Use Taskhold with Cline

What you get with Cline and Taskhold

• Cline reads your queue with taskhold_list and claims a task with taskhold_start, labelled "Cline in <repo>".
• A plan of steps and a progress bar on the live board while it works, plus its last progress message.
• Questions it can't answer on its own land under Needs you with a reply box, so you can answer from your phone.
• A summary on every finished task of what changed and how it was checked.

Connect Cline to Taskhold

1. Start the 7-day trial, open Settings > API keys and create a key for this machine. It starts with atd_sk_. One key per tool and machine lets you revoke each one on its own.
2. In the Cline panel open MCP Servers > Configure > Configure MCP Servers. That opens cline_mcp_settings.json.
3. Add the entry below and save. Cline connects right away; the server shows a green dot when it's up.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "taskhold": {
      "type": "streamableHttp",
      "url": "https://taskhold.com/api/mcp",
      "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer <your atd_sk_ key>" }
    }
  }
}

Tell Cline how to use the list

Cline reads workspace rules from .clinerules/ (or .cline/rules/) and also reads AGENTS.md. Save this as .clinerules/taskhold.md, or put it in AGENTS.md so other agents follow it too:

## Tasks (Taskhold)

The person and I share a task list through the taskhold MCP tools. They watch a live board while I work.
- Session start: taskhold_get_current, then taskhold_updates for replies. Nothing in progress? taskhold_list status:todo and take the highest priority.
- taskhold_start before working on a task (agent: "Cline in <repo>").
- More than a couple of steps: taskhold_plan, then taskhold_start and taskhold_complete each step.
- taskhold_progress at milestones (N of M, or a percent) with a short message. Every few minutes at most.
- Need a decision: taskhold_block with one specific question, then check taskhold_updates.
- Done: taskhold_complete with what changed and how I checked it.
- A TODO or bug I'm not fixing now: taskhold_create (or taskhold_create_from_todo with file and line).

Rules in ~/Documents/Cline/Rules apply to every workspace, if you want the workflow everywhere. The CLAUDE.md task workflow guide explains each line.

One limit to know

Cline asks you to approve each MCP tool call unless you turn on auto-approve for the Taskhold tools in the server's settings. With approvals on, every progress report waits on a click, which defeats the point of watching from the board. Auto-approve the taskhold_* tools only; they can't touch your files.

What leaves your machine, and how to disconnect

Taskhold receives task titles, steps, progress messages, questions and summaries, whatever the agent or script sends. Taskhold never sends code or commands to your machine, and it doesn't read your repository.

To cut a tool off, open Settings > API keys and revoke its key. The next call fails with 401. Then remove the Taskhold entry from the tool's config so it stops trying.