Basecamp
Project mgmt, docs, group chat.
Verdict
Common use cases
- Check overdue tasks across all projects
- Summarize campfire discussions from yesterday
- Draft status updates for client-facing projects
- List who's assigned to what this sprint
- Pull recent file uploads from a project
Integration
- Vendor
- Basecamp
- Category
- productivity
- Auth
- OAUTH2
- Composio slug
basecamp
Tools
Setup
Setup guide
- 11. Open your Switchy workspace and navigate to Settings > Integrations. 2. Find Basecamp in the list and click Connect. 3. You'll be redirected to Basecamp's authorization page—sign in with your Basecamp credentials if prompted. 4. Review the requested permissions (read projects, post messages, view to-dos) and click Authorize. 5. Switchy confirms the connection and returns you to the integrations page. 6. Open any Space and type '@Basecamp what tasks are due this week' to test—the MCP should respond with a list pulled from your active projects. 7. If nothing returns, check that your Basecamp account has active projects with tasks assigned.
What teammates see: by default, memories from Basecamp are scoped to the Space (PROJECT visibility) - you can mark any memory PRIVATE or share it ORG-wide.
Works well with
Top models
Compatibility data appears once enough Spaces have used this MCP together with a given model.
How Switchy teams use it
Starter prompts
Weekly Task Roundup
@Basecamp show me all tasks due in the next 7 days, grouped by project. Include assignee names and due dates.Open in a Space →
Project Status Summary
@Basecamp summarize activity in the 'Website Redesign' project from the last 3 days. Include new to-dos, completed tasks, and campfire highlights.Open in a Space →
Draft Campfire Message
@Basecamp draft a campfire message for the 'Marketing' project announcing that the Q2 campaign brief is ready for review in the Docs & Files section.Open in a Space →
Find Unassigned Work
@Basecamp list all unassigned to-dos across my active projects. Group by project and include task titles.Open in a Space →
Recent File Uploads
@Basecamp what files were uploaded to the 'Product Launch' project in the last 5 days? Include uploader names and file types.Open in a Space →
Example outputs
Illustrative - representative of the model's voice and quality, not literal recordings.
@basecamp show me all active to-dos assigned to me across projects, grouped by due date
Here are your active to-dos across 3 projects: **Due Today (2)** • Review Q1 budget draft (Finance Reorg) • Approve homepage copy (Website Refresh) **Due This Week (4)** • Schedule client kickoff (Acme Implementation) • Update risk register (Finance Reorg) • Review wireframes v2 (Website Refresh) • Send vendor contracts (Office Move) **No Due Date (1)** • Document API changes (Website Refresh) All items pulled from your Basecamp account as of this query.
This read-heavy example shows cross-project aggregation, a common pain point in Basecamp's native UI. Requires OAuth scope for reading to-dos and project membership. Response reflects account state at query time — to-dos completed or reassigned after the prompt won't appear here.
@basecamp create a new message in the Website Refresh project titled 'Design feedback round 2' with a link to the Figma file and cc the design team
Message posted to **Website Refresh** project: **Title:** Design feedback round 2 **Body:** [Figma file link included] **Notified:** 4 members of the design team The message is now visible in the project's message board. Team members will receive Basecamp notifications according to their individual settings. You can edit or delete this message directly in Basecamp if needed.
This write example demonstrates message creation with team notifications, a core collaboration workflow. Requires OAuth scope for posting messages and reading project membership. Side-effect: all cc'd users receive notifications immediately — confirm recipient list before running. Basecamp does not support un-sending messages.
@basecamp summarize all comments on the 'Q1 Planning' to-do list from the last 7 days and highlight any blockers mentioned
**Q1 Planning To-Do List — 7-Day Comment Summary** **Blockers Identified:** • Budget approval delayed until CFO returns (mentioned by Sarah, 2 days ago) • Vendor contract still unsigned, blocking procurement (mentioned by Mike, 4 days ago) **Other Activity:** • 6 comments on hiring timeline — consensus to push interviews to February • 3 comments on office space — lease negotiation ongoing, no decision yet • 1 comment requesting updated roadmap deck This synthesis covers 12 comments across 5 to-dos in the list. Check Basecamp directly for full thread context.
