writbase

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WritBase

MCP-native task management for AI agent fleets

A control plane for AI agents and human supervisors. Persistent task registry with scoped permissions, inter-agent delegation, and full provenance — all accessible via MCP.

  

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<img src="docs/assets/demo.svg" alt="WritBase MCP demo — agent creates a task and delegates to another agent" width="100%"/>

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Why WritBase?

AI agents need a shared, persistent task registry — not ephemeral in-memory state that vanishes between sessions. WritBase gives your agent fleet:

• One source of truth — Tasks live in Postgres, not scattered across files and chat threads
• Scoped permissions — Each agent gets exactly the access it needs, nothing more
• Full provenance — Every change is recorded: who, what, when, and why
• Inter-agent delegation — Agents can assign tasks to each other with depth limits and cycle detection
• MCP-native — Agents connect via the Model Context Protocol, no custom integration needed

Getting Started

Option A: CLI Setup (recommended)

No repo clone needed. Just npx:

npx writbase init        # Interactive setup — configures Supabase credentials
npx writbase migrate     # Apply database schema
npx writbase key create  # Create your first agent key

That's it. Your MCP endpoint is live at:

https://<project-ref>.supabase.co/functions/v1/mcp-server/mcp

Prerequisites: Node 18+, Supabase CLI, a Supabase project (free tier works) Deploy the Edge Function: npx supabase functions deploy mcp-server --no-verify-jwt See the CLI README for all commands.

Option B: Manual Setup

<details> <summary>Clone and deploy manually</summary>

git clone https://github.com/Writbase/writbase.git
cd writbase && npm install

# Create a free project at supabase.com/dashboard, then:
npx supabase link --project-ref <your-project-ref>
npx supabase db push
npx supabase functions deploy mcp-server --no-verify-jwt

Optional dashboard: cp .env.example .env.local → edit with your Supabase URL + anon key → npm run dev See the Deployment Guide for Vercel hosting and self-hosted Supabase.

</details>

2. Create a project and agent key

Via the CLI (npx writbase key create), the dashboard, or a manager agent:

1. Create a project — e.g., my-app. Optionally add departments (backend, frontend, devops)
2. Create an agent key — name it, pick the worker role, save the key (wb_<key_id>_<secret> — shown once)
3. Grant permissions — writbase key permit my-agent --grant --project my-app --can-read --can-create --can-update (or via dashboard)

3. Connect your MCP client

<details> <summary><strong>Claude Code</strong></summary>

claude mcp add writbase \
  --transport http \
  --url https://<project-ref>.supabase.co/functions/v1/mcp-server/mcp \
  --header "Authorization: Bearer wb_<key_id>_<secret>"

</details>

<details> <summary><strong>Cursor</strong></summary>

Add to .cursor/mcp.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "writbase": {
      "type": "streamableHttp",
      "url": "https://<project-ref>.supabase.co/functions/v1/mcp-server/mcp",
      "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer wb_<key_id>_<secret>" }
    }
  }
}

</details>

<details> <summary><strong>VS Code / Copilot</strong></summary>

Add to .vscode/mcp.json:

{
  "servers": {
    "writbase": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://<project-ref>.supabase.co/functions/v1/mcp-server/mcp",
      "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer wb_<key_id>_<secret>" }
    }
  }
}

</details>

<details> <summary><strong>Windsurf / Claude Desktop / Other</strong></summary>

See the MCP Config Reference for all supported clients. </details>

4. Use it

Ask your agent:

"Check my WritBase permissions"          → calls info
"Create a task in my-app: Fix login bug" → calls add_task
"Mark it as in_progress"                 → calls update_task (with version for concurrency)
"Show all high priority tasks"           → calls get_tasks with priority filter

5. Scale up

| Agent | Role | Scoped to | Use case | |-------|------|-----------|----------| | ci-bot | worker | my-app/devops — can_create | CI creates tasks on build failure | | triage-agent | worker | my-app (all depts) — can_comment | Reviews tasks, adds notes | | ops-manager | manager | (workspace-wide) | Manages keys, permissions, projects |

Each agent gets its own key with exactly the permissions it needs — nothing more.

Full walkthrough: Getting Started Guide — permissions, departments, troubleshooting

MCP Tools

Worker Tools (all agents)

| Tool | Description | |------|-------------| | info | Agent identity, permissions, and system metadata | | get_tasks | List tasks with filtering, pagination, and full-text search | | add_task | Create a task in permitted scope | | update_task | Update a task with optimistic concurrency control |

Manager Tools (manager agents only)

| Tool | Description | |------|-------------| | manage_agent_keys | Create, update, deactivate, rotate agent keys | | manage_agent_permissions | Grant/revoke permissions with subset enforcement | | get_provenance | Query the append-only audit log | | manage_projects | Create, rename, archive projects | | manage_departments | Create, rename, archive departments | | subscribe | Register webhooks for task event notifications | | discover_agents | Find agents by capability and skill |

Features

• Multi-tenant workspaces — Signup auto-provisions an isolated workspace
• Dynamic MCP schema — Tool visibility and parameter enums adapt per agent's role and permissions
• 6 permission types — can_read, can_create, can_update, can_assign, can_comment, can_archive
• Project + department scoping — Permissions are granted per (project, department) pair
• Optimistic concurrency — Version-based conflict detection prevents silent overwrites
• Cursor pagination — Efficient traversal of large task sets
• Rate limiting — Per-agent-key request throttling
• Request logging — Every MCP call logged with latency, status, and agent context

Architecture

┌─────────────┐     ┌──────────────────┐     ┌──────────────┐
│  MCP Client │────▶│  Edge Function   │────▶│   Postgres   │
│  (Agent)    │◀────│  (Hono + MCP SDK)│◀────│  (Supabase)  │
└─────────────┘     └──────────────────┘     └──────────────┘
                           │
                    ┌──────┴──────┐
                    │  Next.js 16 │
                    │  Dashboard  │
                    └─────────────┘

• Backend: Supabase (Postgres + Edge Functions with Deno runtime)
• Transport: Streamable HTTP (MCP SDK)
• Frontend: Next.js 16 (App Router) + Tailwind CSS
• Auth: Supabase Auth (humans) + SHA-256 agent keys (agents)

Deployment Options

| | Supabase Cloud (recommended) | Self-Hosted Supabase | |---|---|---| | Setup | npx writbase init → npx writbase migrate → done | Docker Compose (5 containers) | | Cost | Free tier: 500MB DB, 50K MAUs | Your infrastructure | | Dashboard | Deploy to Vercel (free) | Self-host Next.js | | Updates | Automatic platform updates | Manual | | Control | Supabase-managed | Full |

See docs/deployment.md for detailed setup instructions.

Documentation

• Getting Started — Deploy, create an agent key, connect your MCP client, and manage tasks
• CLI Reference — npx writbase init, migrate, key, status
• Deployment Guide — Supabase Cloud, Vercel, and self-hosted setup
• Core Concepts — Permissions, provenance, error codes, delegation
• MCP Config Reference — Client configs for Claude Code, Cursor, VS Code, Windsurf

Contributing

See CONTRIBUTING.md for development setup, testing, and PR guidelines.

Security

See SECURITY.md for vulnerability reporting.

License

Apache 2.0 — see LICENSE.