Uptier

🚀 UpTier

A MCP-powered task management application with intelligent prioritization via Claude Desktop, offering a seamless task - handling experience.

UpTier is a desktop to - do application that combines a clean Microsoft To Do - style interface with the power of Claude AI for intelligent task prioritization. Through the Model Context Protocol (MCP), Claude can analyze your tasks and help you focus on what matters most.

🚀 Quick Start

Prerequisites

• Node.js 20+ (LTS recommended)
• pnpm 8+
• Claude Desktop (for AI features)

Installation

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/foxintheloop/uptier.git
cd uptier

# Install pnpm (if not already installed)
npm install -g pnpm

# Install dependencies
pnpm install

# Approve build scripts for native modules (canvas, sharp, electron)
pnpm approve-builds

# Rebuild native modules
pnpm rebuild

# Build packages
pnpm --filter @uptier/shared build
pnpm --filter @uptier/mcp-server build

Running the App

# Development mode
pnpm dev:electron

# Production build
pnpm --filter @uptier/electron build

Claude Desktop Integration

Deploy the MCP server for Claude Desktop:

# Deploy MCP server to standalone directory
pnpm --filter @uptier/mcp-server deploy

This deploys the MCP server to ~/.uptier/mcp-server/ with its own node_modules, automatically compiled for your current Node.js version. The Claude Desktop config is updated automatically.

⚠️ Important Note

The Electron app uses Node.js 22 (bundled), while Claude Desktop may use a different Node.js version. The standalone deployment compiles native modules (like better-sqlite3) for the correct version, preventing conflicts.

After deployment:

1. Restart Claude Desktop
2. The UpTier tools will be available in Claude

Manual Configuration (Alternative)

If the automatic deployment doesn't work, add UpTier manually to your Claude Desktop config:

Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json Linux: ~/.config/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "uptier": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/path/to/.uptier/mcp-server/index.js"]
    }
  }
}

✨ Features

Task Management

• Lists & Tasks - Create custom lists, tasks with subtasks, and organize your work
• Smart Lists - Built - in views for My Day, Important, Planned, and Completed tasks
• Tags - Categorize tasks with colored tags for easy filtering
• Due Dates - Set due dates with notifications and overdue tracking
• Drag & Drop - Reorder tasks within lists

AI - Powered Features

• Intelligent Prioritization - Let Claude analyze and prioritize your tasks
• Multiple Strategies - Eisenhower matrix, quick wins, high impact, and more
• Auto - Suggestions - Get AI recommendations for task organization

Organization

• Goal Tracking - Link tasks to goals and track progress
• Priority Tiers - Three - tier system (Do Now, Do Soon, Backlog)
• Priority Scoring - Rate tasks by effort, impact, urgency, and importance
• Data Export - Export your data for backup or analysis

Multi - Database Support

• Multiple Profiles - Create separate databases for work, personal, projects
• Easy Switching - Switch between database profiles from the sidebar
• Isolated Data - Each profile maintains its own lists, tasks, and settings

Focus Timer

• Distraction - Free Mode - Full - screen timer overlay to help you stay focused
• Flexible Durations - Preset options (30, 45, 60, 90 min) or custom duration
• Task Context - See task title and notes while working
• Keyboard Controls - Space to pause/resume, Esc to end session

💻 Usage Examples

There are no specific code usage examples provided in the original README. If you want to interact with the MCP tools, you can use the following as a reference for the general idea:

Using MCP Tools to Create a Task

// Assume there is an API client to interact with MCP server
const mcpClient = new MCPTaskClient();
mcpClient.create_task({
    title: "New Task",
    due_date: "2024-12-31",
    priority: "high"
});

📚 Documentation

MCP Tools

UpTier exposes powerful tools to Claude for managing your tasks:

Lists

Tasks

Prioritization

Goals

Subtasks & Tags

Prioritization Strategies

When asking Claude to prioritize your tasks, you can request different strategies:

Priority Tiers

Tasks are organized into three tiers:

• Tier 1 (Do Now) - High impact, urgent, or blocking other work
• Tier 2 (Do Soon) - Important but not time - sensitive
• Tier 3 (Backlog) - Lower priority, someday/maybe items

Data Storage

Your data is stored locally:

• Windows: %APPDATA%\.uptier\tasks.db
• macOS/Linux: ~/.uptier/tasks.db

Additional database profiles are stored in the same directory with custom names.

The database uses SQLite with WAL mode, allowing the Electron app and MCP server to access it simultaneously without conflicts.

Logs

Application logs are stored at:

• Windows: %APPDATA%\UpTier\logs\
• macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/UpTier/logs/
• Linux: ~/.config/UpTier/logs/

Keyboard Shortcuts

General Shortcuts

Focus Timer Shortcuts

🔧 Technical Details

Architecture

uptier/
├── apps/
│   ├── electron/          # Desktop application (React + Electron)
│   └── mcp-server/        # MCP server for Claude Desktop
├── packages/
│   └── shared/            # Shared types and database schema
└── pnpm-workspace.yaml

📄 License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see LICENSE for details.

🚧 Roadmap

• [x] Smart lists (My Day, Important, Planned, Completed)
• [x] Dark mode
• [x] Keyboard shortcuts
• [x] Tags
• [x] Due date notifications
• [x] Multiple database profiles
• [x] Data export
• [x] List rename/delete
• [x] Focus timer
• [ ] Recurring tasks
• [ ] Custom smart list filters
• [ ] Calendar integration
• [ ] Task templates
• [ ] Mobile companion app

❓ Troubleshooting

"Electron uninstall" error

If you see Error: Electron uninstall when running pnpm dev:electron, the Electron binary wasn't downloaded. Run:

node node_modules/electron/install.js

Native module errors with MCP server

If Claude Desktop shows errors about better-sqlite3 or NODE_MODULE_VERSION mismatches, use the standalone deployment:

pnpm --filter @uptier/mcp-server deploy

This creates a separate MCP server installation at ~/.uptier/mcp-server/ with native modules compiled for your current Node.js version, avoiding conflicts with the Electron app.

If you still have issues, ensure you're running the deploy command with the same Node.js version that Claude Desktop uses (typically Node.js 23).

Build script warnings

If you see warnings about "Ignored build scripts" during pnpm install, run:

pnpm approve-builds

Then select the packages that need to run build scripts (canvas, sharp, electron).

🤝 Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Here's how to get started:

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch (git checkout -b feature/amazing-feature)
3. Make your changes
4. Run the app to test (pnpm dev:electron)
5. Commit your changes (git commit -m 'Add amazing feature')
6. Push to the branch (git push origin feature/amazing-feature)
7. Open a Pull Request

Help Wanted: macOS & Linux Testing

UpTier is currently only tested on Windows. If you're on macOS or Linux, we'd love your help testing and reporting any platform - specific issues!

Built with Electron, React, and Claude