MS Project MCP servers and AI agent skills

How AI connects to MS Project

An MCP server or skill can only do what MS Project lets programs do. MS Project exposes 4 automation interfaces:

• Project VBA object model (COM automation): Project desktop carries a VBA object model, documented with concepts, Application and Project object events and a full object reference. It is the route for automating Project itself rather than its files, yet none of the servers listed here uses it. They all work from files or from Project Server, which means they run without Project installed but can't trigger Project's own scheduling engine. Documentation
• MSPDI XML (Project XML Data Interchange) (Input files): Project can save and import a whole plan as XML defined by Microsoft's MSPDI schema, covering tasks, resources, assignments, links and baselines. It is the format AI tools write back to, since .mpp is closed: you open the XML in Project and save it as .mpp. lean-planning-mcp reads MSPDI with no extra dependencies, so saving as XML from Project avoids installing Java. Documentation
• MPXJ library (Other): MPXJ is an open-source Java library, with Python, .NET and Ruby wrappers, that reads .mpp, .mpx and MSPDI files as well as P6 and other planners' formats. It writes MPX, MSPDI, PMXML and XER but not .mpp. Both file-based MS Project servers here depend on it through Python, so they need a Java runtime on the machine. Documentation
• Project Server ProjectData OData service (REST API): Project Server and Project Online publish reporting data (projects, tasks, assignments, timesheets) through the ProjectData OData feed under a Project Web App site, with per-query page limits. Project Online itself retired on 30 September 2026, so this route now matters mainly for on-premises Project Server, which the CData driver reaches through its ProjectServer endpoints. Documentation

What Microsoft offers

Microsoft's AI work for project management is in Planner rather than Project desktop. Planner Agent, previously called Project Manager agent, became generally available in Microsoft 365 Copilot on 15 June 2026; it drafts plans and tasks, updates them from prompts and builds plans from Office files. The announcement doesn't mention Project desktop, Project Server or MCP. Project Online retired on 30 September 2026, while Project desktop and Project Server continue.

Checked 4 Nov 2026. Sources: Planner Agent in Microsoft 365 Copilot is now generally available (Planner Blog), Microsoft Project Online is retiring, what you need to know (Planner Blog)

What you can do with MS Project and AI

• Load an .mpp file and list overdue tasks, the critical path and who is assigned to what, without Project open on the machine.
• Add a task under a summary task, mark progress or reassign a resource, then open the saved MSPDI XML in Project and save it back as .mpp.
• Find overallocated resources and the tasks with the largest baseline variance in a contractor's programme.
• Run a weekly Last Planner review on an MS Project programme, with constraints, commitments and PPC kept in a sidecar file.
• Ask SQL questions of Project Server data, such as open tasks by project, through a read-only JDBC connection.

Taken from the listings' own documentation. Check each listing for exactly what it supports.

Installing

The listings here document setup for Claude Code, Claude Desktop and claude.ai. Install steps, copied from each project's own documentation, are on each listing's page. Most MS Project integrations run on your own computer next to MS Project, so you need MS Project installed and licensed on the same machine unless the listing says otherwise.