Projects

Profound MCP gives AI assistants tools to read, generate, and manage Projects and their tasks. To connect your MCP client to the hosted server, refer to the Connection guides.

Learn more about Projects in Profound Help Center.

How the tools work together

Resolve the Project category

Projects are scoped to a category, so before doing anything with Projects, the assistant resolves the category with list_categories.

Find a Project

Ask what work exists in a category. The assistant lists its Projects with list_projects, narrowing to active or archived work when you ask for it.

Read it

Ask about one Project. The assistant reads the goal, the resolved identity, and the full task list with get_project.

Generate a new Project

Ask for a new Project. The assistant previews the generation plan with new_project, starts generation once you confirm, and follows progress with get_project_status. Generation runs for around 10 minutes.

Manage tasks

Ask to add, edit, or progress tasks. The assistant uses create_project_task, update_project_task, and set_project_task_status. When a Project is finished or no longer relevant, ask to archive it: archive_project sets it aside without deleting it.

Behavior and safety

Behaviors

Every write tool except delete_project_task defaults to preview mode: the assistant receives a plan of the change first, shows it to you, and applies the change only after you confirm it.

Behavior	What it means
Preview before apply	Write tools return a plan of the change and change nothing until the assistant applies it
Archive over delete	`archive_project` marks a Project `retired` and preserves its history
Full-replace briefs	A `brief` passed to `update_project_task` replaces the existing brief instead of merging into it
Destructive deletes	`delete_project_task` permanently deletes a task, with no preview and no undo
Clear text writes	The tools that take text reject raw metrics, so assistants replace them with human-readable values, for example `33%` instead of `0.33` for a Visibility Score. The saved task wording can differ from the text you provided
Live data	Tools read from the Profound API, so results reflect your current access and data

MCP hints

The read tools (list_projects, get_project, and get_project_status) are marked readOnlyHint: true and idempotentHint: true: they only read data and are safe to retry. The following MCP hints are set on the write tools:

Tool	Hints	What it means
`new_project`	`destructiveHint: false`, `idempotentHint: false`	Applying twice starts two generations and creates two Projects
`archive_project`	`destructiveHint: false`, `idempotentHint: true`	Archiving an already-retired Project changes nothing
`create_project_task`	`destructiveHint: false`, `idempotentHint: false`	Applying twice adds the task twice
`update_project_task`	`destructiveHint: false`, `idempotentHint: true`	Applying the same change again leaves the task as it is
`set_project_task_status`	`destructiveHint: false`, `idempotentHint: true`	Setting the same status again changes nothing
`delete_project_task`	`destructiveHint: true`, `idempotentHint: true`	The delete is permanent, and a repeat call has nothing left to delete

Every write tool also sets openWorldHint: true, which tells your MCP client that the writes land in the live, shared environment, so the client may ask you to confirm before running them.

Projects tools

Tool	Usage
`list_projects`	List a category’s Projects
`get_project`	Read one Project with its goal and full task list
`get_project_status`	Check a Project’s lifecycle and live generation status
`new_project`	Generate a new Project in a category
`archive_project`	Retire a Project without deleting it
`create_project_task`	Add a task to a Project
`update_project_task`	Update fields on an existing task
`set_project_task_status`	Change a task’s status
`delete_project_task`	Permanently delete a task

list_projects

Lists a category’s Projects and their details, including title, number of tasks, and the last updated date.Example prompts:

“What projects do we have in the Banking category?”
“Show me the projects we’re actively tracking.”

Inputs

Input	Required	Default	Description
`category_id`	Yes	-	The Profound category, from `list_categories`
`status`	No	`null`	Filter to `suggested`, `tracked`, or `retired`. Leaving it blank returns all Projects
`limit`	No	`20`	Maximum Projects to return
`offset`	No	`0`	Offset for pagination

Notes

The tool doesn’t return a total Project count.

get_project

Reads one Project, including the title, the goal, the description, and the tasks.Example prompts:

“Walk me through the ‘Rank top three on savings accounts’ project.”
“What tasks are still open on that project?”

Inputs

Input	Required	Default	Description
`project_id`	Yes	-	The Project ID, from `list_projects`
`category_id`	Yes	-	The category of the Project

Ask your assistant to compare live metrics against the Project target. The data get_project returns pairs well with the analytics tools.

get_project_status

Gets a Project’s lifecycle status:

suggested for proposed work
tracked for active work measured against the goal
retired for archived work

For Projects that were recently generated or are currently being generated, this tool also returns the live_generation state: queued, running, completed, or failed.Example prompts:

“Is the project you started generating ready yet?”
“Did that project generation finish or fail?”

Inputs

Input	Required	Default	Description
`project_id`	Yes	-	The Project ID, from `list_projects` or `new_project`. Not a generation `run_id`
`category_id`	Yes	-	The category of the Project

new_project

Starts generating a Project. The preview shows the generation plan, and once you confirm it, Profound builds the Project in the background and returns a link to it. Building takes around 10 minutes, and the assistant can check whether it’s done with get_project_status.Example prompts:

“Create a project to improve our visibility on savings accounts prompts.”
“Generate a project for earned media on the checking topic, focused on the US market.”

