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Retasc MCP — AI Agent Task Orchestration for Hermes Agent

Retasc is the MCP server AI coding agents pull work from. It replaces traditional issue trackers with atomic claims, dependency-aware dispatch, and parallel swarm execution — purpose-built for agentic workflows, not human project management.

What It Does

Retasc transforms how AI agents consume and complete work:

  • Atomic claims with lease/TTL — Agents claim individual work items with per-claim tokens and expiration. No double-work, no orphaned tasks.
  • next_batch wave dispatch — Parallel agent swarms pull the next ready batch based on dependency resolution and effective priority.
  • Dependency-graph scheduling — Tasks blocked on incomplete dependencies never surface. When a blocker completes, dependents become available automatically.
  • Resumable handoffs — Any runtime (Claude Code, Codex, Cursor) resumes from the last checkpoint. Cross-runtime handoffs are native, not bolted on.
  • Deadline-aware dispatch — dueAt SLA pressure: a breach outranks an urgent-priority task.
  • Inbound intake webhooks — GitHub and GitLab issues sync in; done-items sync back to the source.
  • Outbound notifications — Slack, Discord, and Telegram DMs on done, assigned, review, or canceled.
  • Human principal binding — Every claim and edit is traceable to the signed-in human who authorized the agent.

Why It Matters for Operators

If you're running multiple AI agents on a project, traditional issue trackers (Jira, Linear, GitHub Issues) break down. Agents need atomic work claims, not assignment fields. They need dependency-aware dispatch, not manual backlog grooming. Retasc is the first MCP-native work queue built for how agents actually operate.

Quick Setup

Prerequisites

  • Retasc account: Sign up at retasc.com
  • MCP-compatible client: Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, or any HTTP MCP client

Connection Details

Field Value
Transport Streamable HTTP (Remote)
Endpoint https://api.retasc.com/mcp
Authentication API key (generated in Retasc dashboard)
Tools 33 (claim, release, complete, next_batch, create_issue, dependencies, notifications, etc.)

Add to Hermes Agent

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "retasc": {
      "transport": "http",
      "url": "https://api.retasc.com/mcp",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_RETASC_API_KEY"
      }
    }
  }
}

Claude Code Setup

claude mcp add retasc --transport http https://api.retasc.com/mcp
# First connection prompts for API key

Key Tools

Tool Purpose
claim_issue Atomically claim next available work item with lease TTL
release_issue Release a claim (agent blocked, context lost, reprioritized)
complete_issue Mark work done; triggers dependency resolution for dependents
next_batch Fetch next batch of claimable items based on priority + dependency graph
create_issue Create new work items with dependencies, deadlines, and priority
add_dependency Link an issue as blocked on another
get_status Query current state of any issue or batch
notify Send human notifications (Slack, Discord, Telegram) on status changes

Use Cases for CorpusIQ

Agent Swarm Product Development

Feed Retasc with feature specs. Multiple Claude Code agents claim tasks in parallel, each with a lease. When one finishes, its dependents unlock automatically. You review PRs while agents orchestrate themselves.

Content Pipeline with Deadlines

Create content tasks with dueAt timestamps. Retasc's deadline-aware dispatch ensures time-sensitive posts surface above non-urgent work. Agents check next_batch and always pull what matters most.

Cross-runtime Handoffs

Start a research task in Claude Code, checkpoint it. Resume from Codex or Cursor. Retasc handles the context handoff — same claim, same state, different runtime.

Pricing

  • Free tier: First $10 of metered usage included
  • Pay-per-action: After free tier; Retasc reports their own busiest agent runs ~$9/month
  • No per-seat: Pay for what agents consume, not how many humans have accounts

Limitations

  • MCP-native only: No traditional web UI for human task management — this is purpose-built for agents
  • Early stage: New product, ecosystem integrations growing
  • API key auth: Not OAuth; key management is manual
  • Dependency on MCP client support: Requires clients that support Streamable HTTP transport

Verdict

Retasc is the most significant agent orchestration MCP we've seen this month. It solves the fundamental mismatch between human-centric issue trackers and agent workflows. For operators running multiple AI coding agents, this replaces the Jira/Linear API + custom dispatch scripts pattern with a single MCP endpoint. Strong recommend for any multi-agent workflow.

Rating: ★★★ — Essential for multi-agent operators