CLI Mode - Kanban

Overview

The CLI mode provides a scriptable interface to Kanban operations. All commands output JSON for easy parsing and integration with other tools.

Configuration

KANBAN_FILE Environment Variable

Set the data file path to avoid passing it to every command:

export KANBAN_FILE=myboard.json

Alternatively, pass the file path directly:

kanban myboard.json board list

JSON Output Format

All CLI commands return JSON. This makes it easy to parse results with jq or other tools. Example output:

[
  {
    "id": "550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440000",
    "name": "My Project",
    "description": "Project description",
    "created_at": "2024-01-15T10:30:00Z",
    "columns": [
      {"id": "...", "name": "Todo", "position": 0},
      {"id": "...", "name": "In Progress", "position": 1},
      {"id": "...", "name": "Done", "position": 2}
    ]
  }
]

Command Structure

Commands follow this pattern:

kanban [FILE] <RESOURCE> <ACTION> [OPTIONS]

FILE - Optional data file path (or use KANBAN_FILE)
RESOURCE - board, card, column, sprint, export, import
ACTION - list, create, update, delete, etc.
OPTIONS - Resource-specific flags

Board Operations

List Boards

kanban board list

Create Board

kanban board create --name "My Project"
kanban board create --name "My Project" --card-prefix "PROJ"

Get Board

kanban board get <BOARD_ID>

Update Board

kanban board update <BOARD_ID> --name "New Name"
kanban board update <BOARD_ID> --description "Updated description"
kanban board update <BOARD_ID> --card-prefix "NEWPREFIX"
kanban board update <BOARD_ID> --sprint-prefix "SPRINT"

Delete Board

kanban board delete <BOARD_ID>

Card Operations

List Cards

# All cards in a board
kanban card list --board-id <BOARD_ID>

# Cards in a specific column
kanban card list --column-id <COLUMN_ID>

# Cards in a sprint
kanban card list --sprint-id <SPRINT_ID>

# Archived cards
kanban card list --board-id <BOARD_ID> --archived

# Filter by status
kanban card list --board-id <BOARD_ID> --status done

Create Card

kanban card create \
  --board-id <BOARD_ID> \
  --column-id <COLUMN_ID> \
  --title "New task"

kanban card create \
  --board-id <BOARD_ID> \
  --column-id <COLUMN_ID> \
  --title "New task" \
  --description "Task description" \
  --priority high \
  --points 3 \
  --due-date "2024-12-31"

Get Card

kanban card get <CARD_ID>

Update Card

kanban card update <CARD_ID> --title "Updated title"
kanban card update <CARD_ID> --status done
kanban card update <CARD_ID> --priority high
kanban card update <CARD_ID> --points 5
kanban card update <CARD_ID> --due-date "2024-12-31"
kanban card update <CARD_ID> --clear-due-date

Move Card

kanban card move <CARD_ID> --column-id <COLUMN_ID>
kanban card move <CARD_ID> --column-id <COLUMN_ID> --position 0

Archive and Restore

# Archive a card
kanban card archive <CARD_ID>

# Restore to original column
kanban card restore <CARD_ID>

# Restore to specific column
kanban card restore <CARD_ID> --column-id <COLUMN_ID>

# Permanently delete
kanban card delete <CARD_ID>

Sprint Assignment

# Assign card to sprint
kanban card assign-sprint <CARD_ID> --sprint-id <SPRINT_ID>

# Unassign from sprint
kanban card unassign-sprint <CARD_ID>

Git Integration

# Get branch name
kanban card branch-name <CARD_ID>
# Output: "feature/PROJ-123/task-title"

# Get git checkout command
kanban card git-checkout <CARD_ID>
# Output: "git checkout -b feature/PROJ-123/task-title"

Bulk Operations

# Archive multiple cards
kanban card bulk-archive --ids <ID1>,<ID2>,<ID3>

# Move multiple cards
kanban card bulk-move --ids <ID1>,<ID2> --column-id <COLUMN_ID>

# Assign multiple cards to sprint
kanban card bulk-assign-sprint --ids <ID1>,<ID2> --sprint-id <SPRINT_ID>

Column Operations

List Columns

kanban column list --board-id <BOARD_ID>

Create Column

kanban column create --board-id <BOARD_ID> --name "Review"
kanban column create --board-id <BOARD_ID> --name "Review" --position 2

Update Column

kanban column update <COLUMN_ID> --name "In Review"
kanban column update <COLUMN_ID> --wip-limit 5
kanban column update <COLUMN_ID> --clear-wip-limit

Reorder Column

kanban column reorder <COLUMN_ID> --position 1

Delete Column

kanban column delete <COLUMN_ID>

Sprint Operations

List Sprints

kanban sprint list --board-id <BOARD_ID>

Create Sprint

kanban sprint create --board-id <BOARD_ID>
kanban sprint create --board-id <BOARD_ID> --prefix "SPRINT" --name "Q1 2024"

Update Sprint

kanban sprint update <SPRINT_ID> --name "Sprint 1"
kanban sprint update <SPRINT_ID> --prefix "S1"
kanban sprint update <SPRINT_ID> --card-prefix "S1"
kanban sprint update <SPRINT_ID> --start-date "2024-01-01" --end-date "2024-01-14"
kanban sprint update <SPRINT_ID> --clear-start-date

Activate Sprint

kanban sprint activate <SPRINT_ID>
kanban sprint activate <SPRINT_ID> --duration-days 14

