feat: Kanban MCP — persistent boards with multi-session, semantic search, and web UI

[Joao208]

What

New @arvoretech/kanban-mcp package — persistent kanban boards for AI agents with multi-session coordination, semantic search via LanceDB, and a Linear-style web UI.

Why

Agents lose track of work between sessions. When multiple chats are open in parallel, there's no way to know what each one is doing. This MCP gives agents a shared kanban board where they can claim cards, track progress, and coordinate.

Changes

MCP Server (packages/kanban/)

• 12 MCP tools: list_boards, create_board, get_board, get_card, create_card, update_card, move_card, claim_card, release_card, search_cards, archive_card, delete_card
• Multi-session: claim_card/release_card with session_log for cross-chat coordination
• Semantic search via LanceDB with multilingual embeddings (keyword fallback)
• Subtasks via parent_card_id
• JSON persistence with atomic writes (.tmp + rename)
• Re-read from disk before every read for multi-process visibility
• KANBAN_DEFAULT_RELEASE_STATUS defaults to review

HTTP Server + Web UI (packages/kanban/ui/)

• Express API server (enabled via KANBAN_UI=true)
• React + Vite + Tailwind CSS + shadcn/ui
• Linear-style dark theme (#0a0a0f, #131320, accent #5e6ad2)
• @dnd-kit/react drag-and-drop between columns
• Hotkeys: C create, / search, Esc close, ←→ navigate, Backspace archive
• Right-click context menu: priority, move to column, archive, delete
• Card detail slide-in panel with editable title/description, properties, subtasks, activity log
• 3s polling for real-time updates

Env vars

Variable	Default	Description
KANBAN_PATH	./kanban	Data directory
KANBAN_EMBEDDING_MODEL	Xenova/paraphrase-multilingual-MiniLM-L12-v2	Embedding model
KANBAN_DEFAULT_RELEASE_STATUS	review	Default release status
KANBAN_UI	false	Enable web UI
KANBAN_PORT	4799	Web UI port

How to test

cd packages/kanban
pnpm install
pnpm build
cd ui && pnpm install && npx vite build && cd ..
KANBAN_UI=true KANBAN_PATH=./test-data node dist/index.js
# Open http://localhost:4799

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ℹ️ Review info

⚙️ Run configuration

Configuration used: defaults

Review profile: CHILL

Plan: Pro

Run ID: 18fdab01-b50c-4b93-840d-721014c262e3

📥 Commits

Reviewing files that changed from the base of the PR and between bb63260 and 65ee01b.

📒 Files selected for processing (42)

• packages/kanban/package.json
• packages/kanban/src/embeddings.ts
• packages/kanban/src/http.ts
• packages/kanban/src/index.ts
• packages/kanban/src/server.ts
• packages/kanban/src/store.ts
• packages/kanban/src/tools.ts
• packages/kanban/src/types.ts
• packages/kanban/tsconfig.json
• packages/kanban/ui/index.html
• packages/kanban/ui/package.json
• packages/kanban/ui/postcss.config.js
• packages/kanban/ui/src/App.tsx
• packages/kanban/ui/src/api.ts
• packages/kanban/ui/src/components/BoardColumn.tsx
• packages/kanban/ui/src/components/BoardSelector.tsx
• packages/kanban/ui/src/components/BoardView.tsx
• packages/kanban/ui/src/components/CardContextMenu.tsx
• packages/kanban/ui/src/components/CardDetail.tsx
• packages/kanban/ui/src/components/CardItem.tsx
• packages/kanban/ui/src/components/CreateCardDialog.tsx
• packages/kanban/ui/src/components/Header.tsx
• packages/kanban/ui/src/components/PriorityIcon.tsx
• packages/kanban/ui/src/components/SessionBadge.tsx
• packages/kanban/ui/src/components/ui/badge.tsx
• packages/kanban/ui/src/components/ui/button.tsx
• packages/kanban/ui/src/components/ui/command.tsx
• packages/kanban/ui/src/components/ui/context-menu.tsx
• packages/kanban/ui/src/components/ui/dialog.tsx
• packages/kanban/ui/src/components/ui/dropdown-menu.tsx
• packages/kanban/ui/src/components/ui/input.tsx
• packages/kanban/ui/src/components/ui/scroll-area.tsx
• packages/kanban/ui/src/components/ui/separator.tsx
• packages/kanban/ui/src/components/ui/tooltip.tsx
• packages/kanban/ui/src/hooks/useHotkeys.ts
• packages/kanban/ui/src/index.css
• packages/kanban/ui/src/lib/utils.ts
• packages/kanban/ui/src/main.tsx
• packages/kanban/ui/src/types.ts
• packages/kanban/ui/tailwind.config.js
• packages/kanban/ui/tsconfig.json
• packages/kanban/ui/vite.config.ts

✨ Finishing Touches

🧪 Generate unit tests (beta)

• Create PR with unit tests
• Commit unit tests in branch joaobarros-/-kanban-mcp

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