vibe-kanban README

The project's README from github.com/BloopAI/vibe-kanban. As one markdown file: README.md.

Vibe Kanban Logo

Get 10X more out of Claude Code, Gemini CLI, Codex, Amp and other coding agents...

npm Build status Ask DeepWiki

Vibe Kanban is sunsetting. Read the announcement.

Overview

In a world where software engineers spend most of their time planning and reviewing coding agents, the most impactful way to ship more is to get faster at planning and review.

Vibe Kanban is built for this. Use kanban issues to plan work, either privately or with your team. When you're ready to begin, create workspaces where coding agents can execute.

One command. Describe the work, review the diff, ship it.

npx vibe-kanban

Installation

Make sure you have authenticated with your favourite coding agent. A full list of supported coding agents can be found in the docs. Then in your terminal run:

npx vibe-kanban

Documentation

Head to the website for the latest documentation and user guides.

Self-Hosting

Want to host your own Vibe Kanban Cloud instance? See our self-hosting guide.

Support

We use GitHub Discussions for feature requests. Please open a discussion to create a feature request. For bugs please open an issue on this repo.

Contributing

We would prefer that ideas and changes are first raised with the core team via GitHub Discussions or Discord, where we can discuss implementation details and alignment with the existing roadmap. Please do not open PRs without first discussing your proposal with the team.

Development

Prerequisites

Additional development tools:

cargo install cargo-watch
cargo install sqlx-cli

Install dependencies:

pnpm i

Running the dev server

pnpm run dev

This will start the backend and web app. A blank DB will be copied from the dev_assets_seed folder.

Building the web app

To build just the web app:

cd packages/local-web
pnpm run build

Build from source (macOS)

  1. Run ./local-build.sh
  2. Test with cd npx-cli && node bin/cli.js

Environment Variables

The following environment variables can be configured at build time or runtime:

Variable Type Default Description
POSTHOG_API_KEY Build-time Empty PostHog analytics API key (disables analytics if empty)
POSTHOG_API_ENDPOINT Build-time Empty PostHog analytics endpoint (disables analytics if empty)
PORT Runtime Auto-assign Production: Server port. Dev: Frontend port (backend uses PORT+1)
BACKEND_PORT Runtime 0 (auto-assign) Backend server port (dev mode only, overrides PORT+1)
FRONTEND_PORT Runtime 3000 Frontend dev server port (dev mode only, overrides PORT)
HOST Runtime 127.0.0.1 Backend server host
MCP_HOST Runtime Value of HOST MCP server connection host (use 127.0.0.1 when HOST=0.0.0.0 on Windows)
MCP_PORT Runtime Value of BACKEND_PORT MCP server connection port
DISABLE_WORKTREE_CLEANUP Runtime Not set Disable all git worktree cleanup including orphan and expired workspace cleanup (for debugging)
VK_ALLOWED_ORIGINS Runtime Not set Comma-separated list of origins that are allowed to make backend API requests (e.g., https://my-vibekanban-frontend.com)
VK_SHARED_API_BASE Runtime Not set Base URL for the remote/cloud API used by the local desktop app
VK_SHARED_RELAY_API_BASE Runtime Not set Base URL for the relay API used by tunnel-mode connections
VK_TUNNEL Runtime Not set Enable relay tunnel mode when set (requires relay API base URL)

Build-time variables must be set when running pnpm run build. Runtime variables are read when the application starts.

Self-Hosting with a Reverse Proxy or Custom Domain

When running Vibe Kanban behind a reverse proxy (e.g., nginx, Caddy, Traefik) or on a custom domain, you must set the VK_ALLOWED_ORIGINS environment variable. Without this, the browser's Origin header won't match the backend's expected host, and API requests will be rejected with a 403 Forbidden error.

Set it to the full origin URL(s) where your frontend is accessible:

# Single origin
VK_ALLOWED_ORIGINS=https://vk.example.com

# Multiple origins (comma-separated)
VK_ALLOWED_ORIGINS=https://vk.example.com,https://vk-staging.example.com

Remote Deployment

When running Vibe Kanban on a remote server (e.g., via systemctl, Docker, or cloud hosting), you can configure your editor to open projects via SSH:

  1. Access via tunnel: Use Cloudflare Tunnel, ngrok, or similar to expose the web UI
  2. Configure remote SSH in Settings → Editor Integration:
    • Set Remote SSH Host to your server hostname or IP
    • Set Remote SSH User to your SSH username (optional)
  3. Prerequisites:
    • SSH access from your local machine to the remote server
    • SSH keys configured (passwordless authentication)
    • VSCode Remote-SSH extension

When configured, the "Open in VSCode" buttons will generate URLs like vscode://vscode-remote/ssh-remote+user@host/path that open your local editor and connect to the remote server.

See the documentation for detailed setup instructions.

vibe-kanban (BloopAI/vibe-kanban)

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28.4K ·GitHub
Vibe-kanban
What is this?A kanban board built around coding agents: you plan work as issues, run agents like Claude Code in isolated workspaces, review their diffs, and ship.
Is it a website, a desktop app, or a CLI tool?A local web app: an npm CLI starts a server and you use the board in your browser. It can also be self-hosted on your own server.
How do I get it running?Authenticate with your favourite coding agent first, then start it with one terminal command; the website's docs cover the rest.
Which coding agents can it drive?10+ of them: Claude Code, Codex, Gemini CLI, GitHub Copilot, Amp, Cursor, OpenCode, Droid, CCR, and Qwen Code — you can switch between them.
Any reason to hesitate before adopting it?The README announces that Vibe Kanban is sunsetting — worth checking the project's current status before investing time in it.
Is this for solo developers or teams?Both — the board can be used privately or with your team, planning and assigning issues together.
Can I run it on a server instead of my laptop?Yes — there's a self-hosting guide, and remote deployment works via systemctl, Docker, or cloud hosting with access through a tunnel like Cloudflare Tunnel or ngrok. Behind a reverse proxy you must set VK_ALLOWED_ORIGINS or API requests fail with 403.
What does it send to third-party servers?Analytics go through PostHog, and the build-time PostHog API key variables disable analytics when left empty. Otherwise the app runs locally, and self-hosting keeps it on your infrastructure.
Why build this instead of just using a regular kanban board?Because once agents write the code, an engineer's bottleneck shifts to planning and reviewing their work — the tool is built specifically to make those two steps faster.
Can I preview the app an agent is building without leaving the tool?Yes — there's a built-in browser preview with devtools, an inspect mode, and device emulation.
Can I open the project in my editor, including when it runs on a remote server?Yes — Settings → Editor Integration lets you configure a remote SSH host and user; with passwordless SSH keys and the VSCode Remote-SSH extension, the 'Open in VSCode' buttons open the project straight on the server.
What are similar projects?1code, shipyard, agent-orchestrator, epiq, emdash, vicoa, Archon, fractal
Which topics is it in?task-manager, management, kanban, git-worktrees, vibe-coding, github, orchestration, git, coding-agent, rust, codex, agent
Creator
BloopAI
Size
101.6 MB
Stars
28.4K
Updated
CommitSep 19Releasev0.1.44-20260424091429Apr 24
Age
1y
Commits · 90 Days