kanban-tui

kanban-tui is a customizable task manager in the terminal.
Now also usable in Co-op with your agents (check the skill command for more infos).

Demo GIF

If you want to test kanban-tui you can directly run this demo yourself with the help of uv using uvx with

uvx kanban-tui demo

Features

Expand for more detailed information

erDiagram
    tasks }|--o| categories: have
    tasks }|--|| audits: updates
    tasks {
        INTEGER task_id PK
        INTEGER column FK
        INTEGER category FK
        TEXT title
        TEXT description
        DATETIME creation_date
        DATETIME start_date
        DATETIME finish_date
        DATETIME due_date
    }
    boards }|--o{ columns: contains
    boards }|--|| audits: updates
    boards {
        INTEGER board_id PK
        INTEGER reset_column FK
        INTEGER start_column FK
        INTEGER finish_column FK
        TEXT name
        TEXT icon
        DATETIME creation_date
    }
    columns ||--|{ tasks: contains
    columns }|--|| audits: updates
    columns {
        INTEGER column_id PK
        INTEGER board_id FK
        TEXT name
        BOOLEAN visible
        INTEGER position
    }
    categories {
        INTEGER category_id PK
        TEXT name
        TEXT color
    }
    audits {
        INTEGER event_id PK
        DATETIME event_timestamp
        TEXT event_type
        TEXT object_type
        INTEGER object_id
        TEXT object_field
        TEXT value_old
        TEXT value_new
    }

Installation

You can install kanban-tui with one of the following options:

# not recommended
pip install kanban-tui

pipx install kanban-tui

uv tool install kanban-tui

I recommend using pipx or uv to install CLI Tools into an isolated environment.

To be able to use kanban-tui in your browser with the --web-flag, the optional dependency
textual-serve is needed. You can add this to kanban-tui by installing the optional web-dependency
with the installer of your choice, for example with uv:

uv tool install 'kanban-tui[web]'

Usage

kanban-tui now also supports the kanban-tui entrypoint besides ktui.
This was added to support easier installation via uv's uvx command.

Normal Mode

Start kanban-tui with by just running the tool without any command. The application can be closed by pressing ctrl+q.
Pass the --web flag and follow the shown link to open kanban-tui in your browser.

ktui

Demo Mode

Creates a temporary Config and Database which is populated with example Tasks to play around.
Kanban-Tui will delete the temporary Config and Database after closing the application.
Pass the --clean flag to start with an empty demo app.
Pass the --keep flag to tell kanban-tui not to delete the temporary Database and Config.
Pass the --web flag and follow the shown link to open kanban-tui in your browser.

ktui demo

Clear Database and Configuration

If you want to start with a fresh database and configuration file, you can use this command to
delete your current database and configuration file.

ktui clear

Create or Update Agent SKILL.md File

With version v0.11.0 kanban-tui offers a CLI Interface to manage tasks, boards and columns.
This is targeted mainly for agentic use e.g. via Claude, because references will be made only by ids, but some commands
are also ergonomic for human use (e.g. task creation).

ktui skill init/update

CLI Interface to manage Tasks

The commands to manage tasks, boards and columns via the CLI are all build up similarly. For detailed overview of arguments
and options please use the --help command.
Note that not every functionality is supported yet (e.g. category management, column customisation).

ktui task list/create/update/move/delete
ktui board list/create/delete/activate
ktui columns list

Show Location of Data, Config and Skill Files

kanban-tui follows the XDG basedir-spec and uses the xdg-base-dirs package to get the locations for data and config files.
You can use this command to check where the files are located, that kanban-tui creates on your system.

ktui info

Feedback and Issues

Feel free to reach out and share your feedback, or open an Issue,
if something doesn't work as expected.
Also check the Changelog for new updates.