A folder in the repository
shipbench init adds a folder with a config file, a README, and instructions for agents. It gets committed with everything else.
.shipbench/Plans that ship with the work.
ShipBench keeps each task as a Markdown file in the repository it belongs to. The CLI, a local board, your editor, and your agents all work from those files.
One command to set up. No account, nothing to host.
How it works
One file per task
Each task is a Markdown file. The frontmatter holds status, priority, tags, and dependencies. The body holds whatever the task needs: notes, links to other tasks, dated updates.
tasks/write-the-docs.mdTools that read the files
The CLI creates, moves, searches, and checks tasks. The board shows them as columns in your browser or your terminal. Editing a file by hand works too.
shipbench boardWays to use it
Small side projects
Run it next to git init and the project has a board. There is nothing to sign up for, so a weekend project can have one too.
shipbench initLarger software projects
Priorities, dependencies, and your own columns. The CLI lists what is ready to start and rejects a status or priority your config does not define.
task list --availableA board in the browser
A local Kanban board over the same files. Drag a card and the file changes. Change the file and the board updates.
shipbench boardA board in the terminal
A live, read-only board in a terminal pane, next to your editor or an agent session.
shipbench board terminalWorking with agents
Agents get instructions for the task format and the CLI, then create, move, and comment on tasks the way you do. Nothing requires them.
.shipbench/AGENTS.mdFinding out why
Tasks link to each other and collect dated updates. Later, search finds them and an agent can follow the links back through the work. It finds what someone wrote down, nothing more.
task searchMore than code
A task is Markdown, so the same setup tracks drafts, posts, or anything else that moves through states. Name the columns whatever fits.
status: draftYour own process
ShipBench fixes the file format, not the workflow. The docs show review gates, worktrees for parallel agents, and working straight on main.
.shipbench/config.jsonWhy it exists
ShipBench started as one developer's way of keeping track of several AI-assisted projects at once. A hosted tracker meant setting up a new project for every repository, plus an integration so agents could reach it, and most of what it offered was built for teams. Notes kept in the repository solved the access problem, but a list had no room for a task's context, and a spec document grew until nobody read it.
A file per task sits between the two. It's quick to start in any project, structured enough for tools to check, and it gives each task's notes a place of their own.
Read the longer versionTry it in a repository
Run these in any Git repository. They set up ShipBench, add a first task, and open the board.
# 1. Initialize ShipBench
› npx shipbench init
# 2. Create the first task
› npx shipbench task create "Build landing page" --priority=high
# 3. Open the local board
› npx shipbench board