Also: board rule to write tasks from chat in our own words, task descriptions rewritten that way, and a note on lost web-board descriptions. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Kandown
File-based kanban for this project. Zero install, zero backend, plain markdown on disk.
Layout
.kandown/ # config, web UI, workflows, skills
├── kandown.html # single-file web app — open this in your browser
├── kandown.json # project preferences, columns, appearance
├── kandown_work.md # optional project agent instructions
├── workflows/ # optional local workflow packages
├── skills/ # optional local Markdown skill packages
└── README.md # this file
tasks/ # source of truth — one .md file per task
├── t1.md
├── t2.md
└── archive/ # archived tasks live here
Usage
- Open
.kandown/kandown.htmlin Chrome, Edge, Brave or Opera (File System Access API required) - Click Select folder and pick the project root (the parent of
.kandown/), then grant read/write permission - That's it
The app remembers the last 10 projects you've opened — no need to re-select the folder each time.
Settings
Open Settings from the app header to tune this project. Board columns are stored in .kandown/kandown.json at board.columns. Each task chooses a column with its frontmatter status.
Editing without the app
Everything is plain markdown. Edit files directly in your IDE, Obsidian, or vim. Click Reload in the app (or press R) to see changes.
The task editor includes a markdown-backed subtask checklist. Add steps with Add subtask, press Enter to insert another step, and expand a step to edit its description or report. Changes are saved back to the task file automatically.
For AI agents
Run kandown work for the current agent protocol and live board context. Each task file in tasks/ is its own source of truth. Moving a task means editing its frontmatter status.
Keyboard shortcuts
| Key | Action |
|---|---|
⌘K / Ctrl+K |
Command palette |
⌘1 / Ctrl+1 |
Board view |
⌘2 / Ctrl+2 |
List view |
N |
New task |
R |
Reload |
/ |
Focus search |
Esc |
Close drawer / palette |
⌘S |
Save current task |
⌘⌫ |
Delete task (with confirmation) |