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With Claude Code and Node.js in place, install TaskGraph and set it up in your project.

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1. Install the CLI

This gives you the taskgraph command and taskgraph-mcp, the optional MCP server. To skip the install, run any command through npx, for example npx -y -p taskgraph-ai taskgraph list.

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2. Initialize your project

From your project folder:
This creates .taskgraph/ (tasks, docs, config), and a CLAUDE.md import with TaskGraph’s workflow guide. Pass --no-claude to skip the CLAUDE.md import. init does not install slash commands (step 3 does) and doesn’t register the MCP server unless you pass --mcp (step 4).
Don’t run init twice. It only re-adds the same files.

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3. Install the plugin

The Claude Code plugin is the only way to get slash commands. It adds the /taskgraph: slash commands and two agents (task-executor, task-checker):
The plugin also adds two hooks and a taskgraph skill. In a project with a .taskgraph/ folder, each Claude Code session (and each resume after compaction) starts with the output of taskgraph prime: the task in progress, what’s ready next, and the workflow rules. Elsewhere the hook does nothing. It needs a CLI with the prime command, so update the CLI when you update the plugin. When Claude finishes a turn and a task is still in progress with no note from this session, the Stop hook reminds Claude once per session to log what it did with taskgraph note, or to close the task. The session starts when the session hook runs: it saves that time in a private folder in your temp folder ($TMPDIR/taskgraph-<your user ID>/session-<session ID>, readable only by you), and compacting the conversation keeps it. The taskgraph skill tells Claude to use TaskGraph when you ask what to do next or plan work in a project that has .taskgraph/.

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4. (Optional) Add the MCP server

The slash commands (from the plugin) and the CLI do everything without MCP. Add the server only if you want to drive TaskGraph in plain language:
Restart Claude Code and run /mcp. taskgraph-ai should show as connected. If you see 0 tools enabled, restart Claude Code and confirm npx -y taskgraph-ai starts on its own in a terminal. The equivalent .mcp.json entry is:

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Upgrading from Task Master or before 0.47

See the upgrade guide.