Inputs

Input	Required	Default	Description
`category_id`	Yes	-	The category to generate in, from `list_categories`
`focus`	Yes	-	One concrete sentence naming the Project to generate
`topics`	No	`null`	Topic names the Project should focus on
`project_name`	No	`null`	Title for the Project. If left blank, Profound generates the name
`work_types`	No	`null`	Kind of work to produce: `publish`, `refresh`, `earned`, `creative`, or `social`
`date_range`	No	`null`	Time period the generated work should cover
`platforms`	No	`null`	Platforms or channels to prioritize
`regions`	No	`null`	Markets or regions to prioritize
`tags`	No	`null`	Category tags to guide what gets generated
`context`	No	`null`	Extra detail to guide what gets generated: objective, audience, competitors, evidence, desired output, and constraints
`preview`	No	`true`	When `true`, show the plan without creating anything; when `false`, start generation

archive_project

Archives a Project, which sets it aside without deleting it. The Project and its history are preserved and marked retired, so the change is reversible.Example prompts:

“Archive the holiday campaign project, it’s done.”
“Retire the projects we’re no longer working on.”

Inputs

Input	Required	Default	Description
`project_id`	Yes	-	The Project ID
`category_id`	Yes	-	The category of the Project
`reason`	No	`null`	Short reason for archiving, for example no longer relevant, already done, or superseded
`preview`	No	`true`	When `true`, return the plan without changing the Project; when `false`, apply

create_project_task

Adds a task to a Project.Example prompts:

“Add a task to refresh the pricing page to the savings project.”
“Add a task to the ‘Rank top three on savings accounts’ project: promote the new rates announcement on LinkedIn. Mark it high impact.”

Inputs

Input	Required	Default	Description
`project_id`	Yes	-	The Project to add the task to
`category_id`	Yes	-	The category of the Project
`title`	Yes	-	The task title, 5–12 words
`summary`	No	`null`	The task’s summary
`brief`	No	`null`	The task’s working instructions, sent as a structured brief object
`type`	No	`null`	Task type: `publish`, `refresh`, `earned`, `competitor_copy`, `creative`, or `social`
`topic`	No	`null`	The topic this task targets
`impact`	No	`null`	Impact score, 1–5, where 5 is the highest
`reference_url`	No	`null`	A supporting link, such as the page to work on or a source to draw from
`reference_label`	No	`null`	Display name for the reference link
`position`	No	`null`	The task’s position in the Project’s task list
`preview`	No	`true`	When `true`, show the planned task without creating it; when `false`, create it

update_project_task

Updates the fields on an existing task.Example prompts:

“Update the pricing page task: the new rates page is live now, link it as the reference.”
“Reword the summary of the LinkedIn task so it focuses on the new savings rates.”

Inputs

Input	Required	Default	Description
`project_id`	Yes	-	The Project ID
`task_id`	Yes	-	The task ID, from `get_project`’s task list
`category_id`	Yes	-	The category of the Project
`title`	No	`null`	New title
`summary`	No	`null`	New summary paragraph
`brief`	No	`null`	New task instructions, sent as a structured brief object
`type`	No	`null`	New task type
`topic`	No	`null`	New target topic
`impact`	No	`null`	New impact score, 1–5
`reference_url`	No	`null`	New supporting link for the task
`reference_label`	No	`null`	New display name for that link
`preview`	No	`true`	When `true`, show the planned changes; when `false`, apply

Notes:

A new brief replaces the old one entirely, so the assistant submits the complete brief even for a small change.

set_project_task_status

Changes a task’s status. The status options are not_started, in_progress, done, and abandoned. The abandoned status doesn’t delete tasks.Example prompts:

“Mark the pricing refresh task as done.”
“We’re pausing the earned media task, shelve it.”

Inputs

Input	Required	Default	Description
`project_id`	Yes	-	The Project ID
`task_id`	Yes	-	The task ID
`category_id`	Yes	-	The category of the Project
`status`	Yes	-	The new task status
`note`	No	`null`	Note recorded with the status change
`preview`	No	`true`	When `true`, return the proposed status change; when `false`, apply

delete_project_task

Permanently deletes a task from a Project. Destructive and irreversible, with no preview step.

To archive a task without losing it, ask to change its status to abandoned instead.

Example prompts:

“Delete the duplicate task you just added.”
“Remove that test task for good.”

Inputs

Input	Required	Default	Description
`project_id`	Yes	-	The Project ID
`task_id`	Yes	-	The task ID to delete
`category_id`	Yes	-	The category of the Project

Resources

Resource URI	Use it for
`file:///profound/projects-guide`	The Projects playbook: goals and measurement, the resolved identity block, task types and brief schemas, the impact rubric, and the `new_project` interview
`file:///profound/projects-guide/brief-examples`	Complete examples of a Project brief and a task brief

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MCP Capabilities and Tools

Connect MCP

How the tools work together

Behavior and safety

Behaviors

MCP hints

Projects tools

Resources

​How the tools work together

​Behavior and safety

​Behaviors

​MCP hints

​Projects tools

​Resources

How the tools work together

Behavior and safety

Behaviors

MCP hints

Projects tools

Resources