# Kanban Embed Shows a Kanban board inside any note, read from the board file, with live updates, lane picking and card check-off. Put a small code block in a project page, a daily note or a dashboard, and a Kanban board shows there. The board stays one Markdown file. The request is issue 4 of the Kanban plugin, open since April 2021 with more than 250 reactions. This plugin is separate and does not need the Kanban plugin. Open the project page, check off a card, then move a card to Review ## Features ### A board inside any note Add a `kanban-embed` code block with the board name. The block shows the lanes side by side, with the board name as a link and the card counts. Each lane shows its card count. A lane with a card limit, such as `## In progress (3)`, shows `4/3` and gets a warning border when it is over the limit. Cards show their links, tags and formatting; a date such as `@{2026-10-14}` shows as a chip. A priority tag on a card gives it a colored left border and a chip: `#high`, `#urgent` or `#p1` for red, `#medium`, `#med` or `#p2` for orange, and `#low` or `#p3` for blue. With two priority tags, the higher one wins. The match ignores case. The block works in Reading view and in Live Preview. The Website redesign board embedded in a project page, with four lanes and the over-limit lane ### Pick lanes and hide done cards Add `lanes: In progress, Review` to show only those lanes, in that order. Add `hide-done: true` to hide checked cards; the header says how many are hidden. A lane name that the board lacks shows a warning. A standup note that shows only the In progress and Review lanes, with done cards hidden ### Check off cards and live update Each card has a checkbox. Select it to check or uncheck; only the lines of that card change, plus the next copy of a recurring Tasks task. When the Tasks plugin is on, a card that you check gets the Tasks done date, such as `✅ 2026-10-10`, and loses it when you uncheck the card. Kanban Embed hands the card line to Tasks, so recurring tasks and the date format follow your settings. Without Tasks the card gets a plain `[x]`. When the board file changes, in the Kanban plugin or after a sync, the embeds of that board draw again. Before a check or a move, the plugin makes sure that the card line is as on screen, or it does not write. A checked card in the embed, with the same card checked in the board file ### Move cards (Pro) Drag a card to another lane, or to another place in the same lane. On a touch screen, use the card menu, "Move to", and a lane. A card that moves into a lane with the `**Complete**` marker gets checked, with the Tasks done date when Tasks is on; a card that moves out of one loses the date. The card menu with the Move to items for the other lanes ### Add cards (Pro) Select "Add a card" at the bottom of a lane, type the text and press Enter. It goes to the end of the lane; Escape cancels. The add card field at the bottom of the Backlog lane ### Several boards in one embed (Pro) List more than one board, such as `board: [[Website redesign]], [[Mobile app]]`. Lanes with the same name become one column. Each card shows the name of its board, and moves stay inside that board. The In progress and Review lanes of two boards merged into one embed ### Card filter (Pro) Add a line such as `filter: #design` or `filter: login #dev`; a card must have each word to show. A word with `#` must be a tag of the card; `#design` also matches `#design/web`. Only the cards tagged design from both boards ### Swimlanes (Pro) Add `swimlane: #project/` to group the cards into rows. Each row is one project tag, such as `#project/launch`, and the lanes stay as columns. Select a row header to fold or open it; the plugin remembers folded rows. Other forms are `swimlane: tag` (the first tag of each card), `swimlane: #now, #next, #later` (these rows in this order) and `swimlane: @{owner}` (one row for each value of a card field such as `[owner:: Ana]`). Cards without a value go to an Unassigned row; a drop on another row does nothing, and "Add a card" in a row adds that row's tag or field. The Team sprint board in two rows, launch and pricing, with the lanes as columns and a folded row ## Install Open Settings, then Community plugins, then Browse, and search for "Kanban Embed". Select Install, then Enable. To install by hand, download `main.js`, `manifest.json` and `styles.css` from the latest release and put them in `/.obsidian/plugins/kanban-embed/`. Reload the community plugins, then turn on Kanban Embed. ## Usage Put the cursor where the board should go, run the command "Insert a board embed" and pick a board. It inserts this block: ~~~markdown ```kanban-embed board: [[Website redesign]] ``` ~~~ The lines a block can have: | Line | What it does | | --- | --- | | `board: [[Name]]` | The board to show. Also `boards:`. More than one board is Pro. | | `lanes: A, B` | Show only these lanes, in this order. Also `lane:`. | | `hide-done: true` | Hide checked cards. `false` overrides the setting. | | `filter: words` | Only cards with each word. `#tag` words match tags. Pro. | | `swimlane: value` | Rows across the lanes: `tag`, `#prefix/`, `#a, #b` or `@{field}`. Also `rows:`. Pro. | | `title: Text` | Header text instead of the board name. | A priority tag on a card line, such as `- [ ] Ship it #high`, gives the card a colored left border and a chip. The board name works like a link, so `[[Website redesign]]` finds the note anywhere in the vault. An unknown block line shows a warning. ## Pro The free version shows one board per embed, with lane picking, hidden done cards, check-off and live update, and has no time or card limit. Pro adds moving cards (drag and drop or the Move to menu), adding cards, several boards in one embed, the card filter, and swimlane rows. To get it: 1. Sponsor [theluckystrike on GitHub Sponsors](https://github.com/sponsors/theluckystrike) with $5 a month, or $15 once. A total payment of $15 meets the payment requirement for Pro. Sign-in and the checks below still apply. 2. In Obsidian, open the settings of Kanban Embed and select "Sign in with GitHub". 3. Paste the code the plugin shows at github.com/login/device and approve. If you sponsor after you sign in, select Refresh. ## Settings | Setting | What it does | | --- | --- | | Pro | Sign in, status, Refresh and Sign out. | | Lane width | Width of one lane in pixels, from 180 to 480. The default is 240. | | Hide done cards | Hide checked cards in embeds that have no `hide-done` line. | The settings tab with the Pro section, lane width and hide done cards ## FAQ ### Do I need the Kanban plugin? No. Kanban Embed reads the board file itself. The Kanban plugin gives the full board view. ### Does Kanban Embed change my board files? Only when you check, move or add a card. A check or a move edits only the lines of that card. ### Does it work on a phone or tablet? It is not marked desktop only, but the tests run on desktop. On a touch screen, use the Move to menu to move cards. ### Which board format does it read? The Markdown format of the Kanban plugin: `kanban-plugin: board` in the frontmatter, one heading per lane and one list item per card. Archived cards do not show. ### How is this different from an embed with `![[Board]]`? A normal embed shows the board as Markdown. Kanban Embed shows the lanes side by side. ## Payment, account and network The core features are free. Pro features need a GitHub Sponsors sponsorship of theluckystrike: $5 a month or more, or $15 once. A total payment of $15 meets the payment requirement for Pro without further payment. Sign-in and the checks below still apply. Your notes stay readable and editable with or without Pro. GitHub handles the payment. Sponsor at https://github.com/sponsors/theluckystrike. You need no account for the free features. Pro needs the GitHub account that sponsors. Until you select "Sign in with GitHub" in the settings, Kanban Embed makes no network requests. Sign in uses the GitHub device flow. Kanban Embed sends its public client ID and the scope `read:user` to `https://github.com/login/device/code` and shows you a code. While you enter the code at https://github.com/login/device, it asks `https://github.com/login/oauth/access_token` every few seconds to check the sign-in status. The scope permits profile reads only. GitHub needs this access to show the sponsorship tier. It grants no repository scope and no write access. After sign in, Kanban Embed sends one query to `https://api.github.com/graphql`. It checks if the signed-in account sponsors theluckystrike. It asks for the tier and the total payment to theluckystrike. The plugin reuses a successful check for 7 days. Failed checks can retry after 6 hours. Select Refresh to request an earlier check. It sends no note content, file names or other vault data, and it has no telemetry. After a successful check, Pro can work offline for up to 14 days. Sign out or a negative sponsorship answer turns Pro off. The plugin stores the GitHub token through the secret storage API of Obsidian. It does not put the token in its saved settings or its local sponsorship data. The local storage of this device keeps your GitHub login, the tier and the time of the last check. Sign out clears the token. You can also revoke the access in your GitHub settings, under Applications. ## Support Report a bug or a feature request in the issue tracker. To support the work, use [GitHub Sponsors](https://github.com/sponsors/theluckystrike). ``` npm ci npm run build npm test ``` ## License MIT