Kanban Plus

A feature-enhanced fork of the popular Kanban plugin for Obsidian

Kanban Plus is built on the solid foundation of mgmeyers/obsidian-kanban and stays synchronized with upstream while adding powerful new capabilities for advanced project management and interconnected workflows.

🔄 About This Fork

Kanban Plus maintains 100% compatibility with the original Kanban plugin while extending it with:

• Cross-file card movement between associated Kanban boards
• Advanced calendar integration with hashtag-based visual feedback
• Enhanced workflow features for complex project management
• Zero breaking changes - all your existing boards continue to work perfectly

This plugin is designed to stay in sync with the original Kanban plugin, incorporating upstream improvements while providing additional functionality for power users.

🤖 AI-Powered Development

Kanban Plus is developed and maintained using AI-assisted tools to ensure:

• Rapid feature development and bug fixes
• Comprehensive testing across different scenarios
• Up-to-date documentation and compatibility
• Quick adaptation to Obsidian API changes

📝 Why Fork Kanban (Not Bases)?

While the Obsidian community has various task management solutions—including Bases, which shows great potential for future Kanban support but doesn't currently offer Kanban boards or user-ordered lists—Kanban Plus specifically builds on the original Kanban plugin for one crucial reason: simple bulleted list representation.

The goal is to provide a complete workflow solution that scales from quick capture to advanced project management and scheduling, all while maintaining a plain text foundation. This approach enables:

• Future-proof storage - your boards remain readable without the plugin
• Version control friendly - clean diffs and merge conflicts
• Universal compatibility - works across any markdown-compatible system
• Simplicity at scale - from single lists to complex multi-board workflows

This philosophy powers the enhanced features: cross-file movement and calendar integration create a unified system for task management that never strays from markdown's simplicity.

Read more about this approach:

• Tech Habits: Lists in Obsidian Kanban vs. Obsidian Bases (July 26, 2025)
• Tech Habits: Obsidian Kanban and Full Calendar Integration (June 29, 2025)
• Have You Been Using Your Calendar All Wrong? (June 20, 2025)

✨ Enhanced Features

The original Kanban plugin features, plus:

⌨️ Keyboard Navigation & Shortcuts

• Arrow key navigation: Navigate cards with up/down (within lists) and left/right (between lists)
• Visual focus indicator: Blue outline shows currently selected card
• Quick actions:
  • Enter - Edit focused card
  • a - Add new card to focused list
  • c - Copy focused card to calendar (with picker)
  • f - Move focused card to any file
  • d - Delete focused card
  • j - Move focused card down in list
  • k - Move focused card up in list
  • ? - Show keyboard shortcuts help
  • Escape - Clear keyboard focus
• Hands-free workflow: Manage entire board without touching the mouse
• Smart scrolling: Auto-scroll to keep focused card visible

🔗 Advanced Card & List Movement

• Ad-hoc card moves: Move any card to any file in your vault with fuzzy search
• List transfer: Move entire lists between files with merge or separate options
• Associated file movement: Pre-configured quick access to frequently used boards
• Smart list selection:
  • Automatically appends to single-lane files without prompting
  • Choose destination list when multiple lanes exist
  • Create new "Inbox" list on the fly
• Unified workflow management across projects and contexts
• Smart metadata injection: Automatically adds kanban metadata to target files

📱 Mobile & Tablet Optimizations

• Flat menu structure on mobile devices (phones and tablets)
• iPad-friendly interactions: All submenus accessible with simple taps
• No nested submenus on touch devices for better usability
• Consistent experience across all mobile platforms

📅 Advanced Calendar Integration

• Hashtag-based color display: Cards automatically show calendar colors based on hashtags
• One-click copy to Full Calendar with configurable hashtag behavior
• Optional hashtag tagging: Control whether calendar names are added as hashtags (disabled by default)
• Dynamic color resolution: Zero configuration required
• Smart text contrast: Readable text on any background color
• Emoji color indicators in calendar picker for visual clarity
• Clean calendar filenames: Hashtags stripped from event names

⚙️ Advanced Configuration Options

• Flexible settings placement: Board settings at file beginning or end
• Associated file management: Intuitive file picker UI for linked boards
• Calendar hashtag control: Toggle automatic hashtag addition on/off
• Enhanced settings inheritance: From global to board level

🔄 Original Kanban Features

• Drag-and-drop card management
• Lane customization and archiving
• Date and time picker integration
• Tag and metadata support
• Mobile-responsive design
• Theme compatibility

🚀 Getting Started

Installation

1. Download: Get Kanban Plus from the Obsidian Community Plugins
2. Enable: Activate the plugin in Settings → Community Plugins
3. Configure: Set up your preferences in the plugin settings

Basic Usage

1. Create a Kanban board: Add kanban-plugin: board to any markdown file's frontmatter
2. Add lists and cards: Use the intuitive drag-and-drop interface
3. Associate files: Open board settings to link other Kanban files
4. Move cards across files: Right-click any card → Move to file → Select destination

📋 Cross-File Workflow

Setting Up Associated Files

1. Open any Kanban board
2. Click the settings gear icon
3. Scroll to "Associated Files" section
4. Click "Add associated file"
5. Select another markdown file from your vault
6. The file will automatically get kanban metadata if needed

Moving Cards Between Files

Quick Move to Associated Files

1. Right-click on any card
2. Select "Move to list" submenu (or tap directly on mobile)
3. Choose from:
   • Local lists: Current board lanes
   • Associated file lists: filename > list-name format
4. Card moves instantly with all content preserved

Ad-Hoc Move to Any File

1. Right-click on any card
2. Select "Move to any file..."
3. Type to search for any file in your vault (fuzzy search)
4. Select target file
5. Choose destination list or create "Inbox" list
6. Card moves with all metadata intact

