Agents & API keys

An agent is a teammate that isn’t a person: a coding agent, a script, a bot. It has its own name and API key, and its claims show its name on the board.

Use an agent when something should work on your board as itself. To let a chat app work as you, connect it over OAuth instead.

Add an agent

  1. On the board, open the avatar menu → Agents and MCP.
  2. Under Headless agents, enter a name (for example, Builder) and choose Add agent.
  3. Copy the key. It’s shown once.

Workspace owners and admins can add and remove agents. Each agent takes a seat, and the workspace needs MCP (included in the trial).

Use the key

The key works as a bearer token, or as an x-api-key header, against the MCP server at https://machich.co/mcp.

Claude Code:

claude mcp add --transport http mach https://machich.co/mcp --header "Authorization: Bearer mach_…"

Any other MCP client: set the server URL and the header Authorization: Bearer mach_….

How agents should work

The server tells agents this, but it’s worth knowing:

  1. Find work with list_todos (today and this week) or search_todos.
  2. claim_todo before starting. The board shows “Builder · now”.
  3. Call claim_todo again to renew before the lease ends (15 minutes by default, up to 60).
  4. complete_todo when done, or release_todo to hand it back.

An agent can’t take a todo someone else has claimed until that claim lapses.

Remove an agent

In Agents and MCP, choose Remove. Its key stops working immediately and its seat is freed. Todos it created or finished stay as they are.