issuedb 2.5.3

A command-line issue tracking system for software development projects

IssueDB

A command-line issue tracking system for software development projects. IssueDB provides a simple yet concrete way to manage issues, bugs, and tasks directly from your terminal with a per-directory database model - each directory gets its own issue database.

Features

Core Features

• Per-Directory Databases: Each directory has its own issuedb.sqlite - your issues live where your code lives
• Simple Issue Management: Create, update, delete, and list issues
• Bulk Operations: Update multiple issues at once with filters, patterns, or JSON input
• Priority Levels: Categorize issues as low, medium, high, or critical
• Status Tracking: Track issues through open, in-progress, and closed states
• FIFO Queue Management: Get the next issue to work on based on priority and creation date
• Full-text Search: Search issues by keyword in title and description
• Comments: Add notes and progress updates to issues

Advanced Features

• Issue Dependencies: Block issues on other issues, track dependency graphs
• Code References: Link issues to specific files and line numbers in your codebase
• Time Tracking: Start/stop timers, set estimates, generate time reports
• Workspace Awareness: Track active issues, git branch integration
• Duplicate Detection: Find similar issues before creating duplicates
• Issue Templates: Create issues from predefined templates (bug, feature, task)
• Issue Context: Get comprehensive context for LLM agents

Web Interface

• Web UI: Clean, premium web interface for issue management
• Dashboard: Summary statistics, priority breakdown, active issues
• Issue Browser: Filter and search issues with status/priority badges
• API Endpoints: Full REST API for programmatic access

Dashboard with statistics, priority breakdown, and active issue tracking

Issues list with filtering and search

Create new issue form

Issue detail with async-loaded comments, similar issues, dependencies, and audit history

Complete audit log of all changes

Reporting & Integration

• Summary & Reports: Aggregate statistics and detailed breakdowns by status/priority
• Audit Logging: Complete immutable history of all changes
• JSON Output: Machine-readable output for scripting and automation
• LLM Agent Integration: Built-in prompt for programmatic usage
• Natural Language Interface: Ollama integration for conversational issue management
• Local Storage: SQLite database with no external dependencies
• Minimal Dependencies: Core functionality uses only Python standard library (Flask optional for web UI)

Per-Directory Project Model

IssueDB v2.0 uses a per-directory model where each directory has its own issuedb.sqlite database:

my-workspace/
├── frontend/
│   ├── src/
│   ├── issuedb.sqlite      # Frontend issues
│   └── README.md
├── backend/
│   ├── api/
│   ├── issuedb.sqlite      # Backend issues
│   └── README.md
└── docs/
    ├── guides/
    └── issuedb.sqlite          # Documentation issues

Benefits

• Better isolation: Each project/directory has its own independent database
• Simpler mental model: Your issues are where your code is
• Easier backup: Just backup the directory to preserve all issues
• Natural organization: Filesystem directories already organize projects
• Git-friendly: Database file can be .gitignored or committed per project needs

Working with Multiple Projects

# Work on frontend issues
cd ~/workspace/frontend
issuedb-cli create -t "Fix navbar bug"
issuedb-cli list

# Switch to backend issues
cd ~/workspace/backend
issuedb-cli create -t "Add authentication"
issuedb-cli list

# Each directory maintains its own issues

Installation

From PyPI (when published)

pip install issuedb

With Web UI Support

To use the web interface, install with the web extra:

pip install issuedb[web]

This installs Flask as an optional dependency for the web UI.

From Source

git clone https://github.com/rodmena-limited/issue-queue
cd issuedb
pip install -e .

# Or with web UI support:
pip install -e ".[web]"

Quick Start

Create your first issue

cd ~/my-project
issuedb-cli create --title "Fix login bug" --description "Users cannot log in with special characters" --priority high

List all open issues

issuedb-cli list --status open

Get the next issue to work on

issuedb-cli get-next

Usage

Creating Issues

Create a new issue:

issuedb-cli create -t "Add user authentication"

With additional details:

issuedb-cli create \
  --title "Implement OAuth2" \
  --description "Add Google and GitHub OAuth providers" \
  --priority high \
  --status open

Listing Issues

List all issues in current directory:

issuedb-cli list

Filter by status and priority:

issuedb-cli list --status open --priority high

Limit results:

issuedb-cli list --limit 10

Getting Issue Details

View a specific issue:

issuedb-cli get 42

Updating Issues

Update issue status:

issuedb-cli update 42 --status in-progress

Update multiple fields:

issuedb-cli update 42 \
  --title "Updated title" \
  --priority critical \
  --status in-progress

