Portable Kanban Extension for Visual Studio Code
A lightweight and portable kanban board extension for Visual Studio Code that allows you to create and manage kanban boards directly within your editor.

Features
- ✅ Create and manage kanban boards within VS Code
- ✅ Drag and drop cards between lists
- ✅ Add descriptions, labels, and comments to cards
- ✅ Task lists with checkboxes
- ✅ Archive cards and lists
- ✅ Search and filter functionality
- ✅ Dark/Light theme support
- ✅ Portable .kanban file format
Installation
From VS Code Marketplace
- Open VS Code
- Go to Extensions (Ctrl+Shift+X)
- Search for "Portable Kanban"
- Click Install
From Command Line
ext install portable-kanban
Getting Started
Creating a New Kanban Board
- Open Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+P / Cmd+Shift+P)
- Type "Portable Kanban: Create new Kanban"
- Choose a location and filename for your .kanban file
- Your kanban board will open in a new editor tab
Basic Usage
Adding Cards
- Click the "+" button in any list to add a new card
- Bulk Add: Hold Shift while typing to add multiple cards (one per line)
- Add with Labels: Use format
Label Name:Card Text
to add a card with a label
Managing Cards
- Drag & Drop: Move cards between lists by dragging
- Edit: Click on a card to edit its content, add descriptions, labels, or comments
- Archive: Use the menu to archive completed cards
- Delete: Remove unwanted cards from the board
Working with Lists
- Add new lists using the "Add List" button
- Rename lists by clicking on the list title
- Archive entire lists when no longer needed
- Move lists by dragging them
Filtering and Search
- Use the search bar to find specific cards
- Filter by labels to focus on specific types of work
- View archived cards and lists in separate views
Configuration
Configure the extension through VS Code settings:
{
"portable-kanban.theme": "system", // "dark", "light", or "system"
"portable-kanban.show-description": true, // Show/hide card descriptions
"portable-kanban.show-task-list": true // Show/hide task lists in cards
}
Kanban boards are stored as .kanban
files in JSON format, making them:
- Portable: Easy to share and version control
- Human-readable: Can be edited manually if needed
- Lightweight: Small file size, efficient storage
Keyboard Shortcuts
Ctrl+Shift+P
- Open Command Palette
Escape
- Close modals/dialogs
Enter
- Confirm edits
Shift+Enter
- Add multiple items
Development
Prerequisites
- Node.js 16+
- VS Code 1.92.0+
Setup
git clone https://github.com/harehare/portable-kanban.git
cd portable-kanban
npm install
Building
npm run build # Production build
npm run watch # Development build with watch
npm run package # Package for publishing
Testing
npm test # Run tests
npm run lint # Run linting
Contributing
- Fork the repository
- Create a feature branch (
git checkout -b feature/amazing-feature
)
- Commit your changes (
git commit -m 'Add amazing feature'
)
- Push to the branch (
git push origin feature/amazing-feature
)
- Open a Pull Request
Roadmap
Planned Features
- [ ] Sync with GitHub Projects
- [ ] Sync with Trello
- [ ] Related cards functionality
- [ ] Export to various formats (PDF, CSV)
- [ ] Custom card templates
- [ ] Time tracking
- [ ] Collaboration features
License
This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.
Support