clickup-work 0.7.0

Pick the next ClickUp ticket and start a Claude Code session on it. One command from terminal to PR.

clickup-work

A tiny CLI that picks the next ClickUp ticket assigned to you, cuts the right branch in the right repo, and launches a Claude Code session with the ticket pre-loaded. On exit, it opens a GitHub PR.

One command, from terminal to solving the problem.

Quick start

Four commands from zero to running:

# 1. Install
pipx install clickup-work

# 2. Set your ClickUp API token (generate at ClickUp → Settings → Apps → API Token)
export CLICKUP_API_TOKEN=pk_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

# 3. Register the repo you want to work in
clickup-work add-repo ~/projects/my-app

# 4. Go
clickup-work --repo my-app

Make the token permanent by appending the export line to ~/.zshrc or ~/.bashrc. Full details on each step are below.

What it does

$ clickup-work

⠧ fetching open tickets
✓ found 4 open ticket(s)

  urgent   in progress    Fix flaky checkout tests        [Product / Sprint 12]
  high     to do          Add dark-mode toggle            [Product / Sprint 12]
  normal   to do          Refactor notification queue     [Billing / Infra]
  normal   to do          iOS launch crash                [Mobile / Bugs]
pick a ticket >

Ticket:   iOS launch crash  (86c9abc)
Repo:     /home/you/projects/mobile-app  (nickname: mobile)
Base:     main  (resolved from config [repos.mobile].base_branch)
Branch:   fix/ios-launch-crash  →  PR into main

⠧ preparing branch fix/ios-launch-crash
✓ branch created: fix/ios-launch-crash

launching Claude Code… (exit the session to come back here)

(you work with Claude, commit, exit)

2 commit(s) ahead of main.
push branch and open PR? [Y/n] y
⠧ opening PR
✓ PR opened: https://github.com/you/mobile-app/pull/42

(status picker)
✓ ticket moved: to do → in review

Why

Because switching context between ClickUp, your terminal, your git branches, and your editor is the slowest part of shipping a ticket. This automates the mechanical parts and hands control to Claude Code for the actual work.

• Picks the right ticket (interactive fzf picker, or --top to auto-pick)
• Cuts a conventional branch (feat/<slug>, fix/<slug>, docs/<slug>, inferred from ClickUp task type — or override with --prefix)
• Never guesses the base branch (explicit per-repo config, origin/HEAD fallback, verified against origin before any git operation)
• Opens a PR automatically via gh when Claude's session ends with commits
• Skips the PR cleanly if no commits were made (no noise, no force-push)

Requirements

• Python 3.11+
• claude — Claude Code CLI
• git and gh, with gh auth login done
• fzf (optional; falls back to a numbered picker)
• A ClickUp API token (generate one under Settings → Apps → API Token)

Install

With pipx (recommended)

pipx install clickup-work

Don't have pipx? pip install --user clickup-work also works on most systems. On Arch/Debian-managed Pythons (PEP 668), use pipx or a venv.

Install the latest dev version directly from GitHub

pipx install git+https://github.com/Azhar-ud/clickup-work.git

From source

git clone https://github.com/Azhar-ud/clickup-work.git
cd clickup-work
python -m venv .venv && source .venv/bin/activate
pip install -e .

clickup-work is now on your PATH.

Configure

1. Token

export CLICKUP_API_TOKEN=pk_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Add this to ~/.zshrc / ~/.bashrc so it persists across shells.

2. Config file

Copy the example and edit:

mkdir -p ~/.config/clickup-work
cp config.toml.example ~/.config/clickup-work/config.toml
$EDITOR ~/.config/clickup-work/config.toml

The quickest way to add a repo is the built-in helper — no TOML syntax to remember:

clickup-work add-repo ~/projects/my-app
# Found repo at /home/you/projects/my-app
# Detected default branch: main
# Nickname for this repo [my-app]: my-app
# Added [repos.my-app] to ~/.config/clickup-work/config.toml

Or hand-write a block:

[repos.my-app]
path          = "/home/you/projects/my-app"
base_branch   = "main"
# branch_prefix = "feat"   # optional override

See config.toml.example for all fields.