Bulk Updates

Close all open issues:

issuedb-cli bulk-update --filter-status open -s closed

Set all critical issues to high priority:

issuedb-cli bulk-update --filter-priority critical --priority high

Bulk Operations (JSON)

Create multiple issues at once:

# From stdin
echo '[
  {"title": "Issue 1", "priority": "high", "description": "First issue"},
  {"title": "Issue 2", "priority": "medium"},
  {"title": "Issue 3"}
]' | issuedb-cli --json bulk-create

# From file
issuedb-cli --json bulk-create -f issues.json

# Inline data
issuedb-cli --json bulk-create -d '[{"title": "Quick issue", "priority": "low"}]'

Update multiple specific issues:

# Update different fields on different issues
echo '[
  {"id": 1, "status": "closed", "description": "Completed"},
  {"id": 2, "priority": "high", "title": "Updated title"},
  {"id": 3, "status": "in-progress"}
]' | issuedb-cli --json bulk-update-json

Close multiple issues by ID:

# Close issues 1, 2, 3, and 5
echo '[1, 2, 3, 5]' | issuedb-cli --json bulk-close

# Or from file
issuedb-cli --json bulk-close -f issue_ids.json

Deleting Issues

Delete an issue (with audit trail preserved):

issuedb-cli delete 42

Comments

Add comments to issues to track notes, resolutions, or updates:

# Add a comment to an issue
issuedb-cli comment 42 -t "Fixed by updating the configuration file"

# List all comments on an issue
issuedb-cli list-comments 42
issuedb-cli --json list-comments 42

# Delete a comment
issuedb-cli delete-comment 5

Common use case - close an issue with a comment:

issuedb-cli update 42 -s closed && issuedb-cli comment 42 -t "Resolved: Updated dependencies to v2.0"

Getting Next Issue

Get the highest priority oldest issue:

issuedb-cli get-next

With status filter:

issuedb-cli get-next --status open

Getting Last Fetched Issues

Track which issues were recently retrieved with get-next:

# Get the last issue you fetched
issuedb-cli get-last

# Get the last 5 fetched issues
issuedb-cli get-last -n 5

# JSON output for automation
issuedb-cli --json get-last -n 3

This feature helps you:

• Track what issues you've recently worked on
• Review fetch history even for deleted issues
• Maintain continuity when switching between tasks

Searching Issues

Search by keyword:

issuedb-cli search --keyword "login"

With limit:

issuedb-cli search -k "bug" -l 5

Clearing All Issues

Clear all issues in current directory (requires confirmation):

issuedb-cli clear --confirm

Issue Dependencies

Track blocking relationships between issues:

# Mark issue 5 as blocked by issue 3
issuedb-cli block 5 --by 3

# Remove a specific blocker
issuedb-cli unblock 5 --by 3

# Remove all blockers from an issue
issuedb-cli unblock 5

# View dependency graph for an issue
issuedb-cli deps 5

# List all blocked issues
issuedb-cli blocked
issuedb-cli --json blocked -s open

Code References

Link issues to specific code locations:

# Attach a file reference
issuedb-cli attach 5 --file "src/auth.py"

# Attach with line number
issuedb-cli attach 5 --file "src/auth.py:42"

# Attach with line range and note
issuedb-cli attach 5 --file "src/auth.py:42-50" --note "Bug location"

# List references for an issue
issuedb-cli refs 5

# Find issues referencing a file
issuedb-cli affected --file "src/auth.py"

# Remove a code reference
issuedb-cli detach 5 --file "src/auth.py"

Time Tracking

Track time spent on issues:

# Start a timer
issuedb-cli timer-start 5

# Check timer status
issuedb-cli timer-status

# Stop the timer
issuedb-cli timer-stop

# Set an estimate
issuedb-cli set-estimate 5 --hours 4

# View time log for an issue
issuedb-cli time-log 5

# Generate time reports
issuedb-cli time-report
issuedb-cli time-report --period week
issuedb-cli --json time-report --period month

Workspace Awareness

Track your current working context:

