_KEY": "YOUR_OPENAI_API_KEY_HERE",
"GOOGLE_API_KEY": "YOUR_GOOGLE_API_KEY_HERE",
"PERPLEXITY_API_KEY": "YOUR_PERPLEXITY_API_KEY_HERE",
"XAI_API_KEY": "YOUR_XAI_API_KEY_HERE",
"OPENROUTER_API_KEY": "YOUR_OPENROUTER_API_KEY_HERE",
"MISTRAL_API_KEY": "YOUR_MISTRAL_API_KEY_HERE",
"TASK_MASTER_TOOLS": "YOUR_TASK_MASTER_TOOLS_HERE"
}
}
}
}
{
"mcpServers": {
"pearl": {
"url": "https://agent.joinpearl.co/mcp"
}
}
}