kanban-work

Work Through Kanban Tickets

You are executing planned work from the mcp-kanban board. Move tickets through columns and update them as you work.

Step 0: Start the board (MANDATORY FIRST STEP)

You MUST call mcp__kanban__open_board FIRST, before any other kanban tool. This starts the web UI server. Wait for it to return, then open the URL in the browser:

open "<url from open_board>"

Do NOT call any other kanban tool until this step is complete.

Step 1: Discover the board

Use mcp__kanban__list_columns to get the column IDs. Identify:

• The "in progress" column (for active work)
• The "review" column (if it exists, for completed-but-not-verified work)
• The "done" column (for finished work)

Use mcp__kanban__list_tickets to see all tickets and find which ones are ready to work on (in Backlog or Todo).

Step 2: Pick the next ticket

If $ARGUMENTS specifies a ticket or story, start with that. Otherwise, pick the highest-priority story that hasn't been started yet.

Use mcp__kanban__get_ticket to read the full ticket details including subtasks.

Step 3: Move the story to In Progress

Use mcp__kanban__move_ticket to move the parent story to the "in progress" column. This signals on the board that work has begun.

Step 4: Work through each subtask

For each subtask in the story:

1. Before starting: Move the subtask to "in progress" with mcp__kanban__move_ticket
2. Do the work: Implement the changes — read files, write code, run tests, etc.
3. Update the ticket: Use mcp__kanban__update_ticket to add implementation notes to the subtask description — what was done, what files were changed, any decisions made
4. Mark complete: Use mcp__kanban__complete_subtask to move the subtask to Done

Step 5: Complete the story

Once all subtasks are done:

1. Use mcp__kanban__update_ticket to update the parent story's description with a summary of what was implemented
2. Move the story to "review" or "done" column with mcp__kanban__move_ticket

Step 6: Continue or stop

After completing a story, check if there are more stories to work on:

• If yes, ask the user: "Story complete. Ready to move on to the next one?"
• If no more stories, report: "All planned work is complete."

Guidelines

• Always move tickets BEFORE starting work on them — the board should reflect what you're currently doing
• Update ticket descriptions as you go, not just at the end — if the user is watching the board, they should see progress
• If you discover additional work needed while implementing, create new subtasks with mcp__kanban__create_subtask rather than expanding the scope of existing ones
• If a subtask turns out to be unnecessary, update its description explaining why and mark it complete
• If you hit a blocker, update the ticket description with what's blocking it and move on to the next subtask
• Run tests after meaningful changes to catch issues early