Sanban

Simple kanban that just works. No bloat, no login, no SaaS.

JSON-backed boards with a REST API, MCP server, and a dark UI. For devs who want tasks tracked without the overhead.

Screenshots

Quick Start

uv sync
uv tool install .
sanban              # http://localhost:8900

The web server runs independently. Agents connect via MCP separately.

Setup with an AI Agent

Paste this into opencode, Claude Code, Cursor, or any AI agent — it will install sanban, start the server, register MCP, load the skill, and verify everything:

Clone https://github.com/aancw/sanban, run `uv tool install .` from inside the repo (binary lands at ~/.local/bin/sanban — ensure ~/.local/bin is on PATH, e.g. `export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"`), start the server with `sanban` running in the background (or nohup/disown), register it as an MCP server named "sanban" running `sanban --mcp-only`, copy SKILL.md from the cloned repo into the agent's skills folder (e.g. ~/.claude/skills/sanban/SKILL.md or ~/.agents/skills/sanban/SKILL.md), then call `list_boards` to confirm it works.

Features

• Multiple boards with custom columns
• Drag-and-drop between columns
• Priority, effort, tags, assignees, due dates
• Full-text search and filters
• Markdown in titles and descriptions (code blocks with syntax highlighting)
• Edit and delete buttons on every card
• Keyboard shortcuts (/ search, n new, e expand)
• Agent-ready via MCP server

Why

• No database — one JSON file per board in ~/.sanban/boards/, easy to diff, commit, back up
• No auth — local-first, runs on localhost
• No framework — vanilla JS frontend, Geist font, dark mode
• Multi-board — one server, unlimited boards

REST API

Method	Endpoint	Description
GET	/api/boards	List all boards
POST	/api/boards	Create board { name, columns? }
GET	/api/boards/:id	Get board with items
DELETE	/api/boards/:id	Delete board
GET	/api/boards/:id/items	List items (?q=, ?status=, ?tag=, ?assignee=)
POST	/api/boards/:id/items	Create item
PATCH	/api/boards/:id/items/:iid	Update item
DELETE	/api/boards/:id/items/:iid	Delete item
GET	/api/search?q=	Search across boards

MCP Server

Agents interact with boards via MCP stdio. This is a separate process from the web server — both read/write the same JSON files.

Agent Config (opencode.json)

{
  "mcp": {
    "sanban": {
      "type": "local",
      "command": ["sanban", "--mcp-only"],
      "enabled": true
    }
  }
}

Or running from source:

{
  "mcp": {
    "sanban": {
      "type": "local",
      "command": ["uv", "run", "--directory", "/path/to/sanban", "python", "-m", "sanban.server", "--mcp-only"],
      "enabled": true
    }
  }
}

Other agents: Adapt the config format for your CLI agent (Claude Desktop, Cursor, etc.). The command is always sanban --mcp-only — only the config wrapper changes.

Tools

Tool	Description
list_boards	List all boards
create_board(name, columns?)	Create a new board
get_board(board_id)	Get board details + items
create_item(board_id, title, ...)	Add an item
update_item(board_id, item_id, ...)	Update fields
move_item(board_id, item_id, new_status)	Move to column
delete_item(board_id, item_id)	Remove item
search(query, board_id?)	Search across boards

Run Modes

sanban                # web server (REST API + UI) — keep this running
sanban --mcp-only     # MCP stdio — for agent config
sanban --rest-only    # REST only, no UI
sanban --port 9000    # custom port

Typical setup: run sanban in a terminal (or background it), then add sanban --mcp-only to your agent config. Both use the same ~/.sanban/boards/ data.

Data

Boards live in ~/.sanban/boards/<id>.json. Override with SANBAN_DATA_DIR.

For Agents

See SKILL.md for the full agent reference — API examples, MCP tools, item fields, and keyboard shortcuts.

Tech

Python 3.10+, FastAPI, uvicorn, MCP SDK. No database, no framework, no build step.

License

MIT