# View workspace status (git branch, active issue, etc.)
issuedb-cli workspace

# Start working on an issue (sets active + starts timer)
issuedb-cli start 5

# Stop working (stops timer)
issuedb-cli stop

# Stop and close the issue
issuedb-cli stop --close

# View currently active issue
issuedb-cli active

Duplicate Detection

Find similar issues to avoid duplicates:

# Find issues similar to a query
issuedb-cli find-similar "login bug"
issuedb-cli --json find-similar "authentication" --threshold 0.7

# Find potential duplicate groups in database
issuedb-cli find-duplicates
issuedb-cli --json find-duplicates --threshold 0.8

# Create with duplicate check
issuedb-cli create -t "Fix login" --check-duplicates
issuedb-cli create -t "Fix login" --check-duplicates --force  # Create anyway

Issue Templates

Create issues from predefined templates:

# List available templates
issuedb-cli templates

# Create from template
issuedb-cli create --template bug -t "Login crash" -d "App crashes on login"
issuedb-cli create --template feature -t "Dark mode"
issuedb-cli create --template task -t "Update dependencies"

Issue Context (for LLM Agents)

Get comprehensive context for an issue:

# Full context with comments, history, related issues, suggestions
issuedb-cli context 5
issuedb-cli --json context 5

# Compact context (just issue + comments)
issuedb-cli context 5 --compact

Bulk Pattern Operations

Operate on issues matching patterns:

# Close issues matching a pattern (glob)
issuedb-cli bulk-close-pattern --title "*test*"

# Update issues matching a pattern
issuedb-cli bulk-update-pattern --title "*bug*" --priority high

# Delete with regex pattern (requires --confirm)
issuedb-cli bulk-delete-pattern --title "temp.*" --regex --confirm

# Preview changes with --dry-run
issuedb-cli bulk-close-pattern --title "*WIP*" --dry-run

Viewing Audit Logs

View all changes for an issue:

issuedb-cli audit --issue 42

View all audit logs:

issuedb-cli audit

Database Information

Get database statistics:

issuedb-cli info

Summary Statistics

Get aggregate statistics:

issuedb-cli summary

Summary shows:

• Total issue count
• Count by status (open, in-progress, closed)
• Count by priority (low, medium, high, critical)
• Percentage breakdowns

Detailed Report

Get a detailed report grouped by status:

issuedb-cli report

Get report grouped by priority:

issuedb-cli report --group-by priority

Reports include:

• Full issue details grouped by status or priority
• Count for each group
• Total issues

JSON Output

All commands support JSON output for scripting and automation:

issuedb-cli list --json | jq '.[].title'

issuedb-cli get-next --json | jq '.id'

Command Reference

Commands

Issue Management:

• create - Create a new issue (supports templates and duplicate check)
• list - List issues with optional filters
• get - Get details of a specific issue
• update - Update issue fields
• delete - Delete an issue
• get-next - Get the next issue to work on (logs to fetch history)
• get-last - Get the last fetched issue(s) from history
• search - Search issues by keyword

Comments:

• comment - Add a comment to an issue
• list-comments - List comments for an issue
• delete-comment - Delete a comment

Dependencies:

• block - Mark an issue as blocked by another
• unblock - Remove blocker(s) from an issue
• deps - Show dependency graph for an issue
• blocked - List all blocked issues

Code References:

• attach - Attach a code reference to an issue
• detach - Remove a code reference
• refs - List code references for an issue
• affected - List issues referencing a file

Time Tracking:

• timer-start - Start tracking time on an issue
• timer-stop - Stop the active timer
• timer-status - Show active timers
• set-estimate - Set time estimate for an issue
• time-log - View time entries for an issue
• time-report - Generate time reports

Workspace:

• workspace - Show workspace status
• start - Start working on an issue
• stop - Stop working on active issue
• active - Show currently active issue
• context - Get full context for an issue (for LLM agents)

Duplicate Detection:

• find-similar - Find issues similar to given text
• find-duplicates - Find potential duplicate groups

Templates:

• templates - List available issue templates

Bulk Operations:

• bulk-update - Bulk update by filter
• bulk-create - Create multiple issues from JSON
• bulk-update-json - Update specific issues from JSON
• bulk-close - Close multiple issues by ID
• bulk-close-pattern - Close issues matching pattern
• bulk-update-pattern - Update issues matching pattern
• bulk-delete-pattern - Delete issues matching pattern

Reporting:

• summary - Get summary statistics
• report - Get detailed report
• info - Get database information
• audit - View audit logs

Administrative:

