Idealift MCP Server

What Startvest-LLC/idealift-mcp-server MCP server does

Startvest-LLC/idealift-mcp-server brings IdeaLift product-management workflows into MCP-compatible AI assistants. It can turn unstructured text into a structured idea, check whether an assistant user is connected to IdeaLift, inspect available project destinations, and create tickets in connected systems. Supported ticket destinations are GitHub Issues, Jira, and Linear.

The broader workflow covers feedback and decision management. It also describes RICE scoring using Reach, Impact, Confidence, and Effort. Additional proxy tools provide access to IdeaLift API areas including ideas, signals, decisions, and the roadmap.

How it works

The Startvest-LLC/idealift-mcp-server MCP server uses Server-Sent Events transport. Once running, it exposes the MCP endpoint at http://localhost:3001/mcp; the default port is 3001 and can be changed with PORT.

Authentication has two layers. The server uses configured service credentials for its connection to IdeaLift and its database, while its built-in OAuth 2.0 flow links an AI-assistant user to an IdeaLift account. The OAuth flow supports the authorization-code grant with PKCE. The tools that list destinations, create tickets, or connect destinations require authentication; idea normalization and authentication checks do not.

The SSE transport sends keep-alive pings every 15 seconds. This is relevant when placing the server behind infrastructure that manages long-lived HTTP connections.

Setup and configuration

Install the project dependencies with npm install, copy .env.example to .env, then provide the required settings. The Startvest-LLC/idealift-mcp-server MCP server needs the following environment values:

• IDEALIFT_APP_URL — the IdeaLift API base URL
• INTERNAL_API_KEY — the service-to-service authentication key
• DATABASE_HOST — SQL Server host
• DATABASE_NAME — database name
• DATABASE_USERNAME — database username
• DATABASE_PASSWORD — database password
• OPENAI_API_KEY — used for idea normalization

Build and start the server with npm run build followed by npm start. For development, use npm run dev. The project is deployed as an Azure App Service, and the README points to IdeaLift documentation for hosted access.

Tools and capabilities

The core MCP tools are:

• normalize_idea: converts raw text into a structured idea.
• check_auth: checks whether a user is linked to IdeaLift.
• list_destinations: returns available GitHub, Jira, or Linear projects.
• create_ticket: creates a ticket in a selected destination.
• connect_destination: connects a new destination.

Use normalize_idea when an input may represent a feature request, bug report, or task. Use the destination tools after the user has authenticated and a target project is available. Proxy tools extend coverage to the IdeaLift API for ideas, signals, decisions, and roadmap data.

Limitations and notes

Ticket and destination operations require authentication, while normalization does not. The repository documentation identifies SQL Server configuration and an OpenAI API key as runtime requirements, so deployments need access to those dependencies. The documented transport is SSE rather than a local stdio connection.