Usage

# Pick a ticket from the fzf picker, open it in the named repo
clickup-work --repo my-app

# Skip the picker; take the top-priority ticket
clickup-work --repo my-app --top

# One-off overrides
clickup-work --repo my-app --base staging          # target a different base
clickup-work --repo my-app --prefix fix            # force fix/… prefix
clickup-work --repo my-app --draft                 # open PR as a draft

# Preview only — no git, no Claude
clickup-work --repo my-app --dry-run

# See every API call and git command
clickup-work --repo my-app --verbose

# Register a new repo in config
clickup-work add-repo ~/projects/new-repo [--name nickname] [--base-branch main]

Full flag list

Flag	Purpose
--repo NAME_OR_PATH	Repo nickname from config, or an absolute/~ path
--base BRANCH	Override base branch for this run
--prefix NAME	Override branch prefix (feat, fix, chore, docs, …)
--top, -t	Auto-pick top-priority ticket (skip picker)
--draft	Open the resulting PR as a draft
--no-status	Skip the "move ticket to which status?" prompt after the PR opens
--no-time	Skip the "track time spent / update estimate?" prompts after the PR opens
--yes, -y	Skip the "push branch and open PR?" confirmation prompt
--dry-run	Preview the ticket + plan, touch nothing
--verbose, -v	Print every HTTP request and shell command

How it picks the repo (multi-project workflow)

When you're assigned tickets across several ClickUp folders that map to different repos, the tool can route each ticket to the right repo automatically. You don't set anything up upfront — it learns as you go.

First time you pick a ticket from a folder it hasn't seen:

Ticket "iOS launch crash" is in folder "Mobile",
which isn't linked to any repo yet.

Which repo should this folder route to?
  1. marketing  (/home/you/marketing-site)
  2. billing    (/home/you/billing-service)
  3. mobile     (/home/you/mobile-app)
  (or q to cancel and pass --repo manually)
> 3

✓ folder "Mobile" now routes to 'mobile' (saved to ~/.config/clickup-work/config.toml)

The mapping is saved as folder_ids = ["<id>"] inside the repo's config block. Future tickets from that folder skip the prompt and go straight to the right repo.

Resolution order when you run clickup-work:

1. --repo <name> → always wins; scopes the picker to that repo's folders
2. default_repo in config → backward-compatible single-repo fallback
3. Exactly one repo registered → that one
4. Otherwise → fetch all assigned tickets, pick one, route by folder

Scoping the picker to one project (focus mode):

clickup-work --repo mobile     # only shows tickets from folders linked to 'mobile'

Hand-editing config still works if you prefer:

[repos.mobile]
path        = "/home/you/mobile-app"
base_branch = "main"
folder_ids  = ["901234567", "901234890"]   # optional; tool fills these in

How it picks the base branch

Resolution order, first non-empty wins:

1. --base <branch> flag
2. [repos.<name>].base_branch in config
3. git symbolic-ref refs/remotes/origin/HEAD (auto-detect)
4. Error out — the tool refuses to guess

Before any branching, it verifies the resolved base exists on origin:

git ls-remote --exit-code --heads origin <base>

If it doesn't, the tool aborts with a clear message — no stray branches, no PRs targeting a dead base.

How it picks the branch prefix

Condition	Prefix
--prefix <name>	Whatever you pass
[repos.<name>].branch_prefix in config	That value
ClickUp task type contains "bug" / is incident/hotfix	fix
ClickUp task type contains "doc"	docs
Anything else	feat

Post-session behavior

When you exit Claude:

ahead = git rev-list --count origin/<base>..HEAD

• ahead == 0 → print "no new commits on the branch — skipping PR", exit 0
• ahead ≥ 1 → ask push branch and open PR? [Y/n]; on yes, git push -u origin <branch> then gh pr create --base <base> --head <branch>. Pass --yes / -y to skip the prompt.
• --draft passed → PR is opened as a draft

If you answer n at the confirmation, the feature branch stays local — you can push it by hand whenever you're ready. No force-push, no reset.

Once the PR is open, the tool prompts you to move the ClickUp ticket to a new status — pulled live from the ticket's list, so whatever your workspace is configured to use (in review, qa, blocked, …) is what you'll see. Pick one to update, or hit q / Esc to leave it where it is. Pass --no-status to skip the prompt entirely.

After the status prompt, two short follow-ups offer to log time spent and update the ticket's time estimate. Both accept formats like 1h 30m, 90m, or 1.5h (a bare number is treated as minutes). Hit Enter on either to skip just that one, or pass --no-time to skip both.

The PR body itself is generated from the commits on the branch — a ## Summary section bullets each commit subject, a ## Test plan checklist is left for you to fill in, and the original ClickUp ticket description is tucked into a collapsed <details> block for reviewer context.

Safety

• Plaintext of your token never leaves CLICKUP_API_TOKEN (env) or your shell rc. Nothing is written back to disk by this tool.
• The tool never does git reset --hard, force-pushes, or amends.
• If a feature branch already exists, it's reused (not reset) — good for resuming partial work.
• --dry-run runs everything up to "touch disk", including the branch-exists-on-origin check, and stops there.

License

MIT. See LICENSE.