mrlesk/backlog.md

Backlog.md is a task management tool that stores all its data as plain Markdown files inside a Git repository. Every task is a .md file sitting in a folder called backlog/ within your project, which means tasks travel with the code, stay in version control history, and are readable in any text editor without a separate account or service. The tool is built around a workflow called spec-driven AI development. The idea is that AI coding assistants (such as Claude Code, Gemini CLI, or similar tools) work better when given small, clearly-written tasks with explicit acceptance criteria rather than open-ended instructions. Backlog.md provides the structure: you describe what you want, ask an AI agent to break it into tasks, review those tasks, then hand them to the agent one at a time. The tool connects to AI assistants either through MCP (a protocol many AI coding tools support) or through plain CLI instructions files like CLAUDE.md. For people who want to work without AI tools, Backlog.md also functions as a standalone task manager. The CLI lets you create tasks, edit them, list by status, and search by keyword. Running backlog board displays a live Kanban board in the terminal. Running backlog browser opens a web interface with a drag-and-drop Kanban board, task editing forms, and real-time sync back to the Markdown files. Tasks can have acceptance criteria checklists, a definition-of-done template that applies to every new task, and references to the source files they touch. Git is optional, the tool can run in a filesystem-only mode for non-code projects. Backlog.md installs via npm, bun, Homebrew, or Nix. It works on macOS, Linux, and Windows, has no external service dependencies, and is MIT-licensed.