MWNN Kanban

An in-editor Kanban board for VS Code built around the Methodology With No Name (MWNN). The board lives in workspace files, supports human and AI assignees, and keeps methodology signals like WIP and reverse-WIP visible directly in the editor.

Features

• Git-trackable board storage in .mwnn/ by default, with one markdown file per card and live reload when those files change.
• Default MWNN board shape of Backlog, Ready, In Progress, Verify, and Done, with editable columns, WIP limits, and Ready reverse-WIP support.
• Card detail editing in the webview for title, description, acceptance criteria, assignee, and activity history.
• Human and AI assignees with a Run Card with AI command and in-board action for AI-assigned work, targeting either a VS Code chat extension or a local agent CLI.
• A cancellable AI board loop that runs definition and implementation handoffs through a supported VS Code chat extension or a locally installed Copilot, Codex, Claude Code, or Cursor Agent CLI.
• AI definition fill for undefined cards: dragging a card without a Description into the Ready column offers to have AI write its Description and Acceptance criteria, and the card detail panel exposes a Fill in with AI button whenever both are empty. Definition fills can target a VS Code chat extension or a local agent CLI.
• Drag-and-drop card movement plus direct column add, rename, delete, limit, and reorder flows from the board UI.

Commands

Settings

AI Loop Providers

With the default prompt setting, the loop first offers both execution channels: VS Code chat extension for interactive handoffs to GitHub Copilot, Codex (ChatGPT), or Claude Code, and Local agent CLI for synchronous non-interactive execution. Set mwnn-kanban.aiLoopProvider to chat to always use the chat-extension picker.

mwnn-kanban.aiLoopVerifyCards is off (false) by default. When it is off, the loop stops automating an AI-assigned card in the Verify column and assigns it to a human for verification. When it is on, the selected provider verifies the card against its acceptance criteria and records one of the requested Activity markers: VERIFY: PASS, VERIFY: FAIL: <reason>, or VERIFY: HUMAN: <reason> when it cannot verify the work. A passing verification is the only case in which the loop moves a card to Done. A failure, a cannot-verify verdict, an unavailable verification handoff, or any other non-passing outcome leaves the card in Verify, assigns it to a human, and records the reason in the card's Activity.

The execution channels differ when an agent produces no verdict. A local CLI run is synchronous, so if the process ends without a valid VERIFY: marker, the loop hands the card back to a human and records why. A chat handoff is asynchronous: if it never writes a valid VERIFY: marker, the loop keeps waiting and shows a live elapsed-time progress line until you stop the loop.

In CLI mode, the loop invokes each provider with the existing MWNN definition, triage, or implementation prompt and the active workspace as its working directory. Executables are discovered on PATH, or can be configured as full paths in mwnn-kanban.agentCliPaths. The path is never split into a shell command, so paths containing spaces are safe.

Cursor was verified against its official headless CLI documentation on 2026-07-24 and supports equivalent non-interactive file-modifying agent execution, so it is a full loop provider rather than an unsupported placeholder.

In CLI mode, the loop waits for the process to exit and then reloads the card file. Implementation succeeds only when the process exits successfully and newly appended Activity contains STATUS: DONE or STATUS: BLOCKED: <reason>; definition and triage handoffs require their corresponding card-file edits. Missing executables, start failures, nonzero exits, and missing or invalid evidence leave the card in place and add a recoverable failure entry. Stopping the loop terminates the active child process and records a cancellation without marking the card complete.

Board Files

The board requires an open workspace folder. On first run, the extension creates the board folder and writes:

• .mwnn/columns.json for column order, roles, and limit metadata.
• .mwnn/cards/<card-id>.md for one markdown file per card.
• .mwnn/README.md for a local description of the board contract.

The extension watches .mwnn/** and reloads the board after external edits, which makes the filesystem contract usable for humans and coding agents alike.

AI Collaboration

The primary AI contract lives in AGENTS.md. In short:

• AI-assigned work is represented by card frontmatter such as assignee: { kind: ai, name: Codex }.
• Agents should usually claim work in the ## Activity section, keep ## Acceptance criteria current, and move cards by editing the column and position frontmatter.
• Ready reverse-WIP depends on cards having a non-empty ## Description, so agents should define work clearly before draining the Ready column.

Development

npm install
npm run compile          # bundle the extension host (dist/extension.js)
npm run compile-tests    # compile unit tests to dist-test/
npm test                 # run unit tests (node:test)
npm run lint             # ESLint
npm run smoke:agent-cli -- codex # isolated live smoke for one installed provider

Press F5 to launch an Extension Development Host, then run MWNN Kanban: Open Board from the Command Palette.

Architecture

The extension host (src/) and the board UI (media/board.js) run in separate contexts and communicate only through postMessage. Shared message types and board models live in src/types.ts, the board persistence layer lives in src/boardStore.ts, and the board contract for direct editors is documented in AGENTS.md plus the generated .mwnn/README.md.