Moving Entire Lists Between Files

1. Click the three-dot menu on any list header
2. Select "Move list to file..."
3. Type to search for target file
4. Choose to:
   • Merge into existing list: Adds all cards to selected list
   • Keep as separate list: Creates new list with same name
5. List and all cards move atomically

⌨️ Keyboard Navigation

Quick Start

1. Open any Kanban board with cards
2. Press any arrow key to activate keyboard navigation
3. A blue outline appears around the focused card
4. Navigate with arrow keys:
   • ↑ / ↓ - Move up/down within the current list
   • ← / → - Move left/right between lists

Keyboard Shortcuts

Key	Action
↑ ↓	Navigate cards within a list
← →	Navigate between lists
Enter	Edit focused card
a	Add new card to focused list
c	Copy focused card to calendar (with picker)
f	Move focused card to any file
d	Delete focused card
j	Move focused card down in list
k	Move focused card up in list
?	Show keyboard shortcuts help
Escape	Clear keyboard focus

Tips

• Hands-free workflow: Navigate and manage cards without the mouse
• Visual feedback: The blue outline clearly shows which card has focus
• Auto-scrolling: Focused cards automatically scroll into view
• Works everywhere: Keyboard navigation is active on any kanban board

📅 Calendar Integration

Setup

1. Install and configure the Full Calendar plugin
2. Enable "Full note" mode in Full Calendar settings
3. In Kanban Plus settings, enable "Copy to Calendar"

Automatic Color Display

Cards automatically display calendar colors when they contain hashtags matching calendar names:

• Add hashtags manually: My task #Work → shows Work calendar color
• Multiple calendars: #Work #Personal → uses first matching calendar
• Case-insensitive: #work matches "Work" calendar

Copy to Calendar

1. Right-click any card
2. Select "Copy to calendar" (or tap directly on mobile)
3. Choose destination calendar with emoji color indicators
4. Card appears in calendar as all-day event
5. Optionally, enable "Add calendar hashtag to card" in board settings to:
   • Automatically add calendar name as hashtag
   • Enable automatic color association
   • Keep cards visually linked to their calendars
6. Card background updates to match calendar color (if hashtag added)
7. Drag in Full Calendar to set specific times

Note: Calendar hashtag tagging is disabled by default. Enable it in Board Settings → Integrations → "Add calendar hashtag to card"

🛠️ Advanced Configuration

Board Settings Location

• Traditional: Settings stored at end of file
• Header Mode: Settings at beginning for quick editing
• Configure per-board in board settings

Settings Hierarchy

Global Plugin Settings
    ↓ (inherited by)
Board-Specific Settings
    ↓ (inherited by)
Individual Card Properties

Associated Files Management

• Add files: Through board settings file picker
• Remove files: Click "Remove file" button
• Auto-metadata: Files automatically get kanban support
• No limits: Associate as many files as needed

🎯 Use Cases

Project Management

• Main board: Project overview with major milestones
• Sub-boards: Detailed tasks for each milestone
• Cross-movement: Promote tasks from sub-projects to main board

Content Creation

• Ideas board: Brainstorming and initial concepts
• Writing board: Articles in progress
• Publishing board: Final review and publishing pipeline
• Calendar sync: Deadlines and publication dates

Personal Productivity

• Inbox board: Capture all incoming tasks
• Weekly board: Current week's priorities
• Project boards: Long-term initiatives
• Calendar integration: Time-blocked scheduling

🔧 Technical Details

File Format Compatibility

• Markdown-based: All boards are standard markdown files
• Portable: Works across different Obsidian installations
• Version control friendly: Git-compatible format
• Future-proof: No proprietary formats

Performance

• Optimized rendering: Fast even with large boards
• Lazy loading: Associated files loaded on-demand
• Efficient sync: Only changed boards are saved
• Mobile optimized: Smooth performance on all platforms

Data Safety

• Non-destructive: Original file structure preserved
• Atomic operations: All changes are transactional
• Backup compatible: Works with any backup solution
• Sync friendly: Compatible with Obsidian Sync

🤝 Contributing

We welcome contributions! Whether it's:

• 🐛 Bug reports (especially ones affecting both plugins)
• 💡 Feature suggestions for Kanban Plus enhancements
• 📝 Documentation improvements
• 🔧 Code contributions

🔀 Contribution Guidelines

• Core Kanban bugs: Consider reporting to the original repository first
• Enhancement bugs: Report here if they affect Kanban Plus exclusive features
• New features: Best contributed to Kanban Plus to maintain our extended functionality
• Documentation: Always welcome for clarifying the relationship between plugins

Development Setup

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/geetduggal/obsidian-kanban
cd kanban-plus

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Build for development
npm run dev

# Build for production
npm run build

🚀 Sync with Upstream

This fork periodically syncs with the original repository to incorporate improvements. If you're contributing core functionality improvements, consider contributing to the original project as well to benefit the entire community.

🙏 Acknowledgments

🫡 Built On

This plugin is built on:

• mgmeyers/obsidian-kanban - The original Kanban plugin
• The Obsidian Community - Collaborative development ecosystem
• Full Calendar Plugin - Calendar integration partner

🤝 Relationship with Original Plugin

Kanban Plus is built with deep respect for the original Kanban plugin and its maintainer. This fork:

• Preserves all original functionality without modification
• Adds new features as extensions rather than replacements
• Maintains compatibility with the original plugin's file format
• Stays synchronized with upstream improvements when possible
• Contributes back bug fixes and improvements to the community

We encourage users to support both projects and choose the version that best fits their workflow needs.

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Made for the Obsidian community