• clear - Clear all issues
• web - Start the web UI server

Global Options

• --db PATH - Use a custom database file (default: ./issuedb.sqlite)
• --json - Output results in JSON format
• --prompt - Display LLM agent guide for automated usage
• --ollama REQUEST... - Generate and execute command from natural language via Ollama (no quotes needed, must be last flag)
• --ollama-model MODEL - Ollama model to use (default: llama3) - must come before --ollama
• --ollama-host HOST - Ollama server host (default: localhost) - must come before --ollama
• --ollama-port PORT - Ollama server port (default: 11434) - must come before --ollama

Priority Levels

• low - Low priority
• medium - Medium priority (default)
• high - High priority
• critical - Critical priority

Status Values

• open - Issue is open (default)
• in-progress - Issue is being worked on
• closed - Issue is resolved

Examples

Example Workflow

# Navigate to your project
cd ~/my-project

# Create some issues
issuedb-cli create -t "Setup CI/CD pipeline" --priority high
issuedb-cli create -t "Add unit tests" --priority medium
issuedb-cli create -t "Update documentation" --priority low

# Get the next issue to work on
issuedb-cli get-next

# Start working on it
issuedb-cli update 1 --status in-progress

# Complete the issue
issuedb-cli update 1 --status closed

# Check remaining open issues
issuedb-cli list --status open

Multi-Project Workflow

# Work on frontend
cd ~/projects/frontend
issuedb-cli create -t "Fix navbar styling"
issuedb-cli list

# Work on backend
cd ~/projects/backend
issuedb-cli create -t "Add authentication endpoint"
issuedb-cli list

# Each project maintains its own issues

Integration with Scripts

#!/bin/bash
# Get next issue ID and mark it as in-progress
cd ~/my-project
ISSUE_ID=$(issuedb-cli get-next --json | jq -r '.id')
if [ "$ISSUE_ID" != "null" ]; then
    echo "Working on issue $ISSUE_ID"
    issuedb-cli update $ISSUE_ID --status in-progress
fi

LLM Agent Integration

IssueDB is designed to be easily used by LLM agents:

import subprocess
import json
import os

def get_next_issue(project_dir):
    os.chdir(project_dir)
    result = subprocess.run(
        ["issuedb-cli", "get-next", "--json"],
        capture_output=True,
        text=True
    )
    return json.loads(result.stdout) if result.returncode == 0 else None

def create_issue(project_dir, title, description=None, priority="medium"):
    os.chdir(project_dir)
    cmd = ["issuedb-cli", "create",
           "--title", title,
           "--priority", priority,
           "--json"]
    if description:
        cmd.extend(["--description", description])

    result = subprocess.run(cmd, capture_output=True, text=True)
    return json.loads(result.stdout) if result.returncode == 0 else None

Advanced LLM Agent Integration

IssueDB provides a specialized prompt optimized for LLM agents to use the CLI directly:

# Get the LLM agent guide
issuedb-cli --prompt

This outputs a comprehensive guide that instructs LLM agents to:

• Output only executable shell commands (no markdown, no explanations)
• Use proper syntax and quoting
• Leverage JSON output for machine parsing
• Follow FIFO priority-based workflows

Example LLM agent workflow:

import subprocess
import json
import os

# Get the agent prompt to include in your LLM context
prompt = subprocess.run(["issuedb-cli", "--prompt"], capture_output=True, text=True).stdout

# Your LLM can now generate direct issuedb-cli commands
# Example: User says "Create a high priority bug for login issues"
# LLM outputs: issuedb-cli create -t "Fix login bug" --priority high

# Execute the command in the correct directory
os.chdir("~/my-project")
result = subprocess.run(llm_generated_command.split(), capture_output=True, text=True)

The prompt ensures LLM agents generate commands that are:

• Directly executable without post-processing
• Properly quoted for shell safety
• Machine-readable when using --json flag
• Priority-aware for optimal workflow

Natural Language Interface with Ollama

IssueDB can integrate directly with Ollama for natural language command generation:

# Use natural language to create issues (no quotes needed!)
issuedb-cli --ollama we have many junk files and we need to fix it fast

# Get the next task to work on
issuedb-cli --ollama what should I work on next

# Search for issues
issuedb-cli --ollama find all critical bugs

# Update issues
issuedb-cli --ollama mark issue 42 as completed

# With custom model (model flag must come BEFORE --ollama)
issuedb-cli --ollama-model mistral --ollama create a high priority bug for login

