Kanban Sauce

A Kanban-style project and notes management tool for VS Code, backed by Markdown

Kanban Sauce is a powerful, privacy-first project and notes management extension for VS Code, similar to tools like Trello and Notion but built directly into your editor. It stores your tasks, notes, and ideas as simple, version-controllable Markdown files with YAML frontmatter. No external accounts, no cloud dependencies, no telemetry - just pure, local productivity that integrates seamlessly with your workflow.

Quick Start

1. Install: Search for "Kanban Sauce" in the VS Code Extensions view (VS Marketplace / Open VSX).
2. Open: Run Open Kanban Board from the command palette (Cmd+Shift+P or Ctrl+Shift+P), or right-click any folder in your file explorer and choose Open as Kanban Board.
3. Create: Click + New Feature in the sidebar, or use the + sign next to column headers to add a new card.

Key Features

• Dynamic, Folder-Focused Boards: Kanban Sauce isn't restricted to a single hidden folder. You can open any folder in your workspace as an independent board. Files are saved precisely where you want them, organized neatly into subfolders by their status or category.

• Multiple Concurrent Boards & Sidebar Tracking: Open two or more boards side-by-side in separate editor tabs. The Available Boards sidebar view tracks all known boards in your workspace, letting you jump between them with a single click. It automatically updates when you switch tabs and includes right-click options to safely rename or remove boards from your history.

• Fully Customizable, Board-Specific Columns: Because columns are fully customizable, you can use Kanban Sauce for anything from agile development to personal note-taking or content planning. Customize column IDs, names, and colors on a per-board basis using the intuitive Column Manager UI.

• Board & Workflow:

  • Drag & Drop: Easily move cards between and within columns.
  • Split-View Editor: Keep the board on the left while editing a card inline on the right.
  • Flexible Layouts: Supports horizontal and vertical layouts, and a compact mode for dense boards.
  • Keyboard Shortcuts: N (new feature), Esc (close dialogs), Cmd/Ctrl+Enter (submit).
  • Auto-Sync: Auto-saves your changes as you type, and auto-refreshes the board when files are modified externally.

• Cards as Markdown Files: Each card on your board is just a standard Markdown file with YAML frontmatter. Edit them in the extension's rich-text editor, or open them in VS Code's native text editor.

  
  
  
  
  • Priority Badge: Visual color-coded badges for Critical, High, Medium, Low.
  • Smart Due Dates: Easily set and read relative dates like "Overdue," "Today," "Tomorrow," or "+5d".
  • Rich Metadata: Support for assignees, multi-labels, epic grouping, and automatic timestamps (created, modified, completedAt).

• Advanced Search, Filtering & Sorting: Find what you need instantly.

  • Full-text search across card content, IDs, assignees, and labels.
  • Native sort capabilities for boards and cards (by name, last modified, ascending/descending) straight from the Activity Bar.
  • Dynamic column filtering in the sidebar to only show cards in specific stages or categories.

Configuration

Tailor Kanban Sauce to your exact liking. Settings can be found under kanban-sauce.* in your VS Code preferences.

Default columns:

[
  { "id": "backlog", "name": "Backlog", "color": "#6b7280" },
  { "id": "todo", "name": "To Do", "color": "#3b82f6" },
  { "id": "in-progress", "name": "In Progress", "color": "#f59e0b" },
  { "id": "review", "name": "Review", "color": "#8b5cf6" },
  { "id": "done", "name": "Done", "color": "#22c55e" }
]

You can override the columns configuration/list for a specific board easily from the Kanban board UI by clicking the Manage Columns button in the top toolbar. This will automatically create or update a .kanbansauce file (in JSON format) at the root of the board directory. This allows you to have different column configurations for different boards, and since the file lives in the board folder, it is version-controllable and easily reproducible.

Example .kanbansauce file:

{
  "columns": [
    { "id": "backlog", "name": "Backlog", "color": "#6b7280" },
    { "id": "in-progress", "name": "In Progress", "color": "#f59e0b" },
    { "id": "done", "name": "Done", "color": "#22c55e" }
  ]
}

File Format Example

Because your data is yours, a typical Kanban Sauce card looks like this on disk:

---
id: "remove-ai-integration-2026-07-04"
status: "done"
priority: "critical"
assignee: "peppe"
epic: null
dueDate: "2026-07-04"
created: "2026-07-04T09:27:55.052Z"
modified: "2026-07-04T09:27:55.052Z"
completedAt: "2026-07-04T09:27:55.052Z"
labels: ["enhancement"]
order: "Zz"
---
# Remove AI integration

Remove completely the AI integration, so that humans can waste a bit more time

Installation

Choose your preferred method:

• VS Code Marketplace: Install from the Marketplace directly.
• Open VSX: Great for VSCodium and Cursor. Install from Open VSX.
• Manual (VSIX): Download the .vsix from our Releases, open VS Code, go to Extensions > ... > Install from VSIX.

Development

Want to contribute? Contributions are welcome!

Prerequisites: Node.js 18+ and pnpm.

pnpm install       # Install dependencies
pnpm dev           # Start development (watch mode)
pnpm build         # Build for production
pnpm test          # Run unit/component tests

See CONTRIBUTING.md for deeper architecture and testing details.

Tech Stack

Extension Host: TypeScript, VS Code API, esbuild
Webview UI: React 18, Vite, Tailwind CSS, Zustand, Tiptap

Acknowledgements

Kanban Sauce is a proud, heavily-evolved fork of Kanban Markdown. We owe a huge thanks to the original contributors: @LachyFS, @luciopaiva, @ungive, @hodanli, and @SuperbDotHub.

Kanban Sauce builds on their fantastic foundation to offer a more dynamic, multi-board, and entirely private experience.

License

Released under the MIT License.