The old way vs. the KanPlan way
Before KanPlan
With KanPlan
01 — Import Your Existing Work
Switching tools is only painful when you have to leave everything behind. KanPlan lets you import your existing GitHub Issues — titles, descriptions, labels, milestones — directly into a KanPlan board, with column mapping you control. No copy-pasting. No rebuilding from scratch.
Once imported, every card becomes a first-class KanPlan card. You can immediately run AI generation on any of them, apply your tag library, and slot them into a blueprint workflow — all without losing a single issue.
GitHub Issues import — Connect your repo, select open issues, map them to columns. Done in under 60 seconds.
Labels → Tags — Your GitHub labels are auto-mapped to KanPlan tags with matching colors.
Milestones → Columns — Milestones can optionally map to board columns — or you choose the mapping yourself.
More sources coming — Linear, Jira, Notion, CSV and more planned. Import once, stay in KanPlan.
No lock-in — all your data exports as JSON anytime.
Open Issues — select to import
Column mapping
Coming soon
02 — AI Card Generation
You describe the task. KanPlan's AI writes the implementation steps, acceptance criteria, technical scope, and edge cases — then shows a side-by-side diff so you can see exactly what it added before committing.
You're never locked into the output. Review the diff and choose:
Accept — Save as-is — version history created automatically
Edit inline — Make changes inside the diff before saving
Regenerate — Add a clarifying note and run AI again
Reject — Discard — your original text is untouched
Real examples — one sentence becomes:
“Add rate limiting to the API”
Token-bucket rate limiting on /api/* routes. 100 req/min per IP. Redis-backed with sliding window fallback. 429 + Retry-After header on breach. Tests: burst scenario, TTL expiry.
“Build the user settings page”
Settings page with tabs: Profile, Security, Notifications. PATCH /users/:id endpoint. Optimistic UI. Zod form validation. Unsaved-changes prompt on navigate-away.
“Set up email notifications”
Transactional email via Resend. Queue-backed with retry logic. Templates: welcome, password reset, billing alert. Unsubscribe link per GDPR. Integration test: mock SMTP delivery.
Live Diff Preview
title: "Rate Limiting Middleware"
column: "Tasks"
− description: "Add rate limiting to the API"
+ description: "Token-bucket limiting on /api/* routes"
+ implementation:
+ - Redis token bucket, 100 req/min per IP
+ - 429 with Retry-After header on breach
+ - Sliding-window fallback on Redis outage
+ acceptance: "Burst test passes; TTL expiry resets"
+ scope: "middleware/, redis.ts, api/* routes"
AI Providers
Model scope
Set a project default, override per column or per card — mix providers freely.
Developers report spending 20–40% of planning time writing specs and acceptance criteria. KanPlan does that in seconds, so you spend your energy on the actual work.
04 — Blueprints
How many times have you set up the same board structure for a new project? SaaS starter columns, the same tags, the same model — again and again. A KanPlan blueprint captures everything: column names, all tags with their prompt templates, default AI model, and per-column model overrides.
Apply a blueprint to any new project in one click. Choose Replace to overwrite entirely, or Merge to layer on top of what you have. Export as .blueprint.json to share with your team or check into version control.
Snapshot any project
Turn a live board into a reusable blueprint
One-click apply
Bootstrap new projects instantly
Replace or Merge
Overwrite or layer on existing config
Export .blueprint.json
Share, version-control, and publish
Full-stack web app from first idea to production deploy
Ideas → Specs → Tasks → Build → In PR → Ship
Structured bug lifecycle from report to verified fix
Reported → Confirmed → Fixing → In PR → QA → Closed
Design-first REST API build with full documentation
Design → Implement → Test → Document → Deploy → Monitor
Cross-platform mobile from concept to app store
Concept → Wireframe → Build → Test → Submit → Live
05 — The Kanban Board
Two views, every workflow covered. The Kanban view gives you a visual overview of your sprint — drag cards between columns with optimistic updates. The List view is a power-user table: sort, bulk-assign, collapse status groups, and filter down to exactly what you need.
6-column pipeline
Ideas → Specs → Tasks → In Progress → In PR → Done. Rename any column to match your process.
Drag & drop
Native drag with optimistic UI. Cards snap into place immediately; sync happens in the background.
Card versioning
Every AI accept and every manual save creates a snapshot. Revert any card to any previous state.
List view
Sortable table mode with bulk selection, collapsible status groups, and the full card editor.
Per-card context
Title, description, implementation steps, acceptance criteria, scope, history, and AI version log — all on one card.
Real workflow example
Here's how a developer kicks off a new feature project with KanPlan — from blank board to a fully-specced sprint backlog.
Apply the SaaS Starter blueprint
Open a new project, click Apply Blueprint → SaaS Starter. Instantly get 6 well-named columns, the React + TypeScript + Security + Testing tag library (with pre-written AI prompts), and GPT-4o set as the project default.
Board ready in one click. No configuration. Nothing to name or wire up.
Drop rough ideas into the Ideas column
Type quick one-liners: "User auth with GitHub OAuth", "Dashboard analytics charts", "Export data as CSV", "Email notification system". These are stubs — no structure needed yet.
Takes ~2 minutes. Capture ideas as fast as they come.
Generate implementation plans with AI
Click Generate on each card. The AI — guided by your React, Security, and TypeScript tags — expands each one-liner into a full spec: implementation steps, edge cases, acceptance criteria, affected files.
~3 seconds per card. All 4 cards fully specced in under a minute.
Review diffs, accept or refine
Side-by-side diff shows exactly what AI added. Accept the ones that look right. For "Email notifications" add an override — "Use Resend, not Sendgrid" — and regenerate. Accept the updated version.
You stay in control. AI is a co-author, not an autopilot.
Move cards to Specs and start the sprint
Drag clear cards to Specs. Leave ambiguous ones in Ideas for another pass. The team now has a consistently-written, fully-detailed backlog — with no Thursday-afternoon spec-writing sessions required.
Total time: ~5 minutes. Same output that used to take half a day.