A fast, keyboard-driven kanban tool

Inspired by: lazygit

Made possible by: ratatui

• Board Management: Create, edit, and organize multiple boards
• Custom Columns: Define your own columns to match your workflow (e.g., Todo, In Progress, Blocked, Done)
• Rich Cards: Cards with metadata including priority, story points, due dates, and more
• Card Dependencies: Parent-child and blocking relationships between cards
• Keyboard-Driven: Vim-like navigation with hjkl and context-aware shortcuts

• Search: Find cards instantly with vim-style / search
• Undo / Redo: Undo (u) and redo (U) any action
• Multiple Views: Switch between flat list, grouped by column, or kanban board layout with V
• External Editor: Edit in your preferred editor (emacs, nano, vim, etc.)

• Sprint Planning: Plan, start and complete sprints
• Story Points: Assign 1-5 point estimates with color-coded display
• Sorting: Sort cards by points, priority, date, status, or position
• Filtering: Filter by sprint, status, or search results
• Card Archiving: Archive and restore tasks
• Metadata: Organize with due dates, priority levels, and timestamps

cargo install kanban-cli
kanban

git clone https://github.com/fulsomenko/kanban
cd kanban
cargo install --path crates/kanban-cli

nix run github:fulsomenko/kanban

For clipboard operations (y/Y to copy branch names) to persist after exiting, you need a clipboard manager running:

• Wayland: wl-clip-persist, cliphist, clipman, or your DE's built-in manager
• X11: Most desktop environments include one by default

Without a clipboard manager, copied content is lost when the app exits (this is a Linux platform limitation, not a bug).

kanban                 # Launch the app
kanban myboard.json    # Load a board from file

First time?

1. Press n to create a new board
2. Press Enter to activate it
3. Add cards with n and organize them
4. Press x to export as JSON

nix run github:fulsomenko/kanban#kanban-mcp

Provides full read/write access to your boards, cards, columns, and sprints over the Model Context Protocol for use with LLM tools like Claude Code, Cursor, etc.

export KANBAN_FILE=myboard.json   # Set data file

# Boards
kanban board list
kanban board create --name "My Project"

# Cards
kanban card list --board-id <ID>
kanban card create --board-id <ID> --column-id <ID> --title "New task"
kanban card update <CARD_ID> --status done --priority high

# Sprints
kanban sprint create --board-id <ID>
kanban sprint activate <SPRINT_ID>
kanban card assign-sprint <CARD_ID> --sprint-id <SPRINT_ID>

All commands output JSON. See kanban --help for full reference.

Switch between view modes with V:

• Flat List: See all cards in a simple list with details
• Grouped by Column: Cards organized under their respective columns
• Kanban Board: Classic columnar board layout for visual workflow

Tip: Press ? at any time to view the help menu with all available bindings for your current context.

Navigation

• j/k - Up/down, h/l - Previous/next column
• Enter - Open card

Card list

• n - New card, e - Edit, r - Rename
• d - Archive, c - Toggle done, p - Set priority
• v - Toggle selection mode, Ctrl+a - Select all

Views & Search

• V - Toggle view mode, / - Search
• t - Sprint filter, D - Archived cards

Undo & Other

• u - Undo, U - Redo
• y - Copy to clipboard, H/L - Move card left/right, q - Quit

Built with Rust for speed and reliability:

crates/
├── kanban-core        → Shared traits, error handling & reusable state primitives
├── kanban-domain      → Domain models, business logic, filtering & sorting
├── kanban-persistence → JSON storage, versioning & migrations
├── kanban-tui         → Terminal UI with ratatui
├── kanban-cli         → CLI entry point
└── kanban-mcp         → Model Context Protocol server for LLM integration

Key Design Patterns:

• Command Pattern: All mutations flow through domain commands for persistent tracking
• Immediate Saving: Changes auto-save after each action
• Format Versioning: Automatic V1→V2 migration with backup on first load
• Multi-Instance Support: Last-write-wins conflict resolution for concurrent edits

• Format: JSON-based import/export
• Automatic Migration: V1 data files are automatically upgraded to V2 format on load with backup creation
• Multi-Instance Support:
  • Real-time file watching detects changes from other running instances
  • Automatic reload when no local changes exist
  • User prompt when local edits conflict with external changes
  • Last-write-wins conflict resolution for concurrent edits
• Atomic Writes: Crash-safe write pattern (temp file → atomic rename) prevents data corruption
• External Editor: Automatically detects vim, nvim, nano, or your $EDITOR for editing descriptions
• Rich Metadata: Timestamps, priority levels, story points, custom tags
• Bounded Save Queue: Maintains a queue of up to 100 pending snapshots

• Progressive auto-save (save changes to board as you make them, not just on exit)
• Full CLI interface matching TUI operations (scriptable kanban commands)
• Card dependencies
• Configurable keybindings
• Audit log
• Multiple storage backends (.md archive, SQL, MongoDB) with pluggable architecture
• HTTP API for remote board access and programmatic control
• Collaborative features (multi-user, sync)

See CONTRIBUTING.md for development workflow, code style, and testing guidelines.

Apache 2.0 - See LICENSE.md for details