kanban-tui is a terminal-based task manager that uses the Kanban approach to organise work visually. Built with Python and the Textual framework, it displays tasks as cards arranged across columns representing different stages of a workflow.
The application provides four default columns: Ready, Doing, Done and Archive. Users can create additional columns, manage multiple boards and move tasks between workflow stages using keyboard shortcuts or mouse controls.
Tasks can have dependencies that prevent work from progressing until prerequisite tasks are completed. The application also provides activity charts, an audit history and integration with Jira. A command-line interface and optional MCP server allow external tools to manage tasks programmatically.
This is free and open source software.
Key Features
- Customisable Kanban boards with configurable columns, visibility and ordering.
- Manage multiple boards for different projects and workflows.
- Create, edit, delete and move tasks using keyboard shortcuts or drag and drop.
- Define task dependencies with automatic blocking and circular dependency detection.
- Assign categories, descriptions and due dates to tasks.
- Visualise task activity with daily, weekly and monthly charts.
- Audit history tracks changes to tasks, boards and columns.
- SQLite storage for local task management.
- Optional Jira and Claude task backends.
- Command-line interface for managing tasks, boards and columns.
- Optional MCP server for integration with external tools and AI agents.
- Browser-based access through an optional web interface.
- Cross-platform support – runs on Linux, macOS, and Windows.
Website: github.com/Zaloog/kanban-tui
Support:
Developer: Lars Grams
License: MIT License
kanban-tui is written in Python. Learn Python with our recommended free books and free tutorials.
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