Kanbanlan

Kanbanlan gives a repository one documented coordination workflow for humans and coding agents. Today its canonical kanban home is GitHub Issues with a GitHub Projects v2 projection; its core identity and provider contract are portable to other canonical homes.

It provides:

• one-command repository and Project setup;
• browser-based GitHub CLI authentication when credentials or the project scope are missing;
• repository labels, issue/PR templates, and managed AGENTS.md / CLAUDE.md instructions;
• a private local snapshot shared across Git worktrees;
• dry-run-first reconciliation between issue labels, Project Status, active claims, and linked pull requests; and
• immutable, provider-independent Kanbanlan IDs;
• safe capture, claim, release, handoff, and review commands; and
• durable per-request records stored in the repository.

GitHub Issues remain canonical in the current provider. Kanbanlan does not store API tokens, require an MCP server, or create another server-side database.

Install

Kanbanlan requires Python 3.11+, Git, and GitHub CLI. The examples below use uv for installation and development.

Install the latest release from PyPI:

uv tool install kanbanlan

Once installed, upgrade to the latest release with:

kanbanlan upgrade

On normal CLI use, Kanbanlan also checks PyPI at most once every three days and prints a short notice when a newer release is available. Set KANBANLAN_NO_UPDATE_CHECK=1 to disable these checks.

Or install the unreleased development version from GitHub:

uv tool install git+https://github.com/jmitchel3/kanbanlan.git

To install a local checkout instead:

uv tool install .

For development:

uv sync --group dev
uv run pytest
uv run ruff check .
uv build

Initialize a repository

Start the guided setup wizard from any GitHub-backed repository:

cd /path/to/repository
kanbanlan init

The three-step wizard detects the repository and default branch, defaults to a fresh copy of the Kanbanlan Project template, collects the staging and optional production branch, then shows a summary for confirmation before it changes repository files or Project settings. The copied Project is titled <repository name> Delivery by default and includes the template's preconfigured views. GitHub and cache work shows progress as it runs, including a clear failed step if setup stops.

You can also provide any choice up front. Reuse an existing Project:

cd /path/to/repository
kanbanlan init --project-url https://github.com/orgs/acme/projects/2

Create a new empty Project instead of using the default template:

kanbanlan init --create-project --project-title "Product Delivery" --open

Copy a different Project template, including its useful views:

kanbanlan init --template-project template-owner/1 --project-title "Product Delivery"

init authenticates through gh auth login --web when necessary, ensures the GitHub token has the project scope, links the Project to the repository, repairs the Status field, creates the workflow labels, writes managed repository files, adds open issues, and reconciles their state.

Use --non-interactive in automation; without a Project source it copies the default template. Provide --project-number, --project-url, --create-project, or --template-project to override that default. Use --local-only with an existing Project reference to generate repository files without GitHub mutations. Pass --no-open to suppress the wizard's browser question or --open to open the configured Project after setup.

Terminal colors distinguish headings, workflow states, priorities, warnings, and errors when output is interactive. Use --color always or --color never to choose explicitly. Kanbanlan also respects the standard NO_COLOR environment variable. Progress is written to stderr so commands such as snapshot, path, and capture keep clean, pipe-friendly stdout.

Kanbanlan does not create custom Project views or GitHub's built-in auto-add workflow through the API. Plain kanbanlan init copies the default template so its views are present from the start. With --create-project, --open opens the empty Project so a Board view can be added manually. Kanbanlan's own reconcile --apply keeps item states correct even when GitHub Project workflows are not configured.

Optional background reconciliation

Successful live initialization and reconciliation register the repository with one user-scoped worker. It deduplicates worktrees through Git's common directory, refreshes enabled repositories on a bounded schedule, applies only safe repairs, and records last-good snapshot and retry health without storing credentials.

kanbanlan worker status
kanbanlan worker enable --github-login YOUR_GITHUB_ACCOUNT
kanbanlan worker start
kanbanlan worker stop
kanbanlan worker disable

The worker resolves the selected account's credential at runtime with gh auth token --user; it never runs gh auth switch and never writes a token to the registry. See docs/workflow/worker.md for macOS LaunchAgent and Linux systemd user-service examples. The worker is opt-in, has no Docker requirement, and explicit disablement persists.

Daily use

kanbanlan ensure             # refresh only when the worktree-shared cache is stale
kanbanlan next               # report the first unblocked Ready issue
kanbanlan status             # summarize the local cache
kanbanlan reconcile          # report drift, without mutations
kanbanlan reconcile --apply  # apply and verify the displayed repairs
kanbanlan --json next        # stable output for agents and automation

The cache lives at <primary-checkout>/.cache/kanbanlan/ with private file permissions. A failed refresh preserves the last good snapshot and records the error in health.json.

Request lifecycle

kanbanlan capture "Add export audit log" --priority priority:p1
kanbanlan claim KBL-... --touchpoints "audit API; exports UI; migrations"
kanbanlan record KBL-...
kanbanlan review KBL-...
kanbanlan release KBL-... --reason "Waiting for product decision" --blocked
kanbanlan handoff KBL-... --session codex-next --branch work/kbl-audit \\
  --worktree /path/to/worktree --reason "Shift change"

capture assigns a globally unique KBL-... Kanbanlan ID. Lifecycle commands accept that ID, a GitHub issue number, or the normalized GitHub provider reference. reconcile --apply assigns IDs to requests created through GitHub's web interface or by older Kanbanlan releases.

By default claim posts the claim first, verifies that it is the earliest active claim, and only then creates a dedicated worktree from the configured default branch. If checkout creation fails, it releases the claim and returns the card to Ready. Use --no-worktree only from an existing non-default branch/worktree.

record creates docs/kanbanlan/requests/<Kanbanlan ID>.md once. Complete its decisions, verification, and delivered-result sections in the implementation PR. Kanbanlan never overwrites manual changes to an existing record. Volatile status and claim movements remain in the live canonical home rather than Git.

Portable architecture

The versioned configuration distinguishes the GitHub code host, the canonical kanban home, and board projections. Normalized snapshots expose a Kanbanlan ID, provider ID, display ID, provider reference, canonical URL, lifecycle state, claims, and linked pull requests. Workflow reconciliation depends on a provider contract; GitHub is its first implementation.

This keeps the CLI as the portable agent interface. MCP integrations may wrap it, but agents can operate using ordinary shell access and --json. Linear or Asana adapters, mirroring, webhooks, and multi-master conflict resolution are deliberately outside the current implementation.

Managed repository files

init writes:

• .kanbanlan.toml;
• .github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/work-request.yml;
• .github/pull_request_template.md;
• docs/workflow/kanbanlan.md;
• a marked Kanbanlan section in AGENTS.md and CLAUDE.md; and
• /.cache/kanbanlan/ and /.worktrees/ in .gitignore.

Generated standalone files carry a marker. Existing custom templates are not overwritten unless --force is passed. Agent instruction sections are updated only between kanbanlan:start and kanbanlan:end markers.

State model

Priorities are priority:p0 through priority:p3. An active CLAIM forces In progress; an open pull request that closes the issue forces In review; a closed issue forces Done. Issue labels are the fallback status record when the Project is temporarily unavailable.

Diagnostics

kanbanlan auth
kanbanlan doctor
kanbanlan path
kanbanlan snapshot
kanbanlan refresh

doctor checks configuration, authentication, Project Status options, labels, and cache health without mutating GitHub.

Contributing and security

Bug reports and focused pull requests are welcome. See CONTRIBUTING.md for the development workflow. Please report security vulnerabilities privately as described in SECURITY.md.

Kanbanlan is available under the MIT License.