Problem solved

Developers increasingly rely on AI coding agents to automate software tasks, but managing multiple agents simultaneously becomes chaotic without a centralized coordination system. Openkanban solves this problem by providing an intuitive kanban board interface in the terminal, where developers can break down complex coding efforts into discrete tasks, assign them to different AI agents, and monitor progress in real time. It eliminates the friction of context switching and overlapping agent operations, giving developers a single pane of glass to orchestrate their AI-powered development pipeline.

Use cases

• Organizing a large feature implementation by splitting it into sub-tasks and assigning each to an AI coding agent for parallel execution.
• Tracking and reviewing multiple AI-generated code changes across different branches or files from a single dashboard.
• Setting up a continuous integration workflow where AI agents autonomously handle bug fixes and push changes based on kanban card statuses.
• Onboarding new team members by using AI agents to complete repetitive setup tasks while monitoring their actions through the kanban board.
• Running AI agents in headless mode on a remote server and managing their tasks via an SSH-connected terminal kanban session.

Audience

• Developers
• ML Engineers

Pros

• Lightweight terminal‑based interface that works over SSH, ideal for remote development and server environments.
• Open source with active development, transparent codebase, and community contributions.
• Keyboard‑driven navigation allows fast task management without leaving the terminal.
• Supports multiple AI agent backends (e.g., opencode, Claude Code) for flexible tool choice.
• Built with testing infrastructure ensuring reliability and easy integration into developer workflows.

Cons

• Terminal‑based UI may be less intuitive for users accustomed to graphical kanban tools; steep learning curve.
• Manual configuration required for each supported AI agent backend, with potential startup issues if binaries are missing.
• Relatively new project, so may have limited third‑party plugins and breaking changes between releases.