A side-by-side look at the Claude Task Master and SpanHound 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 SpanHound for developer tools. 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.list_runs, run_summary, span_tree.Rows where the two servers differ are marked.
| Spec | S SpanHound | |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Developer Tools | Developer Tools |
| Quality signal | 61/100 · Good | 47/100 · Fair |
| Install command | Confirmed | Not confirmed yet |
| Transport | Local subprocess (stdio) | — |
| Auth | API key required | No auth required |
| Pricing | BYOK (pay the provider) | Free |
| 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 | 0 |
| Directory activity | 9 views 0 installs 0 upvotes | 0 views 0 installs 0 upvotes |
| Tools | Not listed | 12 |
| Full listing | View Claude Task Master | View SpanHound |
No tool names declared yet. Check the project README from the listing page.
list_runsStarting out — recent runs with task, model, duration, cost, decision countsrun_summaryOne run at a glance (accepts trace-id prefix)span_tree"What did the agent actually do?" — nested shape of the runslowest_spans"Why was it slow?" — top-k spans by durationapproval_logHITL audit — every approve/deny/**edit**, who decided, and *the rationale*token_usageCost questions — aggregated across runs or per-runsearch_spansFind spans by tool name, file path, "denied", …failure_reportFind actionable, bounded, redacted errors and failed tool calls.tool_statsRank tools by volume, error rate, denials, and latency.security_auditAudit caller identity, tenant, server provenance, risk, and approval evidence.recent_activityPoll new spans with a cursor while a run is active.compare_runsCompare selected traces for regressions across models or versions.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"
}
}
}
}
No confirmed install command for SpanHound yet — follow the setup steps linked from its listing page rather than a guessed package name.