# Ticket Mill — AI Skill File

Ticket Mill is a local-first project manager for Mac. It exposes your project tickets and context via MCP so your AI coding assistant always knows what to work on.

## Installation

Direct download (the only install path):

```
https://ticketmill.app/api/download/ticket-mill
```

Mount the .dmg, drag Ticket Mill to /Applications, open it once so macOS verifies the binary.

Requires macOS 14 (Sonoma) or later. Apple Silicon and Intel both supported.

## MCP Setup

Add to your MCP config (`claude_desktop_config.json` or `.cursor/mcp.json`):

```json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "ticket-mill": {
      "command": "/Applications/Ticket Mill.app/Contents/MacOS/ticket-mill-mcp"
    }
  }
}
```

Restart your AI client. Verify by calling `ping` — it returns `pong` when connected.

## Available MCP Tools

- `ping` — health check
- `list_projects` — list all projects
- `get_project` — get project details
- `create_project` — create a new project
- `list_tickets` — get open tickets (filter by status, priority)
- `get_ticket` — get full ticket details
- `create_ticket` — create a new ticket
- `update_ticket` — update status, priority, title, or description
- `delete_ticket` — delete a ticket
- `search_tickets` — full-text search across tickets
- `get_work_context` — composite context: recent activity, next tickets, project state
- `get_assembled_context` — full context: knowledge base, decisions, rules
- `read_project_context` — read the project's saved context document
- `update_project_context` — save context after completing work
- `read_project_strategy` — read the project's strategy document
- `bulk_update_status` — update multiple tickets at once
- `add_comment` — add a comment to a ticket
- `log_decision` — record an architectural decision
- `add_knowledge` — capture a reusable pattern or technique

## Recommended Workflow

1. Call `list_projects` to find your project ID
2. Call `get_work_context` with the project ID for a full picture
3. Pick the highest priority ticket from the list
4. Call `get_ticket` for full context
5. Do the work
6. Call `update_ticket` to mark it done
7. Call `update_project_context` to save what you learned

## Looping autonomously

If you want your agent to run continuously over the backlog instead of one-shot, install the `/mill` skill:

```
curl -o ~/.claude/skills/mill/SKILL.md https://ticketmill.app/mill.md
```

`/mill` runs five-phase cycles (orient → evaluate → plan → execute → reflect) using the Ticket Mill MCP tools above. Tickets are the guardrails: nothing gets abandoned mid-flight, no infinite loops, every decision logged for the next cycle. Full skill at https://ticketmill.app/mill.md.