Setup

1. Install and start Ollama:

# Install Ollama
curl https://ollama.ai/install.sh | sh

# Pull a model (e.g., llama3, mistral, codellama)
ollama pull llama3

# Start Ollama server
ollama serve

2. Use issuedb-cli with natural language:

cd ~/my-project
issuedb-cli --ollama create a critical bug for login failures

Configuration

Configure Ollama connection via command-line flags or environment variables:

# Command-line flags (--ollama must be LAST)
issuedb-cli --ollama-model mistral --ollama-host localhost --ollama-port 11434 --ollama your request here

# Environment variables
export OLLAMA_HOST=localhost
export OLLAMA_PORT=11434
export OLLAMA_MODEL=llama3

issuedb-cli --ollama create a bug for the payment system

Default values:

• Model: llama3 (or from OLLAMA_MODEL env)
• Host: localhost (or from OLLAMA_HOST env)
• Port: 11434 (or from OLLAMA_PORT env)

How It Works

1. Ollama receives your natural language request
2. The agent prompt guides the LLM to generate a valid issuedb-cli command
3. The command is automatically validated and executed
4. Results are displayed in your terminal

The integration uses only Python standard library (urllib), keeping the package dependency-free.

Web UI

IssueDB includes an optional web interface for visual issue management.

Starting the Web Server

# Start on default port (7760)
issuedb-cli web

# Custom port and host
issuedb-cli web --port 8080 --host localhost

# Enable debug mode for development
issuedb-cli web --debug

Web Features

• Dashboard: Overview with statistics, next issue, active issue, recent issues
• Issues List: Browse all issues with status/priority filters and search
• Issue Detail: Full issue view with comments, quick actions, dependency info
• Create/Edit Forms: Create and modify issues through the web interface

API Endpoints

The web server exposes REST API endpoints:

# List all issues
curl http://localhost:7760/api/issues

# Get specific issue
curl http://localhost:7760/api/issues/5

# Create issue
curl -X POST http://localhost:7760/api/issues \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"title": "New issue", "priority": "high"}'

# Update issue
curl -X PATCH http://localhost:7760/api/issues/5 \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"status": "closed"}'

# Delete issue
curl -X DELETE http://localhost:7760/api/issues/5

# Get summary statistics
curl http://localhost:7760/api/summary

# Get next issue
curl http://localhost:7760/api/next

# Add comment
curl -X POST http://localhost:7760/api/issues/5/comments \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"text": "Comment text"}'

Requirements

The web UI requires Flask (installed separately):

pip install flask

Database

IssueDB uses a local SQLite database stored at ./issuedb.sqlite in the current directory. The database includes:

• issues table - Stores all issue data
• audit_logs table - Immutable audit trail of all changes
• Comprehensive indexes for optimal query performance

The database is automatically created on first use in each directory.

Custom Database Location

You can specify a custom database path:

issuedb-cli --db ~/custom/location/issues.db create -t "Test"

Testing

Run the test suite:

pytest

Run with coverage:

pytest --cov=issuedb

Development

Setup Development Environment

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/rodmena-limited/issue-queue
cd issuedb

# Create virtual environment
python -m venv venv
source venv/bin/activate  # On Windows: venv\Scripts\activate

# Install in development mode
pip install -e .
pip install pytest pytest-cov ruff

Code Formatting and Linting

# Format code
ruff format .

# Check linting
ruff check .

Running Tests

# Run all tests
pytest

# Run specific test file
pytest tests/test_repository.py

# Run with verbose output
pytest -v

License

Apache License 2.0 - See LICENSE file for details

Contributing

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch (git checkout -b feature/amazing-feature)
3. Commit your changes (git commit -m 'Add amazing feature')
4. Push to the branch (git push origin feature/amazing-feature)
5. Open a Pull Request

Support

For issues, questions, or suggestions, please open an issue on GitHub.

Roadmap

Completed

• Issue templates (bug, feature, task)
• Issue relationships (blocks, depends on)
• Code references (link issues to files/lines)
• Time tracking (timers, estimates, reports)
• Workspace awareness (active issue, git integration)
• Duplicate detection (similarity search)
• LLM agent context command
• Bulk pattern operations

Planned

• Export/import functionality
• Tags/labels support
• Due dates
• Web UI (optional)
• Backup and restore utilities
• Git hooks integration