Product Overview

Backlog.md is a Markdown-native task and kanban visualization CLI tool that also runs as an MCP server for AI coding assistants.

Core Positioning

Feature Description
Markdown-native Every task is a standalone .md file; frontmatter stores metadata; body holds the description and acceptance criteria
AI-Ready Supports Claude Code, Gemini CLI, Codex, Kiro, Cursor, and other MCP/CLI-compatible AI assistants
100% offline & private All data lives locally in the repository; no account or internet required
Cross-platform macOS, Linux, and Windows

Main Features

Task Management

  • Task CRUD: create, edit, view, archive, and delete
  • Subtask support: decimal numbering (e.g., back-4.1)
  • Dependency management: inter-task dependencies and automatic sequence calculation
  • Draft system: independent draft ID space; promote to formal tasks at any time

Board & Visualization

  • Terminal TUI board: launch the interactive terminal board with backlog board
  • Web browser interface: launch the modern React interface with backlog browser, supporting rich-text paste and Word document upload
  • Board export: export as Markdown tables or embed in README
  • Fuse.js-based fuzzy search across tasks, documents, and decisions
  • Unified search experience in CLI, TUI, and Web
  • Multi-dimensional filtering by status, priority, labels, and more

AI Integration

  • MCP protocol: AI agents invoke Backlog.md tools directly
  • CLI instructions: generate agent instruction files that guide AI usage of commands
  • Wiki Skill installation: backlog wiki install deploys the built-in knowledge-base skill to Claude/Codex
  • Spec-driven workflow: describe an idea → AI breaks it into tasks → implement one by one

Wiki Knowledge Base

  • LLM-maintained incremental knowledge base: AI agents read tasks/docs/decisions source files and compile them into a structured wiki; human-readable and editable
  • Browse the backlog/wiki/ file tree directly in the browser with a collapsible sidebar
  • In-place editing: title, body, and labels can be changed; saving automatically updates frontmatter
  • File management: create files/folders, rename, and empty folders remain visible
  • Live sync: multi-tab/WebSocket instant synchronization of file changes
  • AI skill support: backlog wiki install one-click deployment to Claude/Codex

Task Comments

  • Append discussion and review records to tasks; supports Markdown body and optional author
  • CLI: backlog task edit <id> --comment "content" --comment-author @name
  • MCP: task_edit commentsAppend and commentAuthor fields
  • Web UI: task detail modal shows comments read-only in preview mode; edit mode can append new comments
  • Comment text participates in search; backlog search can find tasks containing relevant comments

Dates & Planning

  • Task date fields: optional dueDate, plannedStart, and plannedEnd
  • Milestone dates: set time ranges and deadlines for milestones
  • Board date indicators: TaskCard shows planning windows and overdue highlights
  • Web UI auto-fill: setting dueDate automatically suggests plannedStart / plannedEnd

Documents & Decisions

  • Document management: supports sub-folder grouping
  • Decision records (ADR): standard architecture-decision format with status transitions
  • Milestones: task assignment, completion detection, and archiving

Technology Stack

  • Runtime: Bun + TypeScript 5
  • CLI: Commander.js + Clack interactive wizard
  • TUI: bblessed terminal interface
  • Web UI: React + Tailwind CSS v4
  • Search: Fuse.js fuzzy matching
  • Build output: single-file executable binary with embedded Web assets

Distribution Channels

  • npm: @kuwork/backlog.md
  • Homebrew: backlog-md (upstream formula)
  • Nix: nix run github:MrLesk/Backlog.md (upstream flake)
  • GitHub Releases: platform binaries at kuwork/Backlog.md

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