This synthesis example pairs Basecamp data with AI reasoning to surface blockers from unstructured comments. Useful for status updates without reading every thread. Requires OAuth scope for reading comments and to-do lists. AI interpretation may miss nuance — verify critical blockers in the original threads before escalating.
Use-case deep-dives
When Basecamp MCP helps agencies share context with AI
A 6-person design agency runs client projects in Basecamp—briefs, feedback threads, file approvals all live there. When a new account manager joins mid-project, they ask the AI to summarize the last two weeks of to-dos and message boards for three active clients. The MCP pulls that context so the AI can write a handoff memo without the AM reading 40 threads. This works if your Basecamp structure is consistent (same board names, predictable to-do lists). If every project uses different naming conventions, the AI will struggle to find the right data. The OAuth2 setup is straightforward, and once connected, the MCP becomes the fastest way to onboard people or prep for client calls without tab-hopping.
Basecamp MCP turns to-dos into stakeholder updates
A 3-person product team tracks feature work in Basecamp to-do lists and posts updates in a weekly Campfire thread. Every Friday, the PM asks the AI to draft a status email for the CEO by reading completed to-dos and recent messages. The MCP fetches that data, the AI writes the summary, and the PM edits it in two minutes instead of reconstructing the week from memory. This scenario assumes your team actually closes to-dos and posts meaningful updates—if your Basecamp is a graveyard of stale tasks, the AI will generate noise. The value ceiling is low for teams under 5 people (you already know what happened), but it scales well for 10+ person teams where the PM can't track every thread.
When Basecamp MCP helps support teams answer faster
A SaaS company uses Basecamp to manage customer onboarding projects—one project per new customer, with to-dos for setup steps and message boards for questions. When a support rep gets a ticket, they ask the AI to pull the customer's Basecamp project history to see what's been done and what's blocked. The MCP reads the to-dos and messages, the AI summarizes it, and the rep replies with full context in under a minute. This breaks down if you have more than 100 active customer projects—Basecamp's API isn't built for high-volume querying, and the MCP will be slow. For teams managing 20-50 onboarding projects at a time, it's the difference between hunting through Basecamp manually and getting answers in Switchy's chat.
Frequently asked
What does the Basecamp MCP let me do in Switchy?
It connects your Basecamp projects so AI agents can read tasks, messages, and documents without you copy-pasting context. Agents see what's happening across your projects and can reference specific to-dos or threads when answering questions. You stay in Switchy; the MCP pulls live data from Basecamp on demand.
Do I need admin permissions to connect Basecamp?
No. Any Basecamp user can authorize the OAuth connection for their own account. The MCP will only access projects and data you personally have permission to view in Basecamp. If your team restricts certain projects, agents won't see those either.
Can the Basecamp MCP create tasks or post messages?
That depends on which tools Basecamp exposes through the MCP protocol. Most MCPs start read-only for safety. If write actions are available, you'll see them listed as tools in Switchy's integration settings. Check the tool list before assuming agents can modify your Basecamp data.
Why use this instead of just opening Basecamp in another tab?
Agents can pull context from multiple projects at once and synthesize it into answers without you hunting through threads. If you're asking "what's blocking the Q2 launch?", the MCP scans relevant to-dos and messages automatically. You get the answer faster than tabbing between Basecamp and your AI chat.
Does connecting Basecamp count against my Switchy seat limit?
No. MCP integrations don't consume seats. Only human users who log into Switchy count toward your plan limit. You can connect as many MCPs as you want without affecting billing, though each connection uses your OAuth quota with the vendor.