# Canvas Kanban Sync

A Kanban board on Obsidian Canvas that quietly tracks when each task started
and finished — so tasks stuck mid-flight don't stay invisible.

English | [日本語](README.ja.md)

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## What is this?

![Dragging a card into another group syncs its Status property automatically](assets/drag-and-drop-sync.gif)

*The wait between dropping the card and the Status property updating is shortened in this GIF for brevity — in practice it can take a bit longer.*

The name of the group a card sits in (Todo / Doing / Done, or whatever you
choose to call them) becomes that note's Status property. Just drag a card
between groups, and the note's frontmatter is updated automatically.

## Why I built this

I've relied on both Notion and FigJam for task management over the years.

- **Notion**: I managed tasks with an Agile mindset, logging start/completion
  dates to review progress. But it's database/list-shaped, so I couldn't
  freely spread my thinking out in two dimensions
- **FigJam**: I loved being able to place kanban cards freely across a 2D
  board. But with no tracking, tasks that got stuck mid-progress — started
  but never finished — would quietly disappear into the board

This plugin combines both. You get a free-form 2D Kanban board on Obsidian
Canvas, and moving a card automatically records when each task started and
finished. The elapsed-days badge exists specifically to surface tasks that
have stalled since they started.

Prioritizing or managing tasks isn't this plugin's job. It's only responsible
for one thing: capturing the data you need to notice what's stuck, with zero
extra effort.

## Letting AI run task management

The frontmatter this plugin writes (Status, and StartedAt as the elapsed-days
badge's anchor) isn't just for humans to read — it's data meant for AI to
read too.

I use Claude's scheduled-task feature to have it watch my task notes across
the vault every day and generate a daily summary automatically — nudging me
on tasks that have stalled, and even proposing priorities. That leaves me
with exactly two jobs: adding tasks, and moving them once they're done.

That's why this plugin doesn't try to prioritize or manage tasks itself.
That judgment is left to AI; the plugin's only job is to keep feeding it the
material it needs — start dates, elapsed days, completion dates — captured
automatically just by moving cards on the Canvas.

## Features

- Moving a card between Canvas groups automatically updates the note's Status property
- Group names are entirely up to you (not limited to Todo/Doing/Done)
- Archive feature to clear completed cards off the Canvas (manual, or automatic
  on a chosen weekday — automatic is OFF by default)
- Elapsed-days badge on each card, counted from when work started
- Customizable tag for which notes get synced
- Customizable property names for each auto-updated field (Status/StartedAt/
  ModifiedAt/CompletedAt). All but Status can be turned off
- Canvas card properties stay hidden by default — hover the ⓘ mark to reveal
  them temporarily (click to pin them open)

## Installation

Install from Community Plugins.

1. Settings → Community plugins → Browse
2. Search for "Canvas Kanban Sync" and install
3. Enable it

## Start using it

Run **Create task canvas** from the command palette to generate a Canvas with
empty Todo / Doing / Done groups at your chosen path (defaults to the vault
root). From there, just tag your task notes and place their cards.

## Try the tutorial

Before committing to your own vault, run **Create tutorial canvas (English)**
from the command palette to walk through the main features hands-on.

- A `Canvas Kanban Sync Tutorial` folder is created at the vault root,
  containing the Canvas and 6 sample notes — nothing else is added to the root
- Everything is self-contained inside the folder, so you can freely drag cards
  around and try the Archive command (it has no effect on your own production
  Canvas setup)
- When you're done, just delete the folder — no trace is left behind

![The tutorial canvas right after opening it, with the ⓪ callout and the ①–⑥ sample cards laid out](assets/tutorial-overview.png)

## How it works

Moving a task note's card between groups on the target Canvas updates its
frontmatter like this (property names are configurable in settings):

```yaml
---
tags:
  - task
Status: Doing
StartedAt: 2026-09-06 10:00
ModifiedAt: 2026-09-06 10:00
---
```

- `Status`: which group the card is currently in — the group name, verbatim
- `StartedAt`: the time this task first left the resting state (Status unset)
  and was placed in a group. Starting point for the elapsed-days badge
- `ModifiedAt`: updated every time Status changes
- `CompletedAt`: the time the card entered the group treated as "done"

![The elapsed-days badge next to a card's title, and hovering the ⓘ mark to reveal properties](assets/elapsed-days-and-hover.gif)

## About Archive

Clear completed task cards off the Canvas. Only their placement on the Canvas
is removed — the note itself and its Status property are left untouched.

- Manual: run "Archive done tasks" from the command palette
- Automatic: choose a weekday in settings to run it automatically each week
  (OFF by default)

![A Done-group card disappearing from the Canvas after running "Archive done tasks"](assets/archive-done-tasks.gif)

## Settings

The settings screen lets you customize:

| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
| Target Canvas path | Which Canvas file to sync |
| Task tag | Which tag marks a note as synced |
| Group treated as Done | Which group counts as "done" |
| Automatic Archive / Archive weekday | Enable/disable and schedule weekly Archive |
| Property used as Status / StartedAt / ModifiedAt / CompletedAt | Each property's name (all but Status can be left blank to turn it off) |

## Notes

Toggling the properties display on Canvas cards relies on Obsidian's internal
DOM structure. It may break after an Obsidian update.

## License

MIT

## Feedback

Please report bugs and feature requests via
[GitHub Issues](https://github.com/naotobando/canvas-kanban-sync/issues).