Complete Sprint

kanban sprint complete <SPRINT_ID>

Cancel Sprint

kanban sprint cancel <SPRINT_ID>

Delete Sprint

kanban sprint delete <SPRINT_ID>

Export and Import

Export Board

kanban export --board-id <BOARD_ID> > board.json

Export All Boards

kanban export > all-boards.json

Import Board

kanban import --file board.json

Shell Completions

Generate shell completion scripts:

# Bash
kanban completions bash > ~/.local/share/bash-completion/completions/kanban

# Zsh
kanban completions zsh > ~/.zsh/completions/_kanban

# Fish
kanban completions fish > ~/.config/fish/completions/kanban.fish

# PowerShell
kanban completions powershell > kanban.ps1

Scripting Examples

Create a Board with Cards

#!/bin/bash
export KANBAN_FILE=project.json

# Create board
BOARD_ID=$(kanban board create --name "My Project" | jq -r '.id')

# Get default columns
TODO_ID=$(kanban column list --board-id "$BOARD_ID" | jq -r '.[] | select(.name=="Todo") | .id')

# Create cards
kanban card create --board-id "$BOARD_ID" --column-id "$TODO_ID" --title "Task 1"
kanban card create --board-id "$BOARD_ID" --column-id "$TODO_ID" --title "Task 2" --priority high
kanban card create --board-id "$BOARD_ID" --column-id "$TODO_ID" --title "Task 3" --points 5

echo "Board created with ID: $BOARD_ID"

Generate Sprint Report

#!/bin/bash
export KANBAN_FILE=project.json

SPRINT_ID="$1"

# Get sprint cards
CARDS=$(kanban card list --sprint-id "$SPRINT_ID")

# Calculate statistics
TOTAL=$(echo "$CARDS" | jq 'length')
COMPLETED=$(echo "$CARDS" | jq '[.[] | select(.status=="done")] | length')
TOTAL_POINTS=$(echo "$CARDS" | jq '[.[] | .points // 0] | add')
COMPLETED_POINTS=$(echo "$CARDS" | jq '[.[] | select(.status=="done") | .points // 0] | add')

echo "Sprint Report:"
echo "  Total Cards: $TOTAL"
echo "  Completed: $COMPLETED"
echo "  Total Points: $TOTAL_POINTS"
echo "  Completed Points: $COMPLETED_POINTS"

Move All High Priority Cards

#!/bin/bash
export KANBAN_FILE=project.json

BOARD_ID="$1"
TARGET_COLUMN_ID="$2"

# Get all high priority cards
CARD_IDS=$(kanban card list --board-id "$BOARD_ID" | \
  jq -r '.[] | select(.priority=="high") | .id')

# Move them
for CARD_ID in $CARD_IDS; do
  kanban card move "$CARD_ID" --column-id "$TARGET_COLUMN_ID"
  echo "Moved card $CARD_ID"
done

Daily Standup Report

#!/bin/bash
export KANBAN_FILE=project.json

BOARD_ID="$1"

echo "=== Daily Standup Report ==="
echo ""

echo "In Progress:"
kanban card list --board-id "$BOARD_ID" --status in_progress | \
  jq -r '.[] | "  - " + .title +" (" + (.priority // "none") + ")"'

echo ""
echo "Blocked:"
kanban card list --board-id "$BOARD_ID" --status blocked | \
  jq -r '.[] | "  - " + .title'

echo ""
echo "Completed Today:"
kanban card list --board-id "$BOARD_ID" --status done | \
  jq --arg today "$(date +%Y-%m-%d)" -r \
    '.[] | select(.updated_at | startswith($today)) | "  - " + .title'

Next Steps

TUI Mode

Interactive terminal interface guide

CLI Reference

Detailed CLI command reference

MCP Server

Model Context Protocol for LLM integration

Development

Build and contribute to Kanban

Get Started

User Guide

Core Concepts

Advanced

Development

Documentation Index

​Overview

​Configuration

​KANBAN_FILE Environment Variable

​JSON Output Format

​Command Structure

​Board Operations

​List Boards

​Create Board

​Get Board

​Update Board

​Delete Board

​Card Operations

​List Cards

​Create Card

​Get Card

​Update Card

​Move Card

​Archive and Restore

​Sprint Assignment

​Git Integration

​Bulk Operations

​Column Operations

​List Columns

​Create Column

​Update Column

​Reorder Column

​Delete Column

​Sprint Operations

​List Sprints

​Create Sprint

​Update Sprint

​Activate Sprint

​Complete Sprint

​Cancel Sprint

​Delete Sprint

​Export and Import

​Export Board

​Export All Boards

​Import Board

​Shell Completions

​Scripting Examples

​Create a Board with Cards

​Generate Sprint Report

​Move All High Priority Cards

​Daily Standup Report

​Next Steps

TUI Mode

CLI Reference

MCP Server

Development

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Overview

Configuration

KANBAN_FILE Environment Variable

JSON Output Format

Command Structure

Board Operations

List Boards

Create Board

Get Board

Update Board

Delete Board

Card Operations

List Cards

Create Card

Get Card

Update Card

Move Card

Archive and Restore

Sprint Assignment

Git Integration

Bulk Operations

Column Operations

List Columns

Create Column

Update Column

Reorder Column

Delete Column

Sprint Operations

List Sprints

Create Sprint

Update Sprint

Activate Sprint

Complete Sprint

Cancel Sprint

Delete Sprint

Export and Import

Export Board

Export All Boards

Import Board

Shell Completions

Scripting Examples

Create a Board with Cards

Generate Sprint Report

Move All High Priority Cards

Daily Standup